A survey on the mental health status of freshmen in a university was conducted to understandthe mental health status of students and the factors affecting them, so as to carry out relevant mentalhealth services in a targeted manner, improve the mental health level of students and reduce theoccurrence of crisis events. In this study, 867 freshmen in a university were surveyed by questionnairesusing the Basic Information Questionnaire and the Self-assessment Scale for Depression (SDS). Results:(1) The mean score of the self-assessment depression scale of college students reached 0.51, which is thecritical value of mild depression level; (2) the family economic status and family atmosphere significantlyaffect the depression level of college freshmen; (3) negative life events significantly affect the depressionlevel of college freshmen. Conclusion: The mental health level of college students is not optimistic, andfamily atmosphere, family economic status, and whether they have experienced negative life events areimportant factors affecting the mental health of college freshmen.