Past learning experiences on Mathematics have profound influence on the conception of a learner about mathematics, learning approaches, and strategies to study mathematics. The study determined the conception of freshman university student on mathematics, mathematics learning approaches, and the different learning strategies employed by them in studying mathematics. The study made used of the descriptive-correlational research design with 199 freshmen students enrolled during the S.Y. 2012 – 2013 as respondents. Results showed that students usually have shallow conception about mathematics, not seeing its important role in their lives. Majority of freshmen students believed that mathematics should be learned using low level or surface approaches. Findings showed that 5.02% of the performance of the students is related to their conception on mathematics and 10% to their conception on learning approach. The way a student conceives mathematics and mathematics learning approach affects his performance in Mathematics.