How to Make Friends in College? Easiest Ways

This article will demonstrate how to make new friends in college whether it’s your first semester or your last semester.

The ability to make friends with people from various backgrounds and around the world is one of the benefits of attending college. And even though it’s frequently said that making friends at school should be simple, social anxiety can still arise.

Here are five practical suggestions to get you started on your quest for college pals.

How to Make Friends in College?

Attend Sporting Events

Every student bonds together at sporting events over a common desire for their team to triumph. This can spark some great energy and open doors for interaction. The team’s performance during the game, the team’s performance as a whole, and the student’s feelings following a win or loss can all be openly discussed by students with others.

As a result, making small talk with strangers at random may be less intimidating because there is usually a single topic that almost everyone is willing to discuss.

Related: How to Make Friends as a Homeschooler?

Do Homework in More Social Settings

Instead of staying in your dorm to finish some assignments on days when you have a lighter workload than usual, choose to work in more social settings. On campus, locations like the Howard Thurman Center (HTC) or the George Sherman Union (GSU) are excellent locations for both socializing and working.

Check out BU Beach if the weather is nice. Someone there will undoubtedly give up a few study sessions for a well-earned frisbee break.

Join Clubs Or On-campus Organizations

A great place for college students to meet people is through clubs or other mission-driven organizations. Everyone in the group is drawn together by the activity or goal of the club or organization, and as a result, attendees frequently share the same opinions about it.

Additionally, it offers conversation starters tailored to the occasion, making it simpler to establish rapport.

Get to Know Your Roommate

There are a lot of roommates for students living in dorms. Getting to know your student’s roommate, if they have one, is a simple way to investigate potential social connections.

Even though there is no assurance they will bond in that way with a roommate, it is still a good idea to give it a shot. Roommates will have plenty of opportunities to interact one-on-one, but even just a passing familiarity could make the year easier whether or not they become friends.

Introduce Yourself to the Person Sitting next to You in Class

As students, we are frequently either in class or working on assignments for one of our numerous classes. So introduce yourself before class starts. People tend to sit in the same seat for most classes, which you’ll notice with time.

This will give you the chance to develop a friendship by building on your initial greeting. In relation to school, text anyone you’ve connected with who is a Terrier and with whom you are working on a group project.

Because of that presentation, you have to give later this semester, chances are you already have their phone number.

Try Greek Life

There is a sense of camaraderie that comes with fraternities and sororities. Greek life has its benefits and drawbacks, but the social benefits are frequently the most well-known.

This option can benefit both extroverted and introverted students because it fosters a sense of kinship inherently.

Just make sure your student concentrates on sororities or fraternities that align with their values, academic focus, or another aspect of their college lives, increasing the likelihood that they’ll have a common interest with the other members.

Attend Dorm Parties

Attending any dorm parties can help your student who is living in a residence hall get to know the residents of their building without putting them under a lot of pressure. Additionally, social situations like parties might make shy students more aware of other introverts with whom they might feel more at ease interacting.

Less outgoing students might not be as likely to want to be the center of attention. They may decide to remain nearer the party’s perimeter instead.

As a result, shy students may be able to find introverts to talk to, and it might be simpler to get along with them since you both might have the same opinions about these gatherings.

Walk Around and Meet the People

As nervous as you are to be on campus, other students in the dorms share your excitement. Ask your roommates to accompany you as you visit your neighbors’ doors to get to know them if you have roommates. Bring some treats or snacks with you, if you want, to start things off.

Don’t forget to go to the events your RA sponsors as well. They’re intended to bring the people living on your floor together so that they can develop new bonds in a friendly setting.

Be Authentic, Be You

Live by the Alexandra Elle mantra, “Love yourself and be yourself at all times.” It is crucial that you enjoy college. Because they will be the primary forces behind developing enduring friendships, you should make sure that you spend time with people who value your special qualities.

How to Make Friends at a Big University?

It can be intimidating to make friends at a large university at first, but keep in mind that many other students are also freshmen. They will value your outreach because they also want to make friends. It will become even simpler for you to strike up conversations and make friends as your confidence grows.

Even if you attend a university with a large student body, there are still a few more ways to make friends.

• Most Americans are open and friendly, and they have a tendency to be outgoing. If your culture is different from those around you, pay attention to how they behave and try to mimic them to see what works and what feels natural to you.
• Show a keen interest in others. Show that you are interested in others if you want them to like you. Speculate and pay attention to the responses. Keep in mind what people say so you can later use it as a conversation starter. Ask for clarification if someone says something you do not understand.
• Keep an eye out for openings. Stop by a neighbor’s dorm room if the door is open and say hello. Ask to sit down if there is a seat available in the dining room. Spend time in common spaces like lobbies and coffee shops. Making friends is much simpler when you look for opportunities to meet new people.
• Keep your dorm room door open to welcome visitors. Ask someone to join you when you go to the dining hall, the gym, or a party. One never knows when a casual invitation might develop into a lifelong friendship.

Meeting new people can be intimidating at first, but it is worth the effort and plays a significant role in your international education.

How to Make Friends at Community College?

Sometimes it’s harder to make friends in community college than it is in a four-year institution. At community colleges, students don’t frequently live in dorms, so shared housing isn’t always available. Similarly, because many go home for dinner, students might not eat on campus very often.

There may be fewer clubs, sports teams, and other similar organizations at community colleges. Once more, this might restrict a student’s options.

Engage With Classmates

Engaging in class discussions with other students is frequently the quickest way for your student to begin forming connections. The class itself provides a point of connection and can be an icebreaker.

To start a conversation, your student can ask others what they thought of the previous lesson, why they chose to enroll in a particular course, and other similar questions.

Get a Study Partner

Asking a classmate to be your study partner could open the door to a future friendship, similar to the previous point. For students who are shy, the class and the readings lay the groundwork for less intimate conversation that may feel more at ease.

Additionally, working with a study partner can be a one-on-one endeavor. That might be helpful for students who struggle with large groups of people they don’t know well.

Attend Any Events

Numerous events are held at community colleges all year long. These events, which might include concerts, career fairs, or special lectures, bring students together outside of the classroom.

Your student can meet other students who share their interests by participating in activities that they enjoy. Furthermore, the occasion might be brought up as a starting point for a discussion, giving your student a simple way to interact with others.

Work on Campus

Having a job on campus gives you the chance to interact with other students in settings other than just social ones. The majority of the time, initial engagement entails meeting student needs.

For instance, if your student works in the bookstore, the conversation starter will typically center on learning what the other student needs to find.

The conversation can then be continued by your student asking inquiries about the need. For instance, if the student buys a textbook, your student can inquire as to whether they are enthusiastic about the class.

Connect With Students Online

In some cases, shy students might feel more at ease making an initial connection with someone through writing. As an illustration, they could use social media to contact a classmate and start a conversation by posing a question about the course that both of them are taking.

After that discussion, when they next meet in class, speaking up might seem less intimidating.

Be Friendly Toward Everyone

Sometimes, shyer or more reserved students experience anxiety when it comes to making the first move. By being friendly to everyone you meet, you can sometimes lessen the need to do so.

An extroverted student might, for instance, be prompted to say hello to someone simply by making eye contact and grinning. This would allow the other student to start the conversation.

Why Do You Have the Friends?

Your first friends were made where? For most people, the answer fits into one of two categories:

1. Your school
2. Your neighborhood

What do these two regions have in common? You spent the majority of your time there when you were young. Simply put, the fact that you interacted with them frequently over a long period of time is the reason you had the friends you did.

There are some significant caveats at this point. Not all factors are determined by geography, I realize. Additionally, shared interests and personality traits are crucial. It was obvious that some people drew you in more than others.

Perhaps the other person was drawn to your calmness while you admired their outgoing nature. Perhaps you two enjoyed trading Pokémon cards or decided that recess was more appealing than storytime. But the places and people you spent the majority of your time with had a significant impact.

Once more, the key factor was spending lots of time together doing shared activities, activities that reflected at least some sort of shared interest or value. For example, people join marching bands for a variety of reasons, but most of them are likely to have at least a few of those in common.

Conclusion: Make Friends in College

Even though making friends can be anxiety-inducing, we hope you will bear in mind these advice in order to create enduring bonds.

Your time as an international student will be much more enjoyable if you know how to make friends in college. You will create enduring relationships and friendships. You never know who you might meet if you just smile and say hello.

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