Making friends at university
Making friends at university just got easier! Uni is one of the best places to make lifetime friendships. There are plenty of places to meet new people, and you have the two secret ingredients needed to make friendships — time and proximity. Follow these tips and you’ll have a new uni bestie in no time.
Make friends in student accommodation
Unless you’re commuting to uni from home, you will probably be in student halls in your first year. Think of them as crèches for wide-eyed students, with everything you need to be an adult in a safe and easy environment.
Freshers’
It is easy to make friends during Freshers’ Week, because everyone is in the same boat. You’ll meet a lot of people, so don’t be sad if the girl you had a deeply emotional chat with at 2am doesn’t become your new bestie. There’s plenty more Freshers in the sea.
Make friends on your course
Even if you don’t quite click with flatmates, you’ll still make friends.
At CU, we’ve found that because students study in small classes and are in for fixed times during the week, it creates a sociable atmosphere.
If you’re not living in student accommodation, this is a key place to make new friends. Mature students or people that live at home can have a great social life. You get as much back as you put in.
You could also become a Student Ambassador which helps you meet people from different courses and doubles as a very handy part-time job!
University societies and sports
Could your new best friend be super into gospel rhythms, pole fitness or Ultimate Frisbee?
If you have a passion, belief or come from a particular cultural background, you can meet like-minded people.
Speak to your CUSU Campus Officer to find out about sports and get your society off the ground.
A few final tips
The trick is to make as many friends from these three categories during your first year. Then find out who sticks with you and focus on them.
To get there, just make sure you don’t make these key mistakes:
- Don’t bury yourself away with a partner. Make them a part of your friendship groups or you risk waking up single one day with friends that haven’t interacted with you in months.
- Miss your home friends but don’t obsess about them at uni. Your new friends will feel like they aren’t good enough and become resentful.
- There are plenty of other ways to make friends at uni but the best part of this experience is figuring it out as you go along. Put in the effort, move out of your comfort zone and you’ll be drowning in new friends before you know it