8 Ways To Meet New People At College

Whether you’re going to school with your best friends or moving somewhere you don’t know anyone at all, it’s always important to meet new people. Make new friends, try something you enjoy and get out of your dorm room with these tricks to meeting new people at college.

1. Join Facebook Groups

Before you move into your dorms, a great way to get to know the people you’ll be living with is by joining the Facebook group for your hall or floor. This lets you get a feel for the people you’ll be spending all year with and to keep up to date with what’s happening during the year.

2. Go To Events Aimed At New Students

Orientations, school tours, and freshman events are great ways to meet new people and to get settled in at school. Some of your best friends can end up being the people you sit next to for an hour during a first-week presentation. Just remember everyone else is in the same boat and looking to make connections, so don’t be shy.

3. Join Clubs

When you get to university you’ll figure out that your niche interests are actually pretty common, so what easier way to meet new people than by joining a group with similar interests to you? An added bonus you’ve already got an icebreaker built in!

4. Organize A Study Group

Want to socialize and be productive? A study group gets you the best of both worlds. If your struggling in a class chance is so are other people, so reach out and set up a study group. You get to even out your workload and meet new people all at once.

5. Say Yes To Everything (You Can)

There can be days when all you want is to sit in bed watching Netflix (because who doesn’t?). Even if you’ve mentally prepared yourself for a night in, take advantage of every invitation you get. You can binge Sabrina any night, but you might only be invited for taco’s once, so grab the opportunity.

6. Sit Next To People In Class

You know who you have something in common with? Your classmates! From Monday through Friday you’re spending hours a day in classes with hundreds of people, so why not reach out to them. Sitting next to new people in classes is a great way to meet new people.

You don’t want to be the person talking all through your lecture so if you’re going to start up a conversation do it before class, during a break or after the lecture is done. Chat about upcoming projects, set up a study group or just complain about how many readings your professor set, anything class related is fair game. Turn a class friend into a real one by grabbing lunch or coffee before class.

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7. Network With Your Existing Friends

Once you’ve made friends use them to meet more new people. Everyone will have different interests or majors so you’ll never run out of new people to meet or things to talk about.

8. Be Yourself And Don’t Worry Too Much

You want to meet new people but make sure you are being yourself with these new people. University can be a place to reinvent yourself, but don’t lose your whole identity trying to make new friends. Try out things you are interested in and put yourself out there and things will work out.

If you’re heading away from home for the first time, the idea of meeting new people can be scary but follow some of these tips and you’ll find making friends isn’t as hard as you think.