{"id":24,"date":"2019-09-02T09:49:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T09:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/?p=24"},"modified":"2019-09-02T09:51:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T09:51:18","slug":"how-to-make-friends-at-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/","title":{"rendered":"10 great tips to make friends at university"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting university is a huge, exciting step in life and is bound to have you feeling a range of emotions. You may be moving out, gaining a new sense of independence in addition to having a brand-new city to explore \u2013 the world is your oyster! There\u2019s a lot to look forward to, but it can feel a little daunting at times. A big part of university is stepping out of your comfort zone and making new friends, and it\u2019s only natural to feel a little nervous about this. So, to provide you with some support, we\u2019ve made a list of the top 10 things to help you settle in and expand your social network:

1. Join university\/freshers\/accommodation groups
<\/strong>Once you\u2019ve been accepted to the university, get yourself signed up to all possible, relevant groups on social media  \u2013 whether that\u2019s accommodation groups to meet your future flatmates and chat over what to pack, or course groups to meet other course mates and get to know them a little better in advance of your start date. General freshers\u2019 pages can be extremely useful too so that you can make connections with a variety of different people at the university (be it first years, international students or student representatives) who may be in the same boat as you. Signing up to a general fresher\u2019s page will also ensure that you\u2019re up to date with the latest events and activities that may be organised by the university. Facebook is a great place to start to find groups such as this, but also Instagram and Twitter can be just as useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Facebook Freshers Group for University of Essex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Pack smart
<\/strong>This may be something that you originally overlooked, but what you pack can also be a big contributor to first impressions and breaking the ice. Things like speakers to host parties and boost the atmosphere; night out outfits or accessories that you can lend to flatmates; board games or movies for a night in with your flatmates or course friends; or a door stop to keep your room door open show that you\u2019re up for a chat can all help with those initial few weeks of settling in and getting to know people better. Really put some time and effort into things you can bond over with others, and if you think it\u2019s useful, add it to the list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Students playing Beer Pong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Help others move in
<\/strong>Once the big move has finally arrived, and you\u2019ve managed to bring all your belongings safely to your new room, it can be a great idea to knock on a few doors and offer a helping hand to your flatmates. It not only instigates the first conversation and shows that you\u2019re thoughtful but can be a way for you to get to know one another whilst skipping any awkward conversations\/small talk. You can bond over snacks they\u2019ve packed, a similar fashion sense or give recommendations on where to hang posters or laugh off what you\u2019ve forgotten to pack. Helping flatmates to move in not only gives you a sense of who they might be but also gives you that first topic of discussion whilst keeping you busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Student helping flatmate move boxes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Join a society
<\/strong>Whilst your flat and course may be great ways to meet people and socialise, there\u2019s no better place to meet a range of people than by joining a society. Universities tend to have a range of societies to meet everyone\u2019s needs so chances are that you\u2019ll find a few that you\u2019re really keen on with a group of welcoming, pre-existing members and group of new members such as yourself that you\u2019ll have some common ground with, and make some wonderful friendships with. Try not to restrict yourself and sign up to a couple that draw you in. That way, you can commit to weekly activities and enjoy any evening socials whilst making sure you\u2019re not compromising your studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
University Rowing Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Decoration can be key
\n<\/strong>Less\nobvious than the previous point, but ensuring your room is presentable and\ndecorated nicely can definitely exude a welcoming atmosphere for others and encourage\ntheir company. If your room is a tip with very few personal touches, it can\nmake it seem cold and less inviting. However, a tidy, clean and cosy room has\nthe opposite effect. Personal touches such as photographs, posters, pillows,\ntrophies\/medals, favourite books, blankets, mood boards, fairy lights can all\nhave a positive effect in welcoming guests while giving them in insight into\nwho you are as a person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Group of students chilling in their apartment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. Be nice<\/strong>
Compliments, considerate and not the messy housemate, cook for people, support them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Three students eating together<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7. Sit with course mates
<\/strong>Walking into a lecture theatre with a sea of new faces can be a little scary \u2013 but don\u2019t let that stop you. One of the best ways to get to know people on your course is by sitting with others and introducing yourself: chances are others will be doing the same as you. It is not recommended to sit at the back in the corner on your own as it somewhat isolates you from others, so instead try your best to take the proactive approach. Once you\u2019ve done this on the first few days, extend your social circle and try to change things up and sit with different people (maybe bringing along the people you met in the first few days) so that you can get to know everyone and see who you click with best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Making friends in the lecture hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

8. Attend\/organise events
\n<\/strong>Everyone\nloves to have something to look forward to, so what better way to expand your\ncircle of friends and get to know people by organising an event. Whether you\nwant something low-key like a study group, something chill like a game night,\nor something more upbeat like hosting a party, shake things up and invite a\ngroup of people you\u2019re getting to know to an event. When there\u2019s a group of you\nand an activity to direct your attention at, conversations will be flowing and\nit\u2019s likely you\u2019ll get to know those around you on a deeper level. Organising\nevents is also a great way to open up invitations to plus ones to wider the\nscope of new people you can meet.
\n
\nOn the other hand, adopting a \u2018yes\u2019 attitude to university events is guaranteed\nto get you meeting new people and making new friends. Whether it\u2019s a group\nmovie night at a course mate\u2019s flat or a freshers\u2019 welcome evening in the\ncommon room, pushing yourself to attend a range of events will benefit you when\nit comes to socialising and making connections. Freshers week is buzzing with\nall types of events, so this is the best time to pluck up the courage and\nattend as many as you fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Group of students out on the town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

9. Be approachable\/open<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following on from the point about packing smart, a doorstop can be a really great way to physically show that you\u2019re approachable and open to socialising. Eating meals and studying in communal areas can be a great way to do this too. Conveying this to your flatmates and any visitors will make people more likely to approach you and continue to build a friendship. Alongside this physical display, little things you do in interactions can enhance this. For example, body language can play a big part in showing that you\u2019re open \u2013 rather than sitting with your arms crossed, try to look engaged and really invest yourself in the conversation and getting to know the people around you. Ask people questions about themselves and share experiences: give them an insight into your interests and personal life too (within reason). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Remember you\u2019re all in the same boat!
<\/strong>This is the most important point to bear in mind. Anything that you yourself are feeling, it can be a reasonable assumption that many others are in exactly the same boat and have the same fears and stresses. Hopefully this can give you a sense of comfort and give you the encouragement to put yourself out there, make the best of university by making the effort to get to know as many people as you can, and make some really fantastic, lifelong friendships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
You’re all in the same boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Starting university is a huge, exciting step in life and is bound to have you feeling a range of emotions. You may be moving out, gaining a new sense of independence in addition to having a brand-new city to explore \u2013 the world is your oyster! There\u2019s a lot to look forward to, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[4,5,3],"yoast_head":"\n10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction Starting university is a huge, exciting step in life and is bound to have you feeling a range of emotions. You may be moving out, gaining a new sense of independence in addition to having a brand-new city to explore \u2013 the world is your oyster! There\u2019s a lot to look forward to, but...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Studentio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-02T09:49:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-02T09:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/students-chilling-in-apartment.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"All Answers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"All Answers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/\",\"name\":\"10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-02T09:49:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-02T09:51:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cab6c19fc712aba9da4bb06d6a5e3d90\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 great tips to make friends at university\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Studentio\",\"description\":\"A student lifestyle blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cab6c19fc712aba9da4bb06d6a5e3d90\",\"name\":\"All Answers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2c5b73f861f961c4a7fd212308b6a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2c5b73f861f961c4a7fd212308b6a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"All Answers\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/author\/aateamcomms\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio","og_description":"Introduction Starting university is a huge, exciting step in life and is bound to have you feeling a range of emotions. You may be moving out, gaining a new sense of independence in addition to having a brand-new city to explore \u2013 the world is your oyster! There\u2019s a lot to look forward to, but...","og_url":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/","og_site_name":"Studentio","article_published_time":"2019-09-02T09:49:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-02T09:51:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/students-chilling-in-apartment.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"All Answers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"All Answers","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/","url":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/","name":"10 great tips to make friends at university - Studentio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-02T09:49:43+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-02T09:51:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cab6c19fc712aba9da4bb06d6a5e3d90"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/2019\/09\/02\/how-to-make-friends-at-university\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 great tips to make friends at university"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/","name":"Studentio","description":"A student lifestyle blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cab6c19fc712aba9da4bb06d6a5e3d90","name":"All Answers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2c5b73f861f961c4a7fd212308b6a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2c5b73f861f961c4a7fd212308b6a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"All Answers"},"url":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/author\/aateamcomms\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentio.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}