<p>I started college in a small Architecture program where I made friendly easily, because we were all Freshmen, and it was a pretty friendly environment. Then mid-Sophomore year I transferred out to a large urban university. It seems that most people made friends Freshmen year and by end of Sophomore year weren't really looking for more. I made 2 good friends and have a lot of acquaintances, but I miss having a solid group of friends like in high school and Freshmen year of my old college. </p>
<p>It might just be my new college because it's a very urban environment, many people live in apartments off-campus, and social life revolves around the city instead of a greek scene or anything. I do have a job on campus, I'm in a club already, I'm pretty laid back and friendly, all the usual stuff. Really I'm just looking for tips from other Transfer students. Thanks!</p>
<p>I go to a very large urban university and have discovered the same thing. Except forget freshman year, most people still hang out with people they knew in high school. </p>
<p>I found there are really only two ways to make friends:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Party scene. I know it may sound juvenile, but most college kids want to do something they consider fun when they hang out with others. A large amount of college students find this fun.</p></li>
<li><p>Common interests. Usually this means a club, but it could be any occasion where you have a common interest with another student AND there is some connection that makes the encounter more than just a total stranger encounter.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I have found the vast majority of college students at urban commuter or resident commuter universities won’t give strangers the time of day. It is very difficult to make friends if you do not have some connection. If you live in the same building, that might be a connection. Participation in a common club is definitley a connection. Being in the same class…depends…it’s certainly possible to make friends in a class but doesn’t happen very often. </p>
<p>But just approaching people? Not going to work…unless you are pretty high on the attractiveness scale and are approaching someone of the opposite sex. Other than that you set off the “creeper” alarm in females and guys will just say “cool story bro” and then move on (this assumes you are male).</p>
<p>Yeah, I do like to go out and have fun, but here in NYC the party scene basically revolves around clubs and bars where most people are non-college students in their twenties. Going to bars and talking to strangers isn’t a good way to make close friends - people generally make friends first, then go out with them to party together. I know I’m generalizing here. But chances are you didn’t meet your best friend in a bar at 3am, right? I’m looking for close friendships, not hookups (I’m already involved with someone).</p>
<p>I agree with you on the class thing. I’ve made a lot of distant friends in class - the kind you grab coffee with or just hang out around - but not any close friends like I had before.</p>
<p>I’m a girl, not guy. I’m generally pretty friendly and laid back. It’s not that I have trouble getting people to like me, it’s just everyone seems to have a “core” group of friends from Freshmen year, you know? Even if they ask me to hang out, even if we do stuff together and they seem to like me, I feel I never get that close to them because their closest friends are still the ones they met early on in college.</p>