is it hard to make friends as a transfer?

<p>i'm want to transfer fall '10 or spring '11.
it's such a big school wouldn't everyone kind of have their groups/cliques already.
where would i live since i don't know anyone.
wouldn't it be so much harder at a big school like UT, and i also don't want to join a sorority.</p>

<p>somewhat yes I am a transfer student. I am in FIMRC, quiz bowl, recycling club, and other activities. I also try to volunteer at places and help tutor ESL students (for free). But I still just know like about 3-4 people. and the three people I really talk to in my dorm are three ESL students. And I know one student from my orgo chem class</p>

<p>It’s not hard to make friends, it’s just not as easy as a Freshman. You do end up making a lot of friends with freshman, especially if you are living on-campus. Freshman are usually looking to make friends the most the first 2-3 weeks of the year. Sophomores and up are not nearly as open, but it’s not like you can’t make friends with them at all.</p>

<p>In a sense, a transfer student is more like a Freshman than any other class. When you meet someone, be sure to remember his/her name, always say hi when you see him/her around. Then when the opportunity presents itself, talk to him/her.</p>

<p>eh… it kinda is. i transferred this semester and all the people i know and talk to are from my high school or were CAP students from my previous school. i just met up with them again and i consider myself lucky. the new people i met are freshman.</p>

<p>but there’s spirit groups?? idk. you’ll be fine! i’ll be your friend :)</p>

<p>this just makes me extra nervous.</p>

<p>This is true to some extent anywhere. And the best solution is to naturally approach your first year like a freshman (or what’s more commonly called “first-year student”). So live in the freshman dorms. Join a freshman interest group. You’re new to university just like they are. In fact, many of them are probably the exact same age as you. And unless you go around mentioning to everyone that you’re a sophomore, nobody will even know. And virtually nobody will care anyways. You’ll be fine.</p>

<p>To get to know quite a few new people you will see all year, get involved with an organization that has a lot going on - band or one of the spirit clubs or one of the active Texas Union committees or the Daily Texan or APO service club, something that does a lot. Or live in a dorm and be active in dorm government. Or live in a co-op; you’ll get to know a lot of people that way. Find a good “group” for season tickets for fall football games, and you will sit with that group at every game and get to know them. </p>

<p>Use facebook to keep at least a little bit in touch with people, so you don’t completely lose touch with a “friend from class” after that class is over.</p>

<p>is it even much harder to make friends if i were to transfer in the spring?</p>

<p>I’m going to say yes to that, too.</p>

<p>There will be more new freshmen and new transfer people in the fall who are looking for new friends; there are fewer people like that in the spring.</p>

<p>Yes it is harder in spring transfer.And yes I can be your friend.</p>

<p>Be social. You’ll make friends.</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s hard at all to make friends. This is my first semester at UT (transfer from ACC) I’m a much older student (28) and was worried about but it’s been fine so far. I don’t live on or near campus either, and I haven’t really started to get involved in clubs yet since I’m giving my self some time to settle into a routine. I met several people at orientation and through UTransition (transfer student group), and despite my classes being huge there are a lot of people who are in more than one of them with me and we connected within the first couple of weeks simply by recognizing each other as we walked into the room. It’s been a little over a month since school started and I’d say I’ve met about 20 people I consistently have lunch with, study with, or just B.S. with, and I’m sure if I was on campus more or lived nearby I’d know more people and spend more time with them.</p>

<p>thanks sundoll your comment gave me a lot of relief!!</p>

<p>Update, I did make some more friends. I went to this camp called the Texas Union Leadership Weekend 2010. I know a lot more people there at camp. I met this one person today going to class and we said Hi. And I discovered another guy who was living in my dorm in that camp.</p>

<p>Could someone help explain how it could possibly be hard to make friends at UT? With 50k students, I thought making friends would be a little easy. But it seems like now that I’m about to transfer, I’m hearing more and more that unless you go greek, it’s going to be tough to make long lasting friendships, especially as a transfer.</p>

<p>This is has me worried because even though I’m friendly, I’m not a very out going person and I usually need to know someone a little bit before I can have fun and be “real” (non-small talk) with them. Of course, I open up with a drink or two, but if the students already at UT don’t want to branch out to make new friends then well…</p>

<p>Should I start looking at other schools due to my interest in making real friends, not just acquaintances, that care about staying in contact long after graduation? If so, are there actually any smaller, liberal publics in or around Texas with a good academic reputation? The ones I’ve looked at are no where near the caliber of UT’s.</p>

<p>You don’t have to go greek, you just have to put yourself out there. Most of the outreach efforts are directed at freshmen, but transfer students are certainly welcome! Get involved in groups related to your major, hobbies, faith, politics, etc. There are also a lot of leadership development opportunities that tend to attract people from a variety of majors and backgrounds. [Office</a> of the Dean of Students - Student Activities and Leadership Development](<a href=“http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/index.php]Office”>http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/index.php)
If you will be a sophomore, you may want to live on campus your first year. If you are a junior, you might want to look into one of the co-ops.</p>

<p>I have met plenty of people at UT as a freshman but there are few that I consider to be close friends, more like acquaintances. I have a couple of close friends from high school so that was some relief. </p>

<p>I live one of the upper floors of San Jac and it can be pretty hard to make close friends from that dorm. There are a lot of people from my floor that I have never seen/met, and it’s probably due to the private bathrooms.</p>

<p>I’ve heard that it’s easy to make friends from your dorm, so I might have unfortunately ended up with some less social people.</p>

<p>Well for one, you don’t see the same people every day. so that is why it is hard. And second, the people at UT are not so opening when talking to a transfer student like me in the middle of the semester. In fact, my lab partner look down upon me when I am doing orgo chem labs with him. The professor I am having orgo chem also does that to a degree. </p>

<p>When I have office hours (btw my prof never helps anyone outside his office hour), a group of students are next to him and the prof usually ignores my questions.</p>

<p>Xtra, you’re saying your o-chem professor ignores your questions because you’re a transfer student? That’s awful.</p>