<p>I’m a junior currently looking at colleges–I want to come up with a list of schools by the end of the school year. I’ve been looking at BU and am wondering how hard it is to make friends in a school so huge. I’ve never really done well socially in large group situations, preferring to scout things out before making a move. Is there a sense of community, since the school is so large?</p>
<p>Absolutely it is easy...Of course its going to be easier to make friends as a freshman, especially if you are living in a large dorm like west or warren, but I swear, I meet people all the time, in class or on the T. I think everyone is anxious to meet people, especially because there a folks from ALL walks of life, and ALL corners of the world here. Its wicked awesome.</p>
<p>BU has about a dozen colleges within the university so that makes it "smaller" in concept. There is a sense of community, especially within each living area/dorm, but I don't see it as a big "rah rah" school spirit kind of place if that helps. I am not into sports much but some dislike the fact that we have no football team yet ice hockey is big at BU and the nearby schools they like to compete against. My room mate found a boyfriend early on so that didn't help except I did get the room to myself more often. I'm not really outgoing either so this was an adjustment but I joined a smaller club and went on some dorm trips in Sept.-Oct. that were organized by our RA so that helped. I was afraid some of the other schools I looked at seemed more like High School. Boston is such a college town. Students are everywhere. If this is your worry then attend the FYSOP program mentioned in other threads since that realy helps with socialization.</p>
<p>it is <em>incredibly</em> easy to make acquaintances from mainly your dorm, college (except CAS), classes, clubs, and friends' friends. everyone, especially freshmen, wants to make friends.. so everyone is friendly. especially the first weeks of school, lots of people will say hi to u. and even months into the schoolyear, people still try to make new friends. just a few weeks ago, a random person who doesnt even live near me and isnt in any of my classes sent me a friend request on facebook.</p>
<p>a few simple ways to make acquaintances:</p>
<p>1) leave your dorm door wide open whenever u can</p>
<p>2) randomly say hi to someone in your class. make some dumb excuse to start talking to him/her: copy lecture notes, homework help, etc.</p>
<p>3) if u see someone u know in a dining hall, ask to sit with them. especially when he's with other friends, you'll find new acquaintances.</p>
<p>4) invite people to stupid things. form study groups, attend extra credit lectures with other classmates, go to club meetings with other people interested in the club, etc.</p>
<p>5) use facebook. especially over the summer, use it to find out who's living near u and who's in your classes. talk to them over the summer. (lots of people who aren't good with being social have good friends they met from facebook). also, don't assume anything based on someone's facebook profile.. get to know them first, otherwise you'll miss out on another opportunity.</p>
<p>6) smile often. look approachable. and say hi to people you've talked to before. BU's campus is a straight line.. you're either walking eastbound or westbound on one side of comm ave, or eastbound or westbound on the other said. despite thousands and thousands of people at BU, every day on the streets you'll see at least one or two people you're acquainted with.</p>
<p>even if you're anything but social, it's really easy to find a network of acquaintances. that said.. u still need choose which acquaintances u want to be close friends with. even if it's easy to be acquainted with people, it's totally your decision which ones to take to a further level.</p>
<p>nathansc-great post!</p>