<p>Okay, so I've been reading the threads on this forum and judging by some of the comments made (especially by ahduke) it seems that if you're from out of state, it's really difficult to make friends? I know this happens at almost all public universities, but is it really a major issue at UNC?</p>
<p>I'm out of state and I'm definitely not having any issues. However, I'd lean towards saying that if you are shy and not very outgoing, out of state at UNC might not be the best idea...</p>
<p>By the way, most of my other friends are out of state. the population seems surprisingly larger and easier to find than I would have guessed. i have friends from everywhere -- florida, cali, virginia, new york, jersey, north carolina, maryland, and everywhere in between.</p>
<p>^^^^I am shy, and I still have no problem making friends.</p>
<p>Thats not true at all!!!!
In fact, my friends that went to our state school (UT-Austin) or Private Schools are having a much harder time.. and they are wayy more outgoing than I am!
People here are incredibly firendly and it feels like UNC puts a lot of effort into making sure that people meet others... they have orientation, week of welcome, all these awesome activities, free movies on fridays.
I do, however, recommend you stay in Campus your first year. I met most of my friends in orientation/classes, but it helps a lot if you have a meal plan/are a walk a way from the people you meet.</p>
<p>Unless you sit around and mope on online communities, making new friends isn't difficult at UNC.</p>
<p>It is not hard at all.</p>
<p>it all depends. if you'll do anything to be accepted then it's easy, i'm sure. if you don't, then it may not be easy. apparently i chose the worst place to live and have had the worst luck making any friends. i visited an old friend at wake this weekend and the kids i met there were far more friendly and open to making new friends than i've experienced here. it may have been because i had a friend with me already .. who knows. but look at yourself and see if you are the kind of person than is accepted easily or not. i used to be, but that all changed here. and avoid granville like the plague--because you certainly wont meet people here.</p>
<p>i don't know bout that, I'm a very blunt person and have a hard time keepin my mouth shut sometimes, which should make people avoid me, but I've had no problems getting to know people. However, I'm in marching band which becomes your family in a way, so I would say get involved in something that u are really passionate about and ur bound to meet people!!!!</p>
<p>joining clubs is a great way to make friends!I felt horrible here the first few days w/o friends.But once u make some this place seems like heaven...................
Onething I've notices in UNC is that though there are people from different races, they dont intermix much. Everyone hangs around w/ people of their own race/color.....may be they feel comfortable that way</p>
<p>making friends as an out-of-state student is extremely hard as a transfer, though i would suspect that it is considerably easier for freshmen. the difficulty of making friends as a transfer is pretty much universal to all colleges, so that's really nothing that can particularly be attributed to the climate of unc. unlike at most state schools, carolina is fairly selective of in-state students (about 50 % get in) this helps to break up groups of friends forcing them to make new ones here. its no like at less selective state u's where everyone from your senior class goes to the same school and continues the same social life in high school. there's some reordering that occurs here, even if it only lasts for a short while.</p>
<p>for me joining clubs has been a must at carolina. so far it seems that out-of-state students have a greater tendency to do this (likely for the same reasons i did). joining clubs is a great way to seek out other out-of-staters. for example i caught a ride to go volunteer somewhere this weekend, and everyone in the car ended up being out-of-state students- a rare feat at a school where the out-of-state pop. is an 18% minority.</p>
<p>I am an international student who dont speak English very well. I'm the only one from my school and from my country.So far havent met anyone of my nationality. Moreover I'm extremely shy.But surprisingly I feel like home at Carolina.People are all so friendly.
Out of state..........why cant u make friends?U all speak English as everyone here does.And friendship takes sometime to establish.Watch out for lonely people and go and talk w/ them, instead of trying to get into a "cool" people friends group.</p>
<p>Sunnyrain</p>
<p>Bravo....what a great post!!!!</p>
<p>I am very happy to hear that you feel at home at Carolina....I still firmly believe that Carolina, while an extraordinarily friendly place, will still be what one wants it to be. Freshman year is a time of great transition and change. Your transition has been far more difficult than ANY out of state student could ever imagine, yet you've found that it isn't hard to meet people and make friends. My best wishes for continued success at UNC.</p>
<p>i agree that joining clubs is a way to meet people. i've had fun bashing liberals in the republicans club here .. but i cant say this place is heaven. </p>
<p>i've come to learn that basically my living situation at UNC is the root to my problems and so to any OOS looking at UNC, dont live in granville towers unless you really want to go greek.</p>
<p>I'm sure liberals are aching to be your friend when you bash them in your club. I'm sure Granville is partly to blame, but I still think you need to check your attitude at the door. From what I've gathered, the Young Dems don't meet to bash conservatives, they're just trying to make progress. I hope that the republicans don't just meet to antagonize the democrats. That'd be really mature.</p>
<p>oh for crying out loud .. my liberal roommate always is bashing me when i am doing anything like watching foxnews. dont give me that double standard. UNC is a place where we cant even put up a 9/11 memorial without getting it sabotaged by a group of people. please, it is laughable to tell me not to bash liberals and that's my problem. i've had my views and choices insulted daily in this place. the liberals arent shy about bashing republicans. if anything, it's the dems that are the immature ones by having to sabotage anything that is against what they believe. i've had experience with both sides, so dont give me that crap. </p>
<p>and besides, there are no liberals in the republicans club .. so why would bashing them offend them if they arent present? you make no sense, me boy. i certainly dont bash them in public as i'd be outnumbered by 10 to 1.</p>
<h2>"i certainly dont bash them in public as i'd be outnumbered by 10 to 1."</h2>
<p>Well...it is John Edwards country...lol!</p>
<p>Maybe just a general 'no bashing' policy is in order on both sides of the aisle.</p>
<p>So basically your argument is that Democrats whine to you, and so that means that you're taking the high road by joining a club to bash them. Right? So they're the immature ones? I'm not saying that anyone should whine to anyone, it should be productive, but watch your tone for crying out loud.</p>
<p>I did give you crap, but I didn't give you a double standard. I didn't say anything about it being okay for liberals to bash conservatives.</p>
<p>When you post in here, it sounds like all you do is make judgments. In staters, liberals, democrats (the two are distinct), Granville kids, fraternities. I know you're venting, and to an extent that's therapeutic, but maybe you should just try and start fresh. yada yada yada, nothing you haven't heard before.</p>
<p>I should also point out that I'm a girl. Don't feel bad for assuming that I was a guy, because there's nothing about my posts that makes it clear.</p>
<p>"the liberals arent shy about bashing republicans. if anything, it's the dems that are the immature ones by having to sabotage anything that is against what they believe. i've had experience with both sides, so dont give me that crap."</p>
<p>Thanks for stereotyping a huge group of people.</p>
<p>UNC is for the most part a fairly liberal place, "the blue island in the red sea" as someone once called it. That said , UNC also is a very tolerant place so any belief/poltical leaning is okay as long as it isn't shoved in someone's face.</p>
<p>My D is at U South Carolina which is politically about 178 degrees away from UNC and she is also a liberal in her political views.</p>
<p>Interestingly, she has been able to hold her own and laments that she finds it interesting that the hard core conservatives around her are very closed minded about everything and anything that opposes their point of view to the point of not wanting to listen but instead rail against anyone who call themselves liberal. On the other hand as a liberal, she is always open to allowing others to express their thoughts, beliefs and opinions. She may not agree with them but can coexist with them and believes they have the right to their own views. She finds the haughty stance of many of the conservatives to be in and of itself contradictory to what they say they stand for. </p>
<p>She thinks that a lot of it is based on inherited belief systems and has found that after a good debate she often can get someone to begin to realize that they should have their own views and beliefs and not be parroting what they have heard growing up. College is all about learning and GROWING. If anyone is unable to be open to listen to divergent opinions and judge them on their own merits rather than categorizing them as unimportant or stupid because they came from someone with a different political bent be it liberal or conservative then they haven't yet come to fully understand what a liberal arts education really means. It's been interesting experience for her and I am thankful that she has been up to the challenge.</p>