<p>I used to live in Fairfax county!.. in Falls Church…skyline towers actually…before that we used to live in Alexandria for a while. I miss living in VA so much.</p>
<p>how about UMD -CP that school is high up my list…since it’s a state school how clique-y is it?</p>
<p>I haven’t noticed much in the way of cliques. Obviously birds of the same feather will tend to flock together but overall it’s as cliquey as any big state university (read: not much). It’s also a lot closer to DC than GMU is.</p>
<p>And yeah, IDK what your experiences in Fairfax were but I’ll just assume you know that it’s pretty darn suburban.</p>
<p>“The problem with big schools is that freshman arrive in cliques.”</p>
<p>This is just horrifically untrue 
</p>
<p>At big schools there will be plenty of people from all over looking to meet new friends. The motives of new freshman at big schools are no different than the motives of people at small schools. I’m super shy and met soooo many people looking for new friends here at UMDCP. Did I sometimes meet a group of friends from the same HS or something? Sure I did. In fact, I even befriended some of them and gained like, 10 friends at once versus just one. So even though it WASN’T by ANY stretch of the imagination the majority of my experience, it wasn’t that bad even when it did happen.</p>
<p><em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>Also, DCHurricane makes a good point. Commuting percentage makes a pretty big difference. A small school with a high commuting percentage is not good. A big school with like, half and half, still ensures that there will be thousands on campus.</p>
<p>I’ll agree with the notion that freshman in big schools don’t arrive in cliques. I also go to UMD. I’m a freshman and I just moved in last Thursday, and most of the people don’t already have a group of friends here and are very open to meeting new people. Granted, there’s some exceptions (my new friend’s roommate has spent most of her time with HS friends and doesn’t talk to her much) but for most people that’s not the case. And I’m from NY, so I didn’t know anyone. </p>
<p>I should also add that I, like the OP, am a very shy person. I struggle with taking the initiative to introduce myself to people; I’d much rather be approached by them. I also came from a high school of 450, and am now 1 of 26,000 undergrads. However, within the few hours here I met two people at our first floor meeting that I have hung out with the whole week and have gone to dinner with every night so far. And I was absolutely terrified that I wouldn’t find friends.</p>
<p>I can be shy or intimidated with new people sometimes. I’ve just started at a huge university and I have an okay amount of friends. I’m happy with it. I like my alone time so I don’t mind sitting in my room for parts of the day, but I always can go out at night. You just need to be able to put your shyness behind you for just a little bit, and make the first friendly gesture. After that it will be a lot easier.</p>
<p>ucla is very big but very social i’ve found</p>
<p>I would consider tech, but I don’t have the grades.</p>
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<p>I’m shy and thought that I “needed” to be in a small school. It wasn’t a good fit for me. It was easy to make friends in the dorms, so that was cool, but pretty soon it felt insular, everyone knowing each other’s business, people forming little cliques. I was initially happy, but that didn’t last all that long.</p>
<p>When I transferred to a large state school, I was worried about making friends. It worked out much better for me, though. There were more people who shared more of my interests. I really liked the anonymity afforded by larger classes, larger campus, and so on. At the larger school, it was actually easier for me to get away and take a break from dealing with people, but people were always around if I wanted to be with them. With more choices for clubs, activities, and classes, I felt better able to find a place where I felt like I truly fit. Dorm life was a different matter, though, and there wasn’t the close-knit family atmosphere that I’d experienced with my hallmates at the small school.</p>