<p>I guess this mirrors some of the ideas behind the "Your first semester experience at UCs" thread, but I had some questions on how transfers became acclimated to their colleges. </p>
<p>I guess I should provide some pretext for my question.</p>
<p>I was a really social guy in high school, and I've always been able to make friends really easily (pre-college). Part of that is the frequency of which my family moved; I was in different schools every two years or so. </p>
<p>In community college however, I tuned down my social life significantly. Part of it was that I wanted to "buckle down" and get serious about school. The other part of it was that between work and night classes, socializing became marginalized as an activity. </p>
<p>Enter my questions: As a post-transfer, what are some tips you would give incoming transfers so that they can successfully build a social network? Feel free to be school-specific.</p>
<p>As a Fall '08 transfer, what do you plan on doing to meet people?</p>
<p>I have a feeling that my questions may be on the vague side, so absolutely feel free to modify them in your post.</p>
<p>Well so far I think I am going to UCSB (but if I get into UCLA/UCB, then one of those) </p>
<p>I am already at a 4 year CSU so I sort of know how a university feels like</p>
<p>the dorms are a great way to meet people, every time I visit someone that lives in the dorms (at any campus) I end up meeting new people, some of them are interesting and fun, others are dull, shallow, and stupid...</p>
<p>parties are a good way too</p>
<p>going to class helps, especially if you see that "cute girl" that sits at the front (which of course is a place you cant sit because the teacher might notice you sleeping) outside the classroom, you can bring up the "hey you look familiar are u in one of my classes?" conversation if you cant think of any thing else, if you do show up to class she is more likely to recognize you, especially if its a big class...</p>
<p>not really my thing but if your into greek life then a fraternity/sorority is a good way too</p>
<p>I am also at a CSU and it looks like UCSB is where I'll be this fall. My experience at CSU was kind of similar to community college since I commuted to school. Going into UCSB, to meet people, I'm going to try and live in the residence halls and join as many clubs/ECs I can.</p>
<p>Yeah ill also be going to ucsb for the fall, but I plan to taking the summer transition program, which i'm sure i'll meet friends before fall even starts. I'm going to living in a residence hall my first year too, which should also help.</p>
<p>Joining clubs/organizations is one of the best ways to meet people. Personally, I'm not much of a party girl and would rather use my time to meet more serious-minded people who are focused on future career paths, religion, or social causes. BUT I would advise against joining too many clubs, because with the workload from studying you'll likely be stretched thin. First quarter, join several and go to a few of the meetings. Then narrow it down to one or two, dependign on your schedule.</p>
<p>poppin..
I have way more friends in Berkeley than I did at the CCC. One of the first things I did is that several of us transfers on CC from last year added each other to facebook as soon as we got word back that we were going to the same UC. That was cool because some of us hooked up and became great friends. </p>
<p>The next thing I did was study allot in the transfer center.
Berkeley has couches in there and I would often get into long conversations with other transfer students, careful though because its easy to fall asleep on those couches.</p>
<p>Also if you plan to go to Berkeley, you can join the UC Rally Committee. Its the student spirit group and they are constantly having parties, events, you name it. It got to be a little much after a while trying to keep up w/ my academics so I am not really active w/ them anymore, but I had allot of fun and met some great people there and still hang out w/ some of them.</p>
<p>The earlier posts are right, the dorms are a good way to meet people, although I do not stay in a dorm, but allot of my friends do and they all had success in meeting people. </p>
<p>There are tons of groups on campus to fit any interest, so think about joining one.</p>
<p>Take a decal class (student taught class) , they are really fun classes that fit anything from sex 101 to hip hop studies. They are good for credit & although you don't get a letter grade, I have met allot of people in those classes because they are more laid back curriculum.</p>
<p>ha making plans for something thatll happen in september in april lol... im going to UCSB. there should be a thread where we exchange facebooks and such and set up a date.</p>
<p>in the freshmen classes everyone is sociable and introducing themselves during lecture. about 150 facebook friends in a couple weeks. after the first few classes, no one does that so it's up to you to take the initiative. clubs are a must if you want to meet people.</p>
<p>"going to class helps, especially if you see that "cute girl" that sits at the front (which of course is a place you cant sit because the teacher might notice you sleeping) outside the classroom, you can bring up the "hey you look familiar are u in one of my classes?" conversation if you cant think of any thing else, if you do show up to class she is more likely to recognize you, especially if its a big class..."</p>
<p>if you really want to know her, here's what you do. </p>
<p>say something witty class. witty, not a stupid question or a noob question- something that would make people laugh and make the prof think you're a smart guy. once is enough- just make sure she goes to class that day. when you see her on campus, say something like "hey, i think we have chem together" and she'll instantly know who you are because of your comment in class. Introduce yourself and ask her what she thinks of the class/prof. after a short intro and maybe some small talk, make an excuse to leave( "i have a class") so you dont seem like desesperado, even if things are going smoothly. the next time you go to class you can sit next to her.</p>
<p>you know, smiling and eye contact goes a long way. you don't really need to make it so complicated. if she smiles back, then i say you're in a good place.</p>
<p>as for guys, if I go to UCLA, I will be spending time with my cousin in the graduate program. with him and his graduate school peers/friends... i have such a weak spot for socially awkward nerds.</p>
<p>otherwise, i'll be staying on campus and will probably join one club... but i'm not really into the whole participation thing. parties are always fun. great way to meet all kinds of people.</p>
<p>I guess I the only thing I'm planing to do is to live in a dorm. But they're going to kick me out after a year anyways. </p>
<p>I plan to start a club. I suppose that is the best way to meet a friend. Joining a club doesn't help because from past experience, most of the people in the club are so cliquey that they are adverse to meeting new people( or is it just me?). But, when I ran a club, I found it to be easier to make friends. But the club was small so I didn't meet that many people. But people nontheless.</p>
<p>"you know, smiling and eye contact goes a long way. you don't really need to make it so complicated. if she smiles back, then i say you're in a good place."</p>
<p>that works too, but that's assuming that she sees you. what if she doesnt smile back? :(</p>
<p>if you guys make eye contact, then i'm sure that she sees you. just staring at a girl at a distance takes too much time and energy (energy that could be better directed elsewhere).</p>
<p>if she doesn't smile back, then I say move on. if you're confident enough in yourself, you'll try again with a different girl and she should smile back.</p>
<p>i think one of the most classic tricks girls (guys too, but girls more so) play is that when class is over, they pack up at the speed that will make them intercept you as you leave the classroom. hahaha. i don't know how many times i've gone really fast or moved ridiculously slow.</p>
<p>i think the most pleasant surprise (and clear indicator) is when the guy waits for you outside, if you missed his exit. but if you see that she isn't so keen on you being there, ask her a question related to class and then excuse yourself quickly. if she gives a big smile and seems pretty delighted about it (laughing, smiling a lot, flirting) then i say start the whole, "hey, how's it going?" spiel.</p>
<p>sometimes it's so simple... but it can get complicated, lol.</p>
<p>"i think the most pleasant surprise (and clear indicator) is when the guy waits for you outside, if you missed his exit. but if you see that she isn't so keen on you being there, ask her a question related to class and then excuse yourself quickly. if she gives a big smile and seems pretty delighted about it (laughing, smiling a lot, flirting) then i say start the whole, "hey, how's it going?" spiel."</p>
<p>how awkward(pleasant?) is that!! some stranger waits outside for a 1 girl while many other people walk by and he just talks to her. if this truly works, im gonna try this tomorrow.</p>
<p>well, be a little more than certain about her feelings towards you.</p>
<p>girls like forward guys. as long as you're not standing all creepy and staring at her like a weirdo. if you can, have a friend stand with you and talk to him, to make it seem more casual.</p>
<p>i think that was the sweetest thing one of my bf's did for me. of course it didn't really work b/c he ended up stepping on/kicking my foot as he approached me. but cute, nonetheless.</p>
<p>he wasn't my bf at the time. lol, he actually kissed me (or tried to) with a toothpick in his mouth. kinda nicked my cheek. yeah, he was pretty absent minded.</p>