<p>I'm from out of state and I moved into Penn State yesterday (I am residing in an all-freshmen dorm and its known to be pretty social). My roommate is from PA and has a lot of friends from HS and so my roommate has been spending a lot of time with them. I know absolutely no one. Unfortunately, my roommate won't introduce me and said to me, "I'd rather keep my HS friends with my HS friends. I don't want to intermingle." Yesterday and today, I've walked around my floor, introducing myself and being extra friendly with small talk. I just feel like I'm not really making connections with my floormates because they tend to do things with their roommates and I don't have a roommate to fall back on because mine is never here. Plus, a lot of people leave their door shut and I feel like that's a sign that they don't want to reach out to new people. When I did walk around to introduce myself, people were on Facebook and just chilling, not really interested in doing anything. Is this typical for people just to be lounging around on a weekend night? I just feel paranoid that my dorm is untraditional and not as social as it was portrayed.</p>
<p>Would I stand a good shot at making friends with other freshmen through classes and clubs? Will my floor loosen up? I'm a science major and I'd like to find people who are focused on the same goals and interests as I am.</p>
<p>I feel the same way dude. I go to ISU and have already been thinking about transferring just due to the fact that this is my backup school and i’m not crazy about the people here. Hopefully stuff will work here so i don’t have to transfer…but look forward to classes and EC’s.</p>
<p>cabhax- most of my floor moved in yesterday (many in-state students who had PA roommates moved in anyway). Several new people moved in and I introduced myself. Everyone seems nice, but not really interested. I’m just hoping to find people that I could comfortably hang out with through classes and clubs.</p>
<p>If you can’t find anyone on your floor to chill with try meeting people through clubs and classes like you said. Also if you have a good RA, they should be planning things to do with their floor and the other floors. </p>
<p>The HUB always has things during the week and the Findley/Johnson Commons has a game room where a lot of people hang out.</p>
<p>That is precisely what happened to me last year. I made friends in classes and ECs, no friends in my dorm. I wouldn’t give up on your dorm yet, though. Keep trying. I think I gave up too soon.</p>
<p>I had maybe half a dozen friends on my floor last year…maybe…and one of them was my roommate who I had been friends with through high school. However, I made a solid group of friends in which there are about a dozen of us who are all super close, plus, my other friends who I’m not as close with. Don’t worry. You’ll make friends in classes/extracurriculars (for me it was definitely the ECs more so than classes).</p>
<p>Thanks guys, this is really encouraging. I plan to join pre-med society, yearbook, and volunteer as a campus EMT if my interview with the ambulance chief goes well. I feel those ECs are ECs where people really get to know each other.</p>
<p>My RA has dinner planned (like yesterday) tonight. But everyone just sat around eating. I made small talk, but again, I as well as no one really clicked with other floormates.</p>
<p>it takes a while for a lot of people to open up, especially in a new atmosphere. they are probably just being clingy with their hs friends until they have classes. i’m sure they’ll be more social when they settle down more. but good luck with your interview :):)</p>
<p>Give it a few weeks and you will be singing a different tune. It can be awkward in the beginning. Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Keep trying and you will find people to click with. Join the activities you mentioned and get out and do things as much as possible. You will do fine.</p>
<p>Ugh I’m sooo nervous to move in because of the OPs roommate problem. Mine is from 40 minutes away from the school, while I’m from the other side of the country. She has tons of friends going and I have none :S I specifically wanted to get out of state so I WOULDN’T fall back on high school friends… I hope my roommate doesn’t</p>
<p>Stealth,
Your roommate sounds like a tool. His HS friends are probably the same way and you don’t want to meet them anyway. Continue what you are doing and all will go well. Especially when your roommate’s HS friends realize HS ended three months ago and that college has a lot more and a lot cooler people.</p>
<p>It’s the first week of school you should try to relax more. Definately do not expect that you will become friends with everyone on your floor, be more active and look for clubs etc… to join. PSU is a large campus, there are more students.</p>
<p>Get involved in other activities in school, you can meet people there!!</p>
<p>Also, you can make friends in class. Most of my friends are from class and clubs/organizations - a few in my residence hall.</p>
<p>Floors in a residence hall differ widely, at least in mine. I’m an RA, and my floor is relatively quiet, closed doors, no noise, etc. Other floors are more “open”, and it is also said that the floor reflects the RA. I have noticed that a lot!!</p>
<p>Hmm. I only ever laid eyes on my RA last year like four times, he seemed like a nice guy but was really hands off and didn’t bother to plan any activities after the first week. I had a group of about eight girls in our hall that were all rushing sororities and became best friends immediately, who dominated any events he planned and wouldn’t let any of the other girls into their group. So he gave up and we spent the rest of the year with our doors closed, occasionally venturing out to tell the sorority girls to ****.</p>