<p>so, Michigan has over 40,000 students.. how exactly are people supposed to make close friendships? Isn't it easy to get lost in the crowd? What is the campus life like? Does the university divide the campus into some sort of housing system like Rice? How do people meet other people?</p>
<p>The 40,000 students do not do everything together. They are broken down into various departments (over 200), colleges (10 or so), classes (some with as many as 400 students and others with as few as 5), dorms etc… Furthermore, Michigan has over 1,000 clubs and organization that students can join. You can make friends in your classes or on your dorm floor. You can make friends by joining a club or organization or by going to a party. You can make friends at one of the dozens of libraries or cafes by simply striking a conversation with a person. Making friends at Michigan is as easy as making friends at tiny university. The only difference is, at Michigan, no matter how many friends you make, you will still not know the majority of the students around you. At a smaller college, you will know a much larger percentage of your classmates.</p>
<p>If you join a Living-Learning Community, it’s a great way to make friends and live with people who have similar interests…</p>
<p>What about for shy people who can’t simply just go up to people and talk to them? ;/</p>
<p>they can put a sign on their back that says “talk to me please, I am shy”</p>
<p>If a shy person wants to break out of their shyness, they should start by taking some communications classes where you have no choice but to talk to people unless you want to deflate your GPA.</p>
<p>Or, they could ask for a triple (or a quad) room.</p>
<p>Even better, they could try and get a double/single then room swap with somebody who got stuck in an overflow quad. You’ll have a friend for the rest of college in the person you swapped with, and you’ll have some less-than-thrilled roommates to work on “conflict management” skills with.</p>
<p>It’s not that hard to make friends. Once you make friends you become friends with their friends. The dorm is probably the best place to meet people. Class, clubs, the gym, IM sports and campus events are other good places. Orientation is also helpful. It’s got to be a lot easier these days with cell phones, e-mail and facebook.</p>