<p>Hey, this is Steve. I'm transferring from a community college to the U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall. I was excited at first about the social opportunities the school offered, but then I realized that making friends for me might not be so easy. </p>
<p>My main worries are whether I can get along with my cluster and especially my roommate (I'm going to live in the transfer cluster in hopkins. I really want to know about the type of people that usually dorm there and whether I'd be compatible with them. I can be outgoing, but also a lot of times I am a bit shy because I can't always think of an interesting story to talk about or something else interesting to say). I just want to know how easy it is to make friends there, and also on campus in general.</p>
<p>Also, I need to know about the frat parties and the frats themselves in general. Are all of the social frats as obnoxious as they're rumored to be? Or is that just a few frats? Also, for frat parties, is there anywhere I can get in without having to know everyone in the frat or having to bring along a crowd of girls?</p>
<p>Steve, you ought to try asking on the UIUC forum, there will probably be more people there that have answers to your questions. Members on this forum are more likely to be applying to UIUC than currently attending.</p>
<p>Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. I’m new here so I didn’t even know a UIUC forum existed, sorry about that. But thanks! Feel free to lock the topic if you see fit.</p>
<p>Hey there Steve. I finished my first year at UIUC and am now transferring to Northwestern. I can probably answer a lot of your questions. I was involved in a lot of Greek life and events and received bids, but ultimately did not accept a bid knowing that I would apply to transfer to Northwestern. I lived in Scott and almost all of my friends (including my roommate) joined fraternities.</p>
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<p>It is very easy to meet people, especially in the Six Pack. Hopkins is no exception there. It is a fairly social dorm. Don’t worry about it. Honestly, I was a little shy after arriving and only hung out and went to eat with my roommate (random). I started just going around my floor and the rest of Scott and literally just met and talked to anyone who had their door open. I got to know a lot of pretty cool people and I’m friends with many of them. Don’t be shy about it. If you don’t like the guys you start talking to or they act weird to you, just move on. On the same note, KEEP YOUR DOOR OPEN as much as you can! People will walk by. I’d recommend having a clean, relaxing room (maybe play a bit of soft music and watch TV or game a little) and people will come introduce themselves. I wish I did that more often. Let me know if you want to know any more, I can give you a lot of tips on stuff to do with the people you don’t know yet.</p>
<p>For people across campus, the easiest way is to meet them in classes and through clubs. It can get pretty random though, honestly lol. Just make sure you be open and talkative.</p>
<p>Example: I was good friends with a guy who lived in ISR. I met him in a weird way…
First day of MCB150, I sat down in a random spot and talked to and became friends with the people who sat next to me/I sat next to. The guy who sat next to me is still a good friend now. I met these two guys who lived together near him in Lundgren and we hung out a little bit the first month and also became really good friends. This guy in ISR went to high school with these two and I met him randomly and we went to some club thing. Moral of the story: be open and just go with whatever comes your way. Weird things happen haha.</p>
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<p>You’ll need to be more specific here. Are you considering rushing or just going for the parties? Not all social fraternities are stereotypical, but many are. That doesn’t mean that they are to be avoided though.</p>
<p>During Rush (I’ll assume you know what that is, but ask if you don’t or are unfamiliar with the UIUC Rush process), most if not all parties are open. Technically, they are not “rush parties” but essentially they are. Go with a group of friends you have just met. Girls will want to go to them also, without a doubt, so go ahead and use fraternity parties as a conversation topic with guys and girls you meet (they will probably want to go with you). Take full advantage of the Rush parties while you can, because that won’t last. After 2-4 weeks, fraternities will start buckling down on who they let in. Then you’ll need to bring girls (usually a 1:1 ratio in your group). You could honestly just be nice and ask cute girls who were going to the party if they’d be willing to help you and your friends get in and they’d be fine with it. Just be nice and don’t hit on them. Soon after these types of parties, fraternity parties will become rare. For those parties, you will need to either know a brother’s name (some houses will need you to call them to get you). UIUC is a bar college. I don’t know when you turn 19, but that is like 75% of the social scene (19 is the age they let you in to Champaign bars, 18 for Urbana bars aka Canopy Club but that’s not worth going to).</p>
<p>If that is the type of social scene you want, I would HIGHLY recommend going Greek. I envied a lot of my friends. After your (girl) friends join sororities, you’ll see a lot less of them or maybe you won’t even talk anymore (sororities have loaded social calendars). </p>
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No problem! Go ahead and ask me more questions if you’d like haha.</p>