The transition from high school to college can be incredibly daunting. Preparing for harder classes, expensive student loans, and spending time away from your family and friends makes being a college freshman sound terrifying, but I promise, that feeling is totally normal. One thing that many future college students worry about is making new friends.
There seems to be pressure from society and social media to effortlessly meet your best friends on the first day of school, but reality can be a little more complicated than that. The truth is, making friends as a college freshman isn’t easy for everyone, but there are ways to make it easier! There are several steps you can take to make some new friends before you even set foot on campus in the fall. Being a college student is stressful enough, so here are a few ways to ease the transition by finding some familiar faces.
- Join Facebook Groups.
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Most colleges will have a private Facebook page for your graduation year. People from all over the country can post pictures and fun facts about themselves, which gives you an easy way to connect with people who have similar interests! Joining a Facebook or other social media group is a great way to recognize some familiar faces or even make plans before you’re even on campus. These pages are also a great way to find roommates, so keep them bookmarked for later!
- Start or join a GroupMe.
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Similarly, GroupMe is a great platform to connect with other college freshmen. Many schools already have group chats, but if your school doesn’t, you can make your own. You can also make a smaller, themed GroupMe depending on your own interests! Have fun creating group chats for your fellow skiers, foodies, or whatever else you want.
- Check out websites and accounts dedicated to your school.
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Checking your school’s Reddit page, Barstool Instagram account, or Her Campus chapter page to learn a bit about your future classmates. While it’s harder to make one-on-one connections on these platforms, it could still be helpful to understand the overall vibe of your future home!
- Attend Tours and orientation.
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Tours and orientation are great settings to meet both new students and upperclassmen. If you take a tour of your future campus, feel free to ask your tour guide some questions to get to know the campus better — that’s what they’re there for! Also, don’t be afraid of chatting with other people in your group — pre-school events are a great way to create bonds.
- Email your roommate.
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Once you learn who your roommate will be, send them a text or an email to get to know them! From there, ask if they have social media accounts you can follow them on. Knowing your roommate at least a little bit before you move in together makes things a little less awkward and scary on the first day. Plus, you can make plans to buy cute dorm supplies together!
Most importantly, don’t worry if you come to college and don’t know anyone! These are great tips to start meeting people, but it’s also super common to not meet your “best” friends until much later in your college career. The most important thing is to be yourself and be friendly, and you’ll have no trouble meeting some wonderful people at your school.
