Do most people only be-friend their course mates?

Hi.
I am starting uni soon but I am worried about how small my course is (for sure less than 100 people if not less than 50!)

It is not that I do not want to become friends with my course mates - of course I do! - but I also want to make wide range of friends but i wonder whether students prefer only befriending their course mates.

Or do they make friends through societies and clubs etc.?

What was your (or someone you know) experience of making mates in uni?

thanks

Reply 1

999tigger

Original post by musso123

Friends with the people you live with.
Societies
Course
Other peoples networks and general socialising.

Coursemates arent bad because you have stuff in common and you can cover each other for lecture notes.

Just make them wherever and keep in contact with the ones you click with. People in first term are open, but then they clique off, so make an effort imo

Reply 2

username738914

Original post by musso123

You make friends through all sorts of means..

For me that's been course, flat, friends of friends and going out way more than I should aha.

Posted from TSR Mobile

No.

Nah, you've got flatmates, societies, people you meet on nights out randomly
All depends on how active you are

Reply 5

username2908878

There were five people on my course :laugh:

! You meet all sorts of people everywhere at uni , I still don't think I've met as many people as I did at freshers week !!

Reply 6

Fujoshi

Original post by musso123

There's under 20 of us on my course (well there's actually a few more but they never seem to turn up to lectures) and so we're all fairly close but people are also friends with people from the societies they're in and their flat mates. My advice is to be proactive during the first week or two in making friends and then still be open to making new friends throughout the rest of your time at uni and you'll be fine.

Reply 7

JustGeorgeJ

Original post by musso123

Hello,

People are university make friends through various ways! The majority, it could be argued, make friends through their courses and this is fine. However, this does not apply for all as some courses are not social. A lot of students join societies and usually make friends through these. It's important to take all the opportunities that are offered to you whilst at university. It's a fantastic place to be social and there are many people to be friends with. Do not worry too much! You'll make friends!

Be open, be friendly and be approachable! (And take the opportunities!)

Good luck! :smile:

Reply 8

jelly1000

Original post by musso123

Depends on your course really. 99% of people on my course were friends mostly with the people they lived with. Low contact hours combined with lots of different seminar groups and a choice of optional modules meant we hardly saw the same people for more than a couple of hours a week, making it difficult to make friends during course time. A few of us made an effort to get to know people anyway but many didn't. On the other hand I know some people on courses with high contact hours who all had to take the same modules which meant they spent a lot of time together and that helped them become friends.

Reply 9

The Empire Odyssey

No, there's many ways you can make friends.

It was funny because I made a good friend (no longer friends, ironically), but during Freshers, I was wearing a bow-tie and this guy ran up to me and said my hair and bow-tie looked awesome and from that moment onwards, we became friends (until my flatmate told him I had feelings for him which ruined our friendship).

But apart from that, there are random times when you can make friend.

One of my closest friends I'm still with after departing from that uni after first year met in my kitchen at halls.

I was in my pjs, getting some hot water and hallmates were going out, and I was like "I just wanna get some tea and go to bed" and then he put on Beyonce and starting having a conversation about Beyonce (because I am Black? Idk). But he started dancing and joking and I was just like "wth". After that, my flatmate told me he was asking after me to say when I was gonna go on a night out because they told him what a hot mess I am when alcohol consumes my soul. And 3 years on, we still see each other and stay connected he is one of my closest friends!

Just one of the many stories you may come to know IF you don't restrict yourself with just coursemates. Get to know your hallmates, and other people. If people come up to you, then make an effort with them and vice versa! First year is a great opportunity to make friends!

Reply 10

doodle_333

My course was 52 at the start (I think 48-49 graduated in my cohort). It's a nice size because you get to know everyone rather than sticking to one small group, so when you split up for electives or group work you will always know the people you're with a little bit already.

But yes, as others have said, you make friends everywhere at uni. I had friends from my course, halls, societies, couple of people I got chatting to at the gym, friends of friends etc

Reply 11

SHUGURU

Official Rep

Original post by musso123

Hi!

As you can see from lots of these replies, people definitely make friends from all sorts of areas at university. It seems like you know this, and have a good attitude towards meeting people from all sorts of areas.

Personally, I made very close friends with a few of my flatmates in first year, and only a couple of close friends on my course. While I know most people on the course and am friendly with them if I do see them, I'm unlikely to see most of them outside of lectures.

For me, my closest group of friends has come from joining a society and spending time in the students' union. Joining societies is helpful because other people in certain societies will always have that common hobby or interest, and can be a great basis for making a group of friends. In our societies we often have socials, some which include drinking, some which include eating, some which are a bit more random, and we always have a really fun time.

There are so many different ways to meet people, and soooo many different people at uni! I would suggest meeting as many people as possible as that way, you'll find those who you really fit with and feel comfortable with. :smile:

Reply 12

SophieSmall

In my experience no, non of the close friends I made were on my course.

Reply 13

AmyTheSwifty

Original post by musso123

Most of the people on my course I would class as just acquaintances at most with only a couple of them I'd class as a friend. Most of the interaction in classes is "how are you? Nice weekend? This should be interesting today." and that's it. Apart from occasionally asking for notes, I've had little interaction with the majority of them outside of the lecture theatre. We have very few contact hours and several seminar groups so it's hard to get to know people that way. My closest friend came from halls last year, although she lived in a different flat. I wouldn't feel worried about being limited to course mates for friends, some of them are just there for the lectures and aren't bothered about making friends. It's surprising where you do end up making friends.

Reply 14

DCFCfan4eva

Original post by musso123

Hi.
I am starting uni soon but I am worried about how small my course is (for sure less than 100 people if not less than 50!)

thanks

Don't panic! Most my closest friends are from societites and church! I get on with my course mates and have a couple of people I call friends on it but I got very involved in clubs and socitites,; I played varsity handball, joined the Christian Union (became president), joined a church, joined the rock and metal society, joined the real ale society and it's these places where I spend most my time and made my friendships.

I assume you will be living in halls/unilet as well? you may become friends with them too! To be honest I was so busy with society stuff (and I had really introvered housemates who wanted to spend most their time in their room) so I didn't really become friends with them even if there weren't any problems between us.
But I know some people who became great friends with their housemates and lived all through out uni together and were basically inseperable! It was a shock when I saw one without the others lol.

Don't worry if you're friendly, approacable and get stuck in with something (whether it be course socials, housemates, clubs, society etc) you'll make friends! :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)