Social Life

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.

Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Reply 1

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by kaceyygreen

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.
Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Hi @kaceyygreen !

While I can't comment on the exact situation @Ulsteruni (I'm from the university of Kent), I wanted to give you some reassurance as I had plenty of friends who lived at home.

I'd say the main difference between living on campus and living at home is that of course you don't make friends with any flatmates, but of course flatmates are just one of the ways you make friends. You will still have lots of opportunities to make friends both on your course and through the societies the university offers. You may even find that there is a specific group for commuting students to help you find people in similar situations to you.

The other thing to bear in mind is how far you'll have to commute and the travel options you have available to you as this may limit your ability to attend evening society or university events, but not necessarily. There are also plenty of events taking place during the day, and you should find that once you have made some friends you'll be able to fit your schedules around each other, particularly at weekends, (that was certainly the case for my friends who commute).

I really hope this helps, just remember you won't be the only one! Let me know if you have any further questions.

Best of luck with your start at university,
Gabby

Reply 2

kaceyygreen

Original post by University of Kent

Hi @kaceyygreen !
While I can't comment on the exact situation @Ulsteruni (I'm from the university of Kent), I wanted to give you some reassurance as I had plenty of friends who lived at home.
I'd say the main difference between living on campus and living at home is that of course you don't make friends with any flatmates, but of course flatmates are just one of the ways you make friends. You will still have lots of opportunities to make friends both on your course and through the societies the university offers. You may even find that there is a specific group for commuting students to help you find people in similar situations to you.
The other thing to bear in mind is how far you'll have to commute and the travel options you have available to you as this may limit your ability to attend evening society or university events, but not necessarily. There are also plenty of events taking place during the day, and you should find that once you have made some friends you'll be able to fit your schedules around each other, particularly at weekends, (that was certainly the case for my friends who commute).
I really hope this helps, just remember you won't be the only one! Let me know if you have any further questions.
Best of luck with your start at university,
Gabby

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely look into the societies and things that Ulster offer :smile:

Reply 3

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Original post by kaceyygreen

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.
Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Hi there!

As I am from the University of Portsmouth, I can't comment directly on what living at home is like at Ulster Uni, but I would say most people I've met at uni who have lived at home have been able to still make the most of the things on offer to them.

Whilst your flatmates are often the first people you meet at uni, they're actually such a small proportion of the people you'll meet. Most people I've kept in touch with throughout my degree I've met through my course, or through societies or part time work! Whether you're commuting or not, joining student groups and societies is the best way to meet people, I've found, as you'll have something in common with them straight away, and it can be a lot easier to get to know people while you're doing an activity or sport, as it takes some of the awkwardness away!

The main difference I would say is that going to events might require a bit of extra planning when you live a little bit further away, however from commuting students I've met, they've been able to figure this out pretty quickly. Also, once you've established a group of friends, everyone is generally very keen to help and change schedules slightly around each other, especially on days without lectures.

Hope this helps, and best of luck starting university!

Eryn - Portsmouth Student Rep 🙂

Reply 4

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by kaceyygreen

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.
Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Hi there,

Again, I am not from Ulster university but I have plenty of friends who live at home/lived at home in first year so I thought I would still reply to this!

You can still make plenty of friends if you live at home during university. Lots of my friends on my course commuted and it's actually a lot more common than you might think. As others have said, flatmates are only one way you can make friends so just because you are commuting doesn't mean you won't make any as there are lots of other ways to make friends.

Societies are a great way of making friends so I would definitely make sure you look into what societies your university has to offer and if you like the sound of any of these. It's worth going to some trial sessions if you have a few you like the sound of as you have to pay for most societies so if you can it's a good idea to check them out first and see if you like the sound of any. You can make lots of friends this way and lots of people join societies as a way of making friends and meeting new people so this will be a great start.

Also, you will meet lots of people on your course so I would say make sure you are attending your lectures and seminars as these are the ways you will meet all of the people on your course and make friends with them. When you meet people, ask them if they want to go out for a coffee, or lunch after your lectures finish, or just go to the library together especially when you have deadlines coming up. Try not to rush off after your classes finish every time as this will mean you don't see much of your course mates outside of classes.

If you don't have a part time job and you wanted one, you could also have a look and see if your university has any campus jobs available as this is a good way of meeting new people and making friends too as the majority of people that work there will be other students. Have a look on your universities website for this if you are interested!

Also, looking on social media is a good idea too as there will often be groups on Facebook and other social media which have lots of people in that go to your university and you will be able to meet people this way. There may also be groups for commuter students so it's worth a look!

I hope some of this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador :smile:

Reply 5

Liverpool Hope University

Official Rep

Original post by kaceyygreen

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.
Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Hi there!

While I was at university I had a number of friends who lived at home on my course. I also found that the people who lived from home tended to be better friends with each other and those who lived on campus were better friends with each other although we all mixed. I assume that this is because people who lived at home were all in the same situation so that is why they tended to be better friends with each other.

You'll also have loads of opportunities to meet people. Your university will put on events during freshers week where you can meet people and you can join a society to meet new people as well. Before I graduated, I was better friends with people I met outside of my halls and they are the ones I am still in touch with. Don't worry about making friends, you will have loads of opportunities to meet new people.

I hope this helps😀

Lottie, Graduate Advocate

Reply 6

WrexhamUniReps

Official Rep

Original post by kaceyygreen

I’m going to Ulster Uni for Language and Linguistics in Belfast but I’m living at home.
Is it harder to make friends while living at home?

Hi 👋,

I know people on my course that both live on campus and also travel in, in my opinion, everyone has mixed well on the course and it hasn't caused any issues, in terms of separate friend groups etc.

I would recommend joining societies or a sports team as this can be another great way to make friends.

I hope this helps,

Matt
Wrexham Uni Reps