Do people really change when they go to university?

I've heard a lot about how people change a lot when they go off to university and that its probably one of the times where you will change most in you life.

just wondering whether this is true really? and also what people mean when they say this- like whether they mean people maybe just gain more confidence etc. or is it more than just that?

i cant wait to go to university, but the whole people changing thing scares me slightly. I love my friends that i have atm and i dont want them to change and i dont want to change myself in such a way that we will no longer get along the way we used to. So yeah, i just wanted to see whether in reality people do change?

Reply 1

*MJ*

2

Possibly.

Reply 2

inksplodge

17

I think people change in that they have moved away, made new friends, found new interests etc so that the old life doesn't seem the same and the friends are different :dontknow:

Reply 3

necessarily benevolent

14

I think it does. At many of the universities I looked at during open days (Oxford, UCL, Warwick etc.) you wouldn't believe that they actually had brains. Some of them seemed massively hungover. :p:

Possible explanation.

Reply 4

hannah_dru

2

People do change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Some people become more mature, some people immature, gain more confidence, get better at studying, being independant etc. I guess you'll just have to see what happens.

Reply 5

*Tears and Butterflies*

2

I don't think change is the right word. More develop. I only started university in Sept, but I have become more mature, more independant, working on the confidence but i am still the same person and some of this 'development' started before university. I still have 2 and a half years left though so there is time to 'change' i suppose, but I'm very much my own person so I don't envisage that happening.

Reply 6

Danielle89

14

I changed for the better. Before uni i had no close friends (or even real distant friends either) except maybe one, and had really ****** self-esteem. I had an extra challenge in the first month because I dislocated my knee at the end of freshers and so was going round on crutches and HAD TO ask people for help - something I used to get extremely nervous about doing in the past in case people found me to be stupid. Incidentally it was a talking point but I see the difference in myself that would have taken place whether that had happened or not. When you're chucked into a "foreign" environment you need to adapt and manage to speak to people if you're shy, and you need to learn to tone yourself down and not come on to strong to people if you're already a confident, outgoing person. So it's a good thing to change for uni - its not so much changing as enhancing who you are and becoming able to cope with different circumstances.

Reply 7

Becky_90

12

I think everyone changes in one way or another. I can see this when i get back together with my mates from home, and to an extent i can see changes in my flatmates now compared to what we were all like in September!

Dont have to be bad changes that affect things though. You never know what'll happen until it does.

Reply 8

prospectivEEconomist

16

Yes Uni has turned me to an amazing person. I will help the poor.

Reply 9

karen123

I changed for better as well, like some of you! From being very quiet, withdrawn, dependent to being more outgoing, self-driven and disciplined in just a year's time. I studied hard and shut myself off in the first term feeling insecure about not being able to catch up with academic work. Once settled down, I started exploring, took part in student societies, made a lot of friends. When I shifted my focus from mere academic work to a balance between study and play, I learnt much more and felt university life far more enjoyable than expected.

Reply 10

Becksy

I am scared that when I go to uni that I won't change at all.

Reply 11

Matt_C

I think I've done OK here but I feel like I have abandoned most of my friends from home. I got immersed in life down here and it seems such a drag to go back home for more than a few days.

Does anyone else feel that they have move their life into their new location and have forgotten where they came from?

Reply 12

bete noire

17

So much happens and you meet so many new people, its hard not to change. Keep an open mind but don't forget where you came from

Reply 13

thegluups

14

I don't necessarily think Uni does necessarily change you that much. It depends on the university and on what you were like before hand. I mean at Cambridge, you live with all the other first years, and I personally never cook( kitchen is way too bad), and just eat at the "buttery", so basically it feels a bit like boarding school...

About the independence thingy, i've always been fairly independent, so it didn't really change me much.

I think though, the fact that you can technically go out every night, etc. aren't aiming anymore to "go to uni", does mean that you're freer with your work, etc.

but generally speaking, i don't think uni has changed me that much, even tho i'm only there since october.

Reply 14

RightSaidJames

16

I wouldn't say I've changed... but I've definitely come out of my shell and shown my true colours more.

Reply 15

username1586169

0

7

Original post by nothing_really_matters

I've heard a lot about how people change a lot when they go off to university and that its probably one of the times where you will change most in you life.

just wondering whether this is true really? and also what people mean when they say this- like whether they mean people maybe just gain more confidence etc. or is it more than just that?

i cant wait to go to university, but the whole people changing thing scares me slightly. I love my friends that i have atm and i dont want them to change and i dont want to change myself in such a way that we will no longer get along the way we used to. So yeah, i just wanted to see whether in reality people do change?

No I think they change to fit in rather than reflecting their true personalities. I think this is a common misconception by many students, that uni will change you and give you independence, but this change from child to adult can happen at any age in any situation. The key is not relaying on people(e.g parents, uni staff, mates etc) I mean heck I've seen 5 year old carers that are more grown up than most uni students. Though I think most uni students face quite a shock when they leave and find they have to find their own accommodation, job etc without help and unless they want to live alone have to mingle in with activates, clubs, at work etc in their own area without someone their egging them to do it. Where as students who leave to go for work at 16 or 18 are more adapted to this lifestyle from a earlier age but everyone gets there eventually. Doing stuff fully for yourself and helping out others(e.g. at work) is when your true personality will shine.

Reply 16

mathsmathsmaths

Original post by TheElvenQueen

No I think they change to fit in rather than reflecting their true personalities. I think this is a common misconception by many students, that uni will change you and give you independence, but this change from child to adult can happen at any age in any situation. The key is not relaying on people(e.g parents, uni staff, mates etc) I mean heck I've seen 5 year old carers that are more grown up than most uni students. Though I think most uni students face quite a shock when they leave and find they have to find their own accommodation, job etc without help and unless they want to live alone have to mingle in with activates, clubs, at work etc in their own area without someone their egging them to do it. Where as students who leave to go for work at 16 or 18 are more adapted to this lifestyle from a earlier age but everyone gets there eventually. Doing stuff fully for yourself and helping out others(e.g. at work) is when your true personality will shine.

This thread is five years old...

Reply 17

Classical Liberal

19

Academically people can go through remarkable changes. When you start a university course everyone has relatively similar grades. One would expect, given this, that performance of the group would be very similar. The reality is that some people really struggle with university. One reason is that the poorly performing students no longer have their parents pushing them to do work. Another reason is that it is very easy to not do work and not turn up to lectures, only people who are self motivated perform.

The other area where people can change is that some people can get a nasty shock as to the reality of socialising. If, when you were at school, you were part of that friendship group that thought it was better than everybody else, when you get to uni you might get a nasty shock that people don't revere you in the same way and that your character is fundamentally much less likable than you previously thought.