Top Tips on How To Make Friends At Uni

Starting university is such a huge step and it’s natural to feel a wave of different emotions. Don’t panic, it is normal to be feeling nervous and anxious when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends.

We’re all different, some of us are more confident when it comes to starting a conversation, whereas others are more apprehensive. Friendships take time to form and yes, you may feel a little lonely at first but trust the process, you will navigate your own path.

Here are some of our top tips for meeting new people and building your squad.

1. Join Social Groups

Your university will have social media groups set-up to encourage students to interact with each other. Similarly, your accommodation provider will most likely have similar social groups. For example, at Downing Students we have dedicated resident-only Facebook groups, WhatsApp and WeChat groups for our residents to build their community.

2. Attend Freshers Events

No matter what city you are studying in, Freshers Week is undoubtedly the most iconic week at university, with some of the best freshers events taking place. Check out your student union for regular information on social events. These are perfect for meeting new people.

3. Take Advantage of Welcome Parties

Your accommodation provider will most likely have everything sorted for residents to make friends and meet other people. Take advantage of all the social events as they will most likely include free food and drink.

At Downing Students, we host welcome events at all our properties to ensure all our residents get the chance to make friends and meet their neighbours during the first weeks of living with us. We host events all year round to make sure that once you’ve built your squad you can enjoy social events with them where you live. Take a look at our social media pages to see all the different activities that take place with us.

4. Join Societies & Clubs

Take advantage of all the different freshers’ fair events taking place. Here you will be able to browse all the different clubs and societies that are available to you to join. There will be so many to choose from… hiking, arts, gaming… you name it!  Joining a society or club whilst at university is one of the best ways to make friends with people who have the same interests as you.

5. Study On Campus

Make the most of your university’s facilities; you never know when your laptop or printer may fail you, so it’s good to know what resources are available. Don’t forget You can even get to know course mates more by meeting in the library for a study session.

6. Hang Out In Social Spaces

Don’t hide away in your room, mix it up and see what new coursemates are doing once uni classes are done for the day or even see what flatmates are doing for dinner from time to time.

Finally, Things To Avoid Whilst Making Friends At Uni

• Drink Too Much- have fun (obviously) but don’t be that nightmare drunken flatmate- the beer fear the next day just isn’t worth it!

• Force Friendships- true friendships don’t happen overnight, they take time!

• Be Someone You Aren’t- never change to impress, let people get to know the real you when meeting new people

• Never Judge- you’ll probably be meeting new people from a wide range of backgrounds, embrace this rather than judging people for being different

• Be a Messy Flatmate- sharing is caring on the cleaning front, as we have covered before…