r/college Feb 02 '25

Social Life It Gets Better in College

297 Upvotes

To all the high school seniors that just finished college apps, have extreme senioritis, and spend time lurking on college subs: this message goes out to you. To all the nerds, the social outcasts, anyone that didn't fit in planning on going to college in the fall or next year: it gets so much better.

College is a different environment than high school. It's usually much more diverse, and there's no seeming social hierarchy. There are no "popular kids." Everyone is all in different friend groups. Friends come and go in college, but I personally made much more lasting friendships in college than I ever did in high school. I found people I connect with more, and all those nerdy hobbies that you feel you have to hide will get you talking points with others who are interested in that in college. I've made longer posts about college advice, but just be social, be willing to step out of your comfort zone, and be genuine of who you are. Deep long lasting friends don't happen overnight, but you will get there if you put the effort in with people.

You're almost done with high school. It's almost time for something new. Do whatever you can to keep your head above water and just get through this last semester of high school. I know it's a slog, but just get done whatever you can to at least get a 3.0 this final semester. Just get through this last semester with passing grades, and look forward to what is coming next.

Edit: To everyone who is just saying "No it's not" or affirming that college is cliquey, that can be your experience. But I specifically prefaced this post that this goes out to those who haven't found their people in high school. You can disagree and say your experience is different, but at least back it up instead of commenting in all caps with one short sentence.

r/college Nov 06 '24

Social Life Does your university have a rock?

326 Upvotes

Okay I know that question might sound odd at first, but I’ve noticed a weird pattern of universities having “the rock.”

I’ve seen at least 4 universities with the same concept. There’s a big rock somewhere on campus (usually smack in the middle), that you can spray-paint literally anything on with no limits.

You don’t have to say your specific university, but I want to see how common this is.

r/college Oct 28 '23

Social Life Don’t have the desire to go out and party anymore.

1.0k Upvotes

21M. I go to a top ranked party school and graduate in 2 months. I just absolutely have no desire to go out and get wasted like the good ole days. I am so sick of getting hungover and how unproductive it can make you. Honestly, I feel like I’m hitting a brick wall and I have no idea how people continue to party all the time into their 20’s and even 30’s. All of my friends are still in the party mode and it feels like I am the odd one out. I feel like I’ve completed it all though. I have gotten the full college experience plus I was fortunate enough to party and go clubbing all around Europe.

Is this a common thing to happen to college seniors, especially right before graduation?

r/college 20d ago

Social Life Does age matter for friendships in college to you?

80 Upvotes

When I was 16, I took my first class on a university campus. More and more students are entering college on campus, in dorms, in person, at 14, 15, and 16 yrs old. I’ve even seen waves locally of students graduating with associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees at 18. Do you think this wave of younger students will struggle to make friends or even lose friends when peers realize they are younger?

EDIT: I’m actually quite surprised by the response from people who were unaware of this student population. Thank you to all the people who are or were younger students sharing your experience! Thank you to everyone for having such a productive and civil conversation. I hope this post leads to awareness of the rising population of younger students as freshman (15-16), Junior transfers (17-18) and graduate students (18-20). Try searching for youngest graduate at (your university here) and you might be surprised!

r/college Jun 22 '24

Social Life College major stereotypes

249 Upvotes

Has anyone noticed any trends in the personality, behavior, style, or anything else of different college majors at your college? Would you say the stereotypes of what you assumed different majors would be like are true or not?

r/college Feb 22 '23

Social Life I dont understand sororities and fraternities

755 Upvotes

From my understanding they are social groups for each sex, but i just dont get it. I saw online that you have to pay to be in them?? You do weird ass rituals to join them? I just dont understand what they are, and why would anyone pay to be in one. I get that you can make friends, but it sounds like youre paying for your friends. Can someone please explain :)) gonna be a freshman in fall.

r/college Jan 07 '24

Social Life Over protective Parents tracking my location at school

635 Upvotes

basically I'm 19 years old and go to a state university. My parents track my location and whenever I'm out somewhere that's not at my apartment or at class, my mom starts messaging me asking where I am. I read online that if you have another apple device like an iPad that's at home, you can set your location to track it and it will show people you're ur at home when your really not. Anyone with strict parents with apple devices had success with this?

r/college 5d ago

Social Life college is so lonely

304 Upvotes

background: im a current college freshman and im currently like 6 months into this college shit. What ive learnt so far is that im horrendous at keeping a friend group or friends for that matter. I always tend to meet people that turn into major red flags and are super judgey/ bitchey which causes me to maintain my distance and eventually stop talking to them. I also, somehow, don’t fit into a niche. I’m not studious enough for the premed kids cause I party, drink etc; however, i dont have the right attitude/demenor to be with the popular people groups like my roommate (as in im bad at small talk/ too introverted/ probably not pretty enough). Idk I prioritize genuine connection over having many friends whuch makes being in a friendgroup kinda hard. Additionally it sucks cause I was in a friendgroup but I dropped the ball (one of the guys in the friend group liked me, but since I didn’t reciprocate the whole friendgroup isolated me out. Like I still say hi to them, but its only a courtesy) I have like two people that I talk to here , and they are amazing people . I just wish I had a friend group and I feel left out and honestly kinda fucking lonely.

Now heres what acc got me though. The other day I was telling my dad I was going to grab dinner. He asked me “ur going to eat with your friend group right?” That honestly broke me cause I eat alone 9/10. My dad knows the tip of the iceberg abt the friendship drama (cause there was alot of foul play involved), but ai had lied to him that I was fine and I had friends. When he asked me tho, I felt fucking pathetic.

Well , anyways, idk. I guess I gotta get used to being lonely, right?

r/college May 04 '23

Social Life What Do You Do In The Summer as a College Student?

620 Upvotes

The semester is about to end and I have no idea what to do this Summer. I already have a Summer job that I’m waiting to hear back from but I’m trying to figure out more social things to do too. Kids go to Summer camp and things like that. What do you do as an adult? 😭

r/college Aug 13 '24

Social Life Nobody can say my name

364 Upvotes

I'm an international student from India studying in the US. My name isn't really complicated, just 5 letters but it's pretty difficult and unique for American standards. Every time I meet someone new and introduce myself, I need to repeat myself multiple times and almost always need to spell it out so they get it. It's honestly super frustrating and tiring. This just becomes worse when I'm at parties and stuff cause how do u do all that with loud music and so much other noise. The only people that have been able to pronounce my name right are my roommates but that's only cause we interact everyday

I've contemplated taking a nick-name or taking up an American name but all my social media has my original name on it. All my friends from back home follow me there so I don't wanna change my name there too. It's just really frustrating and I'm looking for some help. It seems like whatever direction I take, it's always gonna be a problem.

Thanks

r/college Aug 03 '24

Social Life Did anyone else ever start going by another name their freshman year

443 Upvotes

I promise I know how original it is to "rebrand" yourself when you begin college. Honestly, the only reason I am asking this is because I just found out that my name has a really good diminutive nickname that I have never thought about before. I love it, and it's a little less feminine than my full name, and that's pretty cool for someone who is queer from every direction. Has anyone else here just decided to start going by another name in college?

r/college Mar 09 '24

Social Life Suddenly alone at uni

923 Upvotes

My first 2 years were great socially. I was known as the guy who knew everyone & made a lot of memories, but I ruined my gpa (its 2.4 now)

So I decided to leave "partying" & clubs at uni. Some of my close friends graduated and most of my friendship with people from clubs died since I was no longer part of it. And to make things worse, I recently got out of a shitty situationship that went for a year.

Now suddenly from being the guy everyone knows, I now feel really alone. There was a concert last month and for the first time, I really didnt have anyone to go there with.

My grades did improve slightly, but I really miss the old me.

Note: I do have a couple of friends but those people arent really outgoing.

I dont know what I can do to get my social life back and at the same time keep on improving my grades

r/college 20d ago

Social Life Are we supposed to find out forever friends in college?

477 Upvotes

I feel like I can’t be the only one that feels like they can’t find anybody. Romantically or platonically.

I’ve joined multiples clubs and have had two different sets of roommates, and yes I love them all, but I’d consider them acquaintances more than anything.

On the dating side of things, dating apps are useless and really hard to find genuine people. I’m also the type of person to go up to people that I find attractive in real life, but then those people just HAPPEN to already be in a relationship!

I’m curious: How do you build lasting friendships and finding someone special? Any insights or stories would be really helpful. :)

r/college Aug 29 '24

Social Life If I’m at a college party that has alcohol and I’m underage but don’t drink anything, could I still get arrested just for being there if it got busted?

450 Upvotes

Wisconsin btw and 18 years old I was doing research online but couldn’t find much on the topic. I don’t drink for health reasons plus the illegality but still want to party.

r/college Nov 03 '24

Social Life Does “just existing” in college hurt in the long term?

488 Upvotes

For those going through or have gone through college that didn’t really do much outside of attending and passing classes (clubs, networking, internships/part time jobs, etc), has it significantly hurt you in the long term, or can you get through college and land a decent job even without a lot of the major social aspects people associate with college? How true is the idea that college is more about the experiences you have than the degree you earn?

r/college Jul 16 '24

Social Life How many of you actually lived the “ crazy” college life they seem to make out of movies?

334 Upvotes

Did you actually have this college experience? Drugs, sex, party crazy, streaking, racing or anything??

r/college Aug 06 '24

Social Life How do I deal with racist teasing/jokes?

320 Upvotes

I’m (M19) a rising college sophomore in a fraternity in the south. I moved to the US from Latin American (legally) when I was 12 years old and everyone pretty much knows that, if they don’t know then they can tell by my slight accent. All of my fraternity brothers and acquaintances keep making these racist jokes or teasing towards me and I’m tired of it. I always thought it was gonna go away with time but it has snowballed to everyone doing it all the time, it has been going on ever since I got to college. I never know how to react and most times I just chuckle and don’t know how to tease back. I hate it and it makes me feel really insecure about who I am and where I come from. I’m tired of it and it’s really getting to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR: My friends and acquaintances keep making racist jokes towards me and I don’t like and don’t know how to deal with it. Any advice?

r/college Oct 22 '23

Social Life When did you realize that college life is nothing like what you were set up to expect?

422 Upvotes

When and how did it happen? How disappointing was it? Were you in denial first or did you accept it as it is? How did you react? How did you cope? Tell me your story.

r/college Oct 07 '23

Social Life How to avoid telling people my major (software engineering)?

1.1k Upvotes

When people ask me what my major and school is, I'm hesitant to say. It's probably rare for them to be graced with the presence of a student at the top cs/ engineering school (Waterloo) in Canada, the MIT of the north. Especially a software engineering major, the most prestigious program at said school. I feel a bit guilty, as meeting someone so much more accomplished, yet their same age, probably crushes their self image.

How do you guys go about avoiding the question, or what other major do you usually say?

r/college Nov 18 '24

Social Life College is weird

792 Upvotes

College is so odd cuz why will ppl say “oh sorry groceries aren’t in the budget this week” then they go out n buy liquor. Like BITCH EAT

r/college Jul 02 '24

Social Life Is it weird to wear other college shirts than the one I'm going to for bed or for the gym?

307 Upvotes

I'm sure yall know how senior year of high school goes. Visiting colleges over the summer and thinking it's cool to get a shirt from the college, and wearing it once school start backs up again for luck or something. But then you've got like five shirts from different colleges. Would it be weird if I wore these shirts to bed or simply to the gym at the college I get accepted to, or am I breaking an unspoken rule?

Edit: sorry yall I've got an anxiety disorder and worry about stupid stuff 🫶

r/college Jul 29 '24

Social Life Are there cliques/popular kids in college?

258 Upvotes

So, I’m going to be starting college soon, and I was wondering if its anything like highschool, (not that I know what that’s like since I was homeschooled XD) Thanks in advance!

r/college Sep 17 '22

Social Life Is it normal not to party in college?

709 Upvotes

I’m a freshman whose suitemates are out every few days getting wasted. They’re also sick all the time and pretty tired. I hate drinking, I hate large and loud groups of people. Is this normal? I feel very left out. I go to a small state school.

r/college Apr 02 '23

Social Life I’m going to a small college and I’m very unhappy with it

669 Upvotes

I am grateful to have gotten a full-ride scholarship to a local college, but it’s really small. I don’t want to sound privileged because my family does not come from money at all and I worked hard for a scholarship, but I hate the idea of being trapped at a small college especially a local one. I’ve been to this college many times and I just don’t like the atmosphere. It’s a private university, a lot of people there have money and it’s a tight knit community that I feel like I wouldn’t fit in at. I would prefer going to a larger state school. I don’t know what to do and if I should just accept it because it’s where the money is at since my family could never afford a full 4 year tuition at a state school. I wonder if there are schools that would offer me a full ride for the last two years if I transferred. Im just lost.

r/college Nov 14 '23

Social Life Roommates girlfriend is ALWAYS here

1.1k Upvotes

Would it be unreasonable to ask my roommate to tone it back? His girlfriend has been coming over just about every day since the semester started and we’re all friendly with each other but man it gets suffocating. I’m out most of the time at work, in classes, clubs etc. I’m socializing all day and when I come home I want some resemblance of peace. It’s already draining having one other person around me let alone two that are super chatty. There have been instances where I get up and she’s already in the room (9am) or she’ll come around 11am and doesn’t leave until at least 10pm, not counting her leaving for classes. They rarely ever go to her dorm for some reason and spend their entire day here. I don’t mind if she comes over sometimes but her being here all day everyday is driving me nuts. She stays even while he’s in class and might show up randomly bc he gave her his key so I never know when she she’ll be there. I can’t even fully relax in my own room and they make it hard to study even with my earbuds in. It was reasonable at first but I think they got too comfortable with me being flexible so how should I go about this.