# Transferring from Community College to a University, How to Survive? Make friends?



## ThePeon (Sep 13, 2012)

So, for the past two years I was going to a local community college while living with my parents. After the first semester I did fine academically, but socially I was always pretty isolated. I had a few acquaintances in couple classes in the last semester, but they never moved beyond small talk. I even joined a club, but again, outside of small talk and club-related discussion, I didn't connect with anybody. High school was a similar experience, socially.

I am now transferring to the local university (technically, I already have as I am taking one summer class there at the moment, but it's not the same, campus is empty and everybody in class is a commuter). I will be a junior, and I expect to graduate in two and half years from now. I am still going to be living with my parents instead of living in the dorms or a nearby apartment (there's a bus stop a block away from my house that has a bus that drops me off right at the university, so commuting isn't an issue). I don't have to work, and probably won't at least for the first semester so I can adjust to the new environment.

The thing is, so far I'm finding taking a public bus to a large campus everyday (ah, condensed summer courses) is exhausting. I'm not even socializing with anybody, just taking the bus, going to class, eating lunch there, taking the bus home. I'm not sure how I'll handle being there in the fall, where campus will be much more crowded and I'll be taking four classes (though not all every day) and I'll be there five days a week. How do I survive that?

And then, how do I make sure I'm not totally isolated like in high school and community college? I don't really know how to make friends. I know people say to join clubs, but then what? Past experiences with clubs have lead me to make pleasant small talk with people but then not hear from them outside of the club, they didn't even try to friend me on Facebook!

I have difficulty finding people who would be compatible friends with me, and then I have difficulty actually making a friendship happen. I don't know what to do! At least, I don't know what to do that is introvert-friendly (I know people will invite each other to bars or parties, but that has no appeal to me).


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## Raynic781 (Feb 8, 2013)

You and I are in the same boat, well, kind of. I'm transferring to a new college from a community college this Fall as well. At the college I'm transferring to, they had an orientation just for the transfer students, and there I was able to talk to people and open up (because we were all going to be "new students" technically, and we knew no one). I was actually able to meet someone who agreed to meet up with me on campus since we knew no one. I'm staying on campus, so I already know my roommate. I really don't have any advice since I haven't started at the new school yet, but are there any events like that at your university? Your university most likely has a lot more people there, and that gives you a bigger chance of meeting someone you have something in common with. From experience, a really good question to ask someone if you're interested in being their friend is to ask them what their major is, and take it from there. I met one girl at orientation who told me she was majoring in Biology, and then we had a conversation about that.


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## Rainbat (Jan 5, 2012)

You don't have to participate in the bar and party scene. People generally let you keep to yourself. It also depends on your major and your status (if you're a junior taking a lot of rigorous math courses then you won't encounter a lot of stereotypical party-folks).

I did the same thing you're describing, but I drove across the country. Went to a community college in NY and drove to AZ to go to the most populated university in the nation (80k students). If I manage to do it, you can too!


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