Still friends with my freshman hall mates, who became roommates and housemates for the rest of college.

Also made many friends at on-campus job in dining hall.

The school was small enough that if you met someone in one setting, you were likely to run into them somewhere else...so work friends who were also friends from classes in my major or BF/GF to other friends became closer friends through proximity.

Made great friends in the marching band.

Sports and my college roommate.

I still keep in contact with my college roommate, but none of my other friends from college. More importantly, I still play that sport whenever I can, and even at 40, my teammates are still my closest and most dependable friends.

Anonymous wrote:My best college friends were from my sorority or lived on my hall freshman year.

Same here but I also have/had very good friends in my acapella singing group.

I'm younger, so I was in college when cell phones and social media were around (but perhaps not to the extent that they are today), so that may have affected my experience.

Two of my closest friends in college were ones in met in class. One was in my chem lab group first semester, and another I ended up having classes with for four semesters in a row. I had to make an effort though - class friends don't always translate to all around friends unless you make an effort to do things outside of class.

I wasn't really friends with anyone from my dorm, but a LOT of people I know made a significant amount of their good friends through dorms. I think it just depends on the people you end up living with and whether or not you click.

Club sports and other clubs were really big at my school, and people were usually really dedicated to them. A lot of them (particularly club sports and music groups, but also other groups like marching band, newspaper, political groups, and more) had pretty active social lives outside of their activity and often had their own houses where all the parties happened. Great way to make close friends.

I am 30+ years out of college. Still close with one former roommate who I met freshman year, but most of my friends from that era were all through debate. Not just my teammates, but my competitors from other colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son's primary friendships have arisen (quickly) from clubs.

Which clubs, if you don't mind me asking?

1) Engineering oriented.
2) Catholic
3) In addition, he plays keyboard, and has a group of "garage band" friends. But I wouldn't want to listen to them play.

I met the person who would become my best friend in a lunch line after new student thing. She went greek, I did not. She also joined the club rugby team and asked me to join bc they were looking for "tall people." 20+ years later we are part of a group of 8ish ppl from that team who still meet for vacations and getaways. As DC #1 and 2 have gone on to college - both to schools with 10K+ undergraduates - I told them to join clubs; look for a community w/in the community.

Yes--working on the college newspaper was great for that.

Yes - I joined a political action group my first week. Still good friends with two of them.

Given I was with the same group of people year after year in my major, especially when the classes got smaller and more major-specific, we all became friends; even moreso when certain classes required group projects and collaborations.

Dorm life too.

Campus ministry too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friends were from a sports club and from my hall freshmen year. I went to rush and HATED everything about it. I will steer my kids away from schools where the social life is all greek or nothing.

Okay? Rush is like .5% of what being in a sorority is really like.

Uhh I'm pretty sure the bitchy girls were gonna be there no matter what! So yeah, it was 100% what it would have been like.

I met my friends and boyfriends at my job off campus and at nightclubs/bars (legal drinking age was 18 back then). Most of my lifelong friends are 2 from high school and about 5 from my first job. Back then there was no internet/cell phones so you had to make friends and plans on the spot to go out, it was hard to keep up with old friends like kids do now.

I had a pretty serious boyfriend junior and senior year so we hung out all the time and at that time I didn't make friend just acquaintances.

I was closest with the other work/study kids who worked in the Financial Aid Office with me.

But I didn't stay friends with anyone when I graduated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friends were from a sports club and from my hall freshmen year. I went to rush and HATED everything about it. I will steer my kids away from schools where the social life is all greek or nothing.

Okay? Rush is like .5% of what being in a sorority is really like.

Uhh I'm pretty sure the bitchy girls were gonna be there no matter what! So yeah, it was 100% what it would have been like.