Ways to get involved on-campus and make connections...advice appreciated

[analynn2023]

I just moved across country to my new school. I'm an applied math PhD student, immediately straight from undergrad. I was very involved on-campus at my undergraduate institution. I'd really like to meet more people and be involved on-campus at my new school, too. I don't have a car this year, so I'm mostly interested in joining a few student clubs/orgs. It seems like the majority of them are guided/consist of undergrads. Is it normal for grad students to join clubs whose members are mostly undergrads? I know I still look like an undergrad (still 21 y/o), but wanted to know others' experiences with student clubs.

I've been trying hard the past couple days to step out of my comfort zone and talk to more people, especially since I'm aware I'm more introverted. It's mostly been hit and miss, any interactions. I'm not an international student either, so I didn't get to attend international orientation/meet and greet session. I kind of feel like I'm not having much luck, but I'm hopeful things will get better when I meet my cohort and classes start.

If anyone has any advice on this topic or experienced this, I'd love to hear it. 

[Sigaba]

24 minutes ago, analynn2023 said:

 I'm an applied math PhD student, immediately straight from undergrad.

FWIW, I very strongly recommend that you defer your socializing until you get a good sense of what you need to do to be successful in your program as a first year student.

IRT the social life of graduate students, there are many threads in which that topic is discussed across many of the fora here. Maybe try browsing through the hits from this search before doing additional searching and reading .

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/search/?q="social life"&page=1&sortby=relevancy

[juilletmercredi]

Yes, on-campus involvement isn't really a primary goal of a new PhD student. Learning the ropes of your department, getting close to your advisor, getting some projects off the ground and figuring out how to accomplish some of the professional activities you need to compete (presentations and publications) are higher priority. In my experience, most of the most active graduate students were master's students; the doctoral students who were more active on campus tended to be more advanced students. I wouldn't be looking to join too many orgs until you were further in (maybe at least done with a semester, if not a full year) and then, even if you do join some, I'd limit it to 1-2 that don't have a big commitment from you. (I was active in my school's Black and Latino Student Caucus, but for me "active" meant attending most of their events and socializing with members occasionally.)

I don't think it's common for grad students to join mostly undergrad student clubs.

The school year has just begun; don't fret about not meeting anyone yet. Friendships beyond undergrad are very different from college friendships. They often start more slowly and take more time and work to cultivate. Give yourself some time to ease into your new work load and life, and put out feelers. Don't rely fully on your cohort for that - you may find some close friends there, but if you are in a larger city or town, you might also consider going to events for young professionals and/or joining some Meetup groups or something. Graduate student socials and mixers are also a good way to meet grad students in other departments.

[iwearflowers]

I got involved in some community groups during my masters program, and it was kind of a saving grace. In grad school, you’re surrounded by your topic all the time, and it’s nice to get out of that bubble occasionally. Religious communities, hobby clubs, and volunteer organizations are all great ways to meet people.