Social life in grad school compared to undergrad?

[Carbohydrated]

I am still an undergrad and quite frankly, my social life hasn't been the best. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I took the community college route and ended up at a state university after it. While most of the kids made their friends early on living in dorms, I arrived late to the party but my social life has gradually picked up overtime. Unfortunately, my university also has a huge Greek Life presence to where a lot of the big parties are thrown by fraternities and if you aren't a part of the "in crowd", you have a hard time getting invited to those parties. I guess a part of me has always wanted to be a part of the "cool crowd" with hot girls, nice parties, drinking, and all that.

 

That said, how does social life in grad school compare to social life in undergrad?

[GeoDUDE!]

I am still an undergrad and quite frankly, my social life hasn't been the best. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I took the community college route and ended up at a state university after it. While most of the kids made their friends early on living in dorms, I arrived late to the party but my social life has gradually picked up overtime. Unfortunately, my university also has a huge Greek Life presence to where a lot of the big parties are thrown by fraternities and if you aren't a part of the "in crowd", you have a hard time getting invited to those parties. I guess a part of me has always wanted to be a part of the "cool crowd" with hot girls, nice parties, drinking, and all that.

 

That said, how does social life in grad school compare to social life in undergrad?

 

 

I think your case is similar to many who transfer; the core group of friends I had through college I met freshman year, and the others came and left as time went on. 

 

Graduate school is really no different, except there is no greek life. I'm suprised you sound cynical of greek life, they are usually really open to new people if you have at least one friend in the frat ect.

 

Anyway, it really depends on the type of program and the people in the program. I think the biggest differences is you have to work to find people outside of your program; its very easy to just talk to people in your program. Your going to have to do the same things you did as a transfer student, join clubs and activities. Talk to people before/after/sometimes during class. Talk to people at bars. 

 

Basically, social life in graduate school is the same as anything, except, you are surrounded by thousands of potential friends!

[WriteAndKnit]

I'm lucky that I have a group of friends via the student veterans group on campus. Some are also grad students, most undergrad, but the only time that's an issue for this particular group is when someone has GI Bill or other administrative issues that are handled differently for undergrads/grads. That also makes it easier to meet people in other areas, since there's a friend in common. (And veterans tend to be older when they start college, so there's not as significant an age difference; most of us are between 25-35.)

 

Otherwise, I plan to make contact with a few of the clubs on campus and do what I can to stay involved.

[spunky]

 

That said, how does social life in grad school compare to social life in undergrad?

 

social life? in graduate school? what is this strange entity you speak of?

 

meh, i guess it's just what you make of it. if you have a lab/research group you regularly work with, they'll probably become your immediate social group. 

 

if you don't have one or don't really get along well with them...well... then things can get really tough

[spunky]

 

 

Graduate school is really no different, except there is no greek life. I'm suprised you sound cynical of greek life, they are usually really open to new people if you have at least one friend in the frat ect.

 

 

i think that's very university-dependent. Greek life in my uni is SUPER cliquey 

[St Andrews Lynx]

The good news is that there will be a nice chunk of grad students in your cohort who are ALL starting out at the same time, and many of whom are completely new to the area. If you get chatting to them during the Orientation Week (where there are usually a lot of socials) and follow-up in the coming weeks, then I think you'll form friends naturally. 

 

What I like about grad school is that you don't have to stay up to 3am partying as a pre-requisite to making friends - unlike in undergrad and the Greek Life spheres. Grad students are typically the ones who DIDN'T go to the frat parties and WEREN'T the coolest undergrads (although many are really cool, of course).

 

My best advice is to be proactive in making friends. Go up and talk to new folk. Be the one who suggests doing something on the weekend. Invite yourself to activities by asking if you can come along. Give strangers a second chance (first impressions aren't always the most accurate).  

[AAdAAm]

 Grad students are typically the ones who DIDN'T go to the frat parties and WEREN'T the coolest undergrads (although many are really cool, of course).

 

 

My thoughts exactly. I was thinking "Oh man... if you didn't jump in the cool boat as an undergrad, I don't think you're gonna find it in gradschool".

[juilletmercredi]

Another thing...that high school social-circle thing tends to decrease in importance once you graduate from college.  In my experience, there's no "cool kids," no "in-crowd", etc.  I don't know whether it's because most graduate students aren't the type to have been the popular kids in high school and college (although, stereotypes aside, many of them are - I know homecoming queens, sorority women, and SGA presidents who have become close friends of mine in grad school).  I just think that once you get to a certain point, you realize all that is kind of pointless and it's much better to get to know people based upon personality and interests rather than social class.  One friend in particular I'm thinking of, we may have never been friends in college, but we have very similar interests and like to do the same things so we just click outside of the superficiality of your under-20 days.

 

So, discard the 'cool kids' mentality, because social groups like that don't really form in graduate school and in your professional life (well...I guess it depends on your workplace, but in my experience, they don't).  One of the best things you can do is be proactive.  Everybody likes the person who takes the initiative to organize social events!

[reinhard]

I don't know what magic my colleagues did, but it's only one week and everyone "new" is talking to each other like they are bffs while I am still lonely...