DC struggling to make friends at university

[Rain456]

DC started uni last week and is struggling to make friends. Says their flat mates are all doing their own things (seem to have come with friends from home). DC going to the events on offer but mainly on their own. DC is generally very confident and sociable. Any advice?

There will be other students hanging round with flatmates who really aren’t their people and on the look out for other friends.

It took my child a good few weeks to really find his friends, now he lives with them and is loving life. Give it time....

I just think it’s just harder to be a part of something when people already know each other, even if they are trying to be inclusive.
The university already sorts flats into catered/ non catered and also you can ask for a single sexed flat. You state your preferences on the form. Accommodation is sorted once you have your final offer, so perhaps there could be another box for I don’t know anyone else that’s coming to the university?

Has she spoken to the flatmates who are doing their own thing much and asked to tag along? I went to university in Edinburgh twenty odd years ago and ended up with a bunch of friends who'd gone to school on the west coast, another bunch of friends who'd gone to school near Dumfries and another bunch who all knew each other from high school in the Highlands. Coming to university in groups isn't a new thing.

Are they catered? Try and get chatting to others he likes the look of perhaps confiding his flatmates aren’t like minded?

Dd2 now in her second year said as freshers they all socialised with their own floor initially. Her now best friend wasn’t on her floor and had got really unlucky with her floor. It was majority boys who said they didn’t want to socialise with girls 🙄 and the 2 girls had serious boyfriends so went home all the time. The poor girl was really unhappy for first few weeks. Her and dd got chatting in the dinner hall and she got adopted by DDs friendly floor. They’re a fab group and have just all moved into a shared house. Fingers crossed same happens for your ds.

Yes I’ve told them this - told them to pop along to the other flats in their block. thank you for posting.