Different Ways to Make Friends as an Incoming Freshman

By: Sydney Henry ‘24

So you’ve finally paid your $300 dollar deposit to confirm your enrollment at USC and announced your decision by posting on Instagram on Decision Day, but what now? You check the different USC decision day hashtags and see several people post that they got into USC and decided to attend for the next 4 years. You want to reach out to them, but you don’t know exactly how. That’s where I step in and give you some different way to become friends with these people, whether you’re completely online or on campus.

1. SLIDE INTO THEIR DMs

This is a lot of the time not what people gravitate towards when it comes to just making friendships. Sliding into someone’s DMs usually implies a flirtatious vibe and a possible friendship developing into a relationship. But that’s not what we’re going for here.

Simply messaging someone, “Hey! Congrats on getting into USC *insert cute emoji* I’m just reaching out trying to make some friends” is a great way to start off. I’ve used this one personally many times. It’s true that some people won’t respond, or some will and then the conversation will end up being really short. But those that do respond and you do develop actual friendships with are bound to be friends for life.

I met one of my closest friends at USC through Instagram, and now we talk almost everyday since college has started. 

Another great social media option is to join the USC Facebook group. At the beginning of every school year a new Facebook group is created for each class. Find your class and get to posting!

2. GROUP CHATS

This one is somewhat self explanatory, but joining a bunch of different group chats and finding one you really vibe with is a great way to make friends. 

For the class of 2024 personally, we had an Instagram page 2024_usc created by Ygs, a class of ‘23 upperclassman. That page allowed us to send in a bunch of group chat links, usually created through GroupMe, so everyone in the class could access them. They all focused on different things like “for the gurls, Black at USC ‘24, LGBT and allies,” in addition to the main 2024 group chat that everyone can join. Building bonds within these large groups could eventually lead to you finding a smaller group of friends that you really vibe with. The 2024 instagram page also allowed us to send in pictures of ourselves and tag our accounts so people could follow us.

Other group chats that are usually created at the beginning of the semester are ones by class. Several people will volunteer to make one big group chat for a class like BISC 120, SPAN 150, or WRIT 150. The owners of these groups will end up making a large excel sheet with names of the groups and the links that allow you to join them. Through those chats you may find people in your specific class and then create a smaller chat so you can just interact with those in your class.

3. JOIN CLUBS

There are a large range of clubs that you, as a freshman, can join once the semester starts. Although we are online, there are still several clubs that can be joined. Most meet either once a week or once every other week, so there are plenty of meetings you can attend. Breakout rooms (although awkward) are commonly used as a way for people to make fast friends. 

Personally, since the start of the semester, I have joined several clubs including BSA and S.I.S which meet every week on Mondays and Tuesdays respectively.

All the different clubs can be viewed on engageSC. Joining a club is easy, just visit engageSC, scroll through the different clubs, click on one you think is interesting and want to be a part of, and click join. Some may accept your request automatically while others may take a couple days to accept your request.

That’s all I have for you guys today. Always remember that making friends fast isn’t always best. If you don’t find anyone you really connect with early on, don’t worry, you will eventually find someone that you click with. Also remember to be your complete authentic self. We’re not in high school anymore, so there is no reason to change how you are to “fit in.” Being unique is always best. As always, #FightOn!

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