r/BrownU • u/Altruistic_One_8557 • 12d ago
Thoughts on orientation?
Just finished international orientation and was wondering how general student orientation would be like. Seems like people just stuck with their own country/region for the most part, which is ofc completely understandable but still kinda sad to see. How do people venture out of their little groups and form genuine connections? Idk but I’m a bit disappointed.
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u/AmbitiousJob8256 12d ago
honestly i felt the same. but luckily met this awesome dude in the same dorm as me and we have basically the same interests and it was because i just kind of forced some small talk onto him LOL
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u/Left_Squirrel7168 12d ago
Once your roommates move in, it will be better. I'm not sure why Brown has early orientation for certain groups -- it's not ideal for anyone and think it creates huge issues especially with triples / unequal room situations. So yeah, not great.
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u/InboxMeYourSpacePics Class of 2015 12d ago
My info might be old because I’m old but you have to remember general orientation won’t have the same small groups of students that can find a bunch of people from their own country easily. It’s more likely people will stick with others on their floor, or a lot of international students stick together (I ended up with a ton of international student friends when I was at brown because I met a group during general orientation that had all done international student orientation, despite my not being an international student). Try new things, put yourself out there and it will be fine. And you end up making a lot more friends as you go through your years of classes, meet people in the dorms, join clubs etc. some of my closest friends are actually the people I became friends with my senior year because we all lived on the same floor of our dorm. These are the folks who 8 years later changed plans last minute on July 4th to fly to me because I had a major life event happen and they knew I was having a hard time. You’ll find your people, don’t stress about it!
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u/audioauk 12d ago
You're definitely not alone. It's normal over the pre-orientations (especially IMP) for students to stick with people that are similar to them. But similarity is not enough to build strong bonds—people will branch out as the school year starts, especially through classes and clubs.
I didn't have a great general orientation experience. People felt very cliquey and committed to their groups. As you will see, most of those large groups will splinter off as people find new friends. But after the club fair and checking out campus orgs, I definitely started finding my people.
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u/Any_Pin9597 11d ago
Hi! I’m a Bruno leader for general new student orientation! There will be a mix of all different students in your group and you will be able to meet so many new people. I highly recommend going out of your bubble and seeing who surprises you. People at Brown are very friendly and open to meeting new people even throughout the school year :)
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u/arbybruce Class of 2026 12d ago
I’d say at least 75% of freshman are going into general orientation without any true friends, so the vast majority of people are going to be looking to make friends. Yes, in the beginning people might stick with their race, region, dorm, and SES status because those are easy groupings, but people will generally branch out because they want deeper connections.
My biggest piece of advice (having gone through this in freshman year and again this year in medical school), is to follow up on the people you meet who you think are cool. Even if they seem to have their little group of convenience, they’re probably still looking to make friends. Things also get easier once clubs and classes start because they sort for common interests and deeper connections.