Boston, Massachusetts · Students

Making friends as a student in Boston, Massachusetts.

Campus by campus: how to actually make friends while you study in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nobody warns you that a big city can be the loneliest place to study. You arrive with a timetable, a room and a few hundred strangers, and everyone assumes friendship will happen automatically. On a commuter campus, in a graduate cohort, or as an international student landing three weeks before term, it usually does not.

What works is unglamorous and repeatable: pick two or three things that meet at the same time every week, go to all of them, and be the person who suggests food afterwards. Repetition beats charisma. Proximity beats apps. Being the organiser — even a bad one — beats waiting for an invitation.

These guides are written per campus, because Boston, Massachusetts campuses could not be more different from each other. A vertical tower in the Loop, a lakefront quad, a commuter school on the far South Side and a small residential college in the suburbs each need a different first move. Find yours below, then use the city guides at the bottom for the cafés, cheap food and weekly clubs worth building a routine around.

Big research campuses

Large, intense and full of people who arrived from somewhere else.

Harvard · Cambridge

Making friends at Harvard University

How to actually make friends at Harvard — from the Houses and the Yard to the river, study groups, and the social routines that work in Cambridge.

MIT · Cambridge

Making friends at MIT

A practical guide to making friends at MIT — from living groups and hackerspaces to the Cambridge scene and the low-pressure social routines that work.

Boston University · Fenway

Making friends at Boston University

How to make friends at Boston University — from Commonwealth Avenue and the dorms to Fenway, the South End, and the social routines that actually work.

Northeastern · Fenway

Making friends at Northeastern University

A practical guide to making friends at Northeastern — co-op schedules, campus life in Fenway, and the social routines that work for students with unusual calendars.

Tufts · Medford

Making friends at Tufts University

How to make friends at Tufts — a close-knit campus in Medford and Somerville with a strong sense of community, and the best ways to find your people.

Boston College · Chestnut Hill

Making friends at Boston College

How to make friends at Boston College — a suburban Jesuit campus with a strong community, and the best social routines for Eagles students.

Northeastern Graduate Students · Fenway

Making friends at Northeastern as a graduate student

A graduate student guide to making friends at Northeastern — cohorts, labs, professional groups, and the social routines that work when everyone is busy.

City campuses

No quad, no bubble — the neighbourhood does the work a campus usually does.

Emerson · Downtown

Making friends at Emerson College

How to make friends at Emerson College — a creative, downtown Boston campus where friendships form through projects, performances, and shared creative work.

Berklee · Back Bay

Making friends at Berklee College of Music

How to make friends at Berklee — a global music community in Back Bay where friendships form through jams, rehearsals, and late-night creative sessions.

Suffolk · Beacon Hill

Making friends at Suffolk University

How to make friends at Suffolk University — a downtown Boston law and business school with a city campus and the social routines that work for busy students.

BU International Students · Fenway

Making friends at Boston University as an international student

An international student guide to making friends at Boston University — cultural groups, ISSO events, conversation partners, and the social routines that work.

Public and commuter schools

Where most students work, commute, and need a plan that fits a timetable.

UMass Boston · Dorchester

Making friends at UMass Boston

How to make friends at UMass Boston — a strong commuter campus on the harbor, with the social routines and study groups that work for busy students.

Small and suburban

Small enough that you are a familiar face in weeks — if you leave your room.

Simmons · Fenway

Making friends at Simmons University

How to make friends at Simmons University — a small, supportive campus in the Fenway with strong community and easy access to Boston.

Wentworth · Mission Hill

Making friends at Wentworth Institute of Technology

How to make friends at Wentworth — a hands-on, engineering-focused campus in Mission Hill with project-based friendships and a practical social scene.

Whoever you are

Not every student arrives the same way.

International students, graduate cohorts, first weeks and the strange year after graduating — the situations that need their own plan.

3 min

Where your campus actually is.

Campus life ends at the gate. These are the neighbourhoods around it, and how people meet each other there.

The Boston, Massachusetts city guide