Where do Brown students make friends?

By Eric Xia

In the latest poll by Brown Opinion Project (n=207), we found that the avenues through which Brown students make friends varies predictably across concentrations and class year. We identify some general results from crosstabulations, and then focus on race & concentration, which both appear to be important factors in making friends. We report results over class years, as there is significant variability between grades. 

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General Results

Making Friends by Venue

While these results suggest that student clubs dominate friend making at Brown, examination by class year will reveal more complicated relationships between avenues.

Fig 1. Responses to the question, “At Brown, where did you make the most friends?” by class year. Freshman and Seniors report their number 1 category as Dorms / Housing, while Sophomores and Juniors tend to report student clubs.

Academic community grows with time

Fig 2. Percentage of respondents selecting Academics as their top choice to the question, “At Brown, where did you make the most friends?”

Orientation friend groups are not made to last

While a significant percentage of sophomores reported making the most friends through orientation (10%, n=5), 1 and 0 respondents out of juniors (n=43) and seniors (n=45), respectively, report the same. While this does not mean students do not make close friends during these events, it does indicate very few respondents stayed in touch with everyone from orientation.

Gender & Friendships

Overall, straight and LGBTQ+ friendships are quite similar. Less non-straight respondents reported making the most friends through sports or outdoor activities (6% vs 12%, n=4/72, n=14/121). Male and female responses were also quite similar. More women reported making friends through orientation (5% vs. 2%, n=5/102, n=2/94). No patterns were observed among the five non-binary respondents, with responses as Student Clubs (2), Academic Settings, Dorms, and Parties respectively.

Race and Making Friends

Who makes friends in Academic Settings?

Almost no BIPOC students at Brown reported an academic setting as their top avenue for making friends. Compared to 14% of Asian (n=13/89) and 10% of White (n=9/89) students selecting academics (e.g. classes, research, or TA programs) as their top venue, only 3% of Black respondents (n=1/38) did. Out of the twenty seven respondents not mentioned above, zero Hispanic or Latino (n=23), Middle Eastern or North African (n=3), Native American or Alaska Native (n=2) respondents reported academic settings as their top choice.

Race/Ethnicity	Count	% top Academic
Asian	13	14.6%
White	9	10.1%
Black	1	2.6%
All others	0	0.0%

Who makes Friends through Student Clubs?

Student clubs are the primary friend-making venue for every racial group, but stand out for Hispanic or Latino and Black respondents. Note that this category excludes sports or outdoor activities, as a separate category provided to respondents. 

Race/Ethnicity	Count	% top Student Clubs
Asian	30	33.7%
White	25	28.1%
Black	14	36.8%
Hispanic or Latino	9	39.1%
Middle Eastern or North African	3	100.0%
Native American or Alaska Native	1	50.0%
Prefer not to answer	1	33.3%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	0	0.0%

More respondents in Social Sciences and Humanities/Arts (Humanities) reported making the most friends through Student Clubs and Parties and Social Events. 

Who makes Friends at Parties or Social Events?

More Hispanic and Latino students report making friends at parties and social events than any other group. Compared to lower percentages among White (15%), Asian (11%), and Black (10%) students, 21% (n=5/23) Hispanic or Latino students reported having made the most friends at parties. Notably, this category likely excludes student club events or dorm socials, as they are covered by other categories.

Race/Ethnicity	Count	% Top Parties
White	13	14.6%
Asian	10	11.2%
Hispanic or Latino	5	21.7%
Black	4	10.5%
Native American or Alaska Native	1	50.0%
Middle Eastern or North African	0	0.0%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	0	0.0%
Prefer not to answer	0	0.0%

Who makes Friends through Sports or Outdoor Activities?

Fewer Asian (n=6/89) and Hispanic or Latino (n=1/23) respondents reported making the most friends through sports or outdoor activities than other groups.

Race/Ethnicity	Count	% of Group
White	9	10.1%
Asian	6	6.7%
Black	5	13.2%
Hispanic or Latino	1	4.3%
Other	0	0.0%

Concentration and Making Friends

STEM & Humanities freshmen find friends in the same places

Fig 3.  The percentage of freshman respondents in each category for the question, “At Brown, where did you make the most friends?”. Prospective concentrators in STEM and Humanities start with very similar profiles. Around 40% make the most friends from dorms, while student clubs and sports take up around another 40% (none of the Humanities freshmen reported Sports/Outdoors as their top option).

STEM academic friend making grows rapidly over years

Life and Physical Sciences (STEM) are far more likely to report an academic setting as their top venue for making friends than other concentration areas. By senior year, one third of STEM respondents report making the most friends in academic settings, while 10% of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts (Humanities) report the same.

Fig 3.  The percentage of respondents in both STEM and Humanities who select Academics as their top choice to the question “At Brown, where did you make the most friends?”. The percentage rises dramatically in later class years for both types of students, but more prominently for STEM.

Housing dominates senior year Humanities friendships

Fig 3. For senior humanities students, Dorms & Housing are by far the most common avenue for friendship (many seniors live off campus). This may reflect strengthening existing relationships, as sophomore and junior year Humanities students are highly involved in clubs and social events.

STEM friendships remain balanced over time

Fig 4.  Juniors are split nearly evenly between Housing, Clubs, Academics, Parties, and Other (including sports & outdoor activities).

The Brown Opinion Project (BOP) conducted its March 2026 poll on March 10th, 11th, and 12th. BOP solicited responses from Brown undergraduate students near Faunce Hall and Sciences Park. BOP representatives asked every person who passed their location if they were interested in taking a quick anonymous poll. Responses were anonymously collected using Google Forms. Over the course of the polling process, BOP collected 207 total responses from Brown undergraduate students.

To estimate the statistics used above, the response "4 or more" was converted to 4. The total response body was 349 students.