How College Friends Can Affect Studies

Friendships at college should not be underestimated, as they can play a significant role in how you perform academically and socially, a new study has found. The new study was conducted by Dartmouth College in the US. Janice McCabe, associate professor at Dartmouth, found that student friendships can be classified into three types: tight-knitters, samplers and compartmentalisers. Tight-knitters have one dense group of friends, where nearly everyone knows each other. Academically their friends can be supportive. However, they also have the potential to pull each other down, if they lack academic skills and motivation. Compartmentalisers have two or four clusters of friends: one or more for studying and one or more for having fun. They rely less on their friends to succeed in college. Samplers have one on one friendships rather than groups. They are independent and do not rely on their friends for a sense of belonging; they are often socially isolated.