You're going to college? Well, problem solved mostly. Are you also moving on campus? That would help a lot.

Going away to university was the best possible thing I did for my social life (after highschool, which had sucked for me). I guess it probably depends what college you go to. If it's a small local college and you live at home, you'll have less opportunities. But if it's a larger one, or if it's well-known and so attracts intelligent people, or if it's in another town and you have to move away from home, you'll have lots more opportunities to meet intelligent and interesting people.

In the mean time, I wish I had some advice. I'm also pretty bad at making new friends. I guess over the years I've learned a few things. Big number one: Don't compromise who you are just to make/keep a friendship. Keep looking until you find people who you really like and have something in common with. I guess number two would be: Don't 'try' to make friends, just go out and do something you enjoy somewhere where there's other people around. Whether it's listening to music and/or dancing and/or partying, or if it's some hobby you have, or whatever. Be comfortable enjoying yourself on your own, and you will meet and attract people who are good potential friends. I met more friends when I stopped 'trying' to make friends than any other time. And they were much better friends too.

I think it generally helps to think about coming to terms with the difference between the normal realities and the harsher ones.

Is it really that bad for some people to want money, others to want knowledge, and others still to want an rather meaningless but easy lifestyle? People, for some reason, think money should and does govern the nature of people. While economy is important, whether or not somebody has money reflects the amount of desire they have for it and therefore how much of an effort they are willing to put forth for that desire. I'm a middle class person because I choose not to put forth enough effort to be an upper class person.

Those who choose not to exceed their class have, for the most part made their choice. While its true, that unfortunate things can happen to people who could otherwise be successful, I believe people have far more control over their lives then they think. But if a person chooses to remain in the lowest class and doesn't want to sacrifice the time and energy to leave it, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with that.

Hell, the lower class has it better than the middle class. I'm not trying to improve my success, I'm quite happy as I am. In our economic system, it's much easier to go from lower class to middle class then it is to get from middle to upper. Hopefully Obama will help to change that, but I'm not counting on a economic climate shift. In truth, I'm happy where I am anyways, and anyone who tells me I didn't put forth effort, make the sacrifices, and have to get over major stumbling blocks to get here, obviously knows nothing about me or what I've done.

The whole you can be born poor and still end up upper class is more myth than reality.  Yes, it does happen occasionally, but most people run into too many institutional road blocks along the way.  And, they're human, which means they do have limits to their capabilities.  Please justify your assertion that the lower class has it better than the middle class.  I've lived both ways and feel very fortunate to currently be middle instead of lower.  Living off of Top Ramen and not knowing if you're going to be able to pay rent next month on crappy shelter even though you are working is not better.

Zymotic, it's good that you can see through the economic propaganda that gets spread around and assumed to be true in this country.  That's not something a lot of people ever do.  For me, it helps to put it all in perspective.  In the historical context, we're basically all peasants.  My life is so enormously better that that of a Russian serf or English peasant from times past.  And, the rich are not as cruel and powerful as they were then.  Things are better than they used to be.  Just because there are situations that need fixed doesn't mean that you should despair, but see opportunities to find fulfilling issues where you can use your skills to make a contribution to the wider community.  Have you ever read any Howard Zinn?  I find that rereading his books help remind me how far the lower and middle classes have come over the years, even if they don't realize it.  Welcome to adulthood! 

I hope the change of circumstances will help you. I think it'll do you good to get out of there and into a university setting. Just don't set any expectations and go in with an open mind, and I think you'll do great.

This bears passing note. Hot young babes who want to party like there is no tomorrow and screw like bunnies. You are only going to get one chance at that in life (unless you grow up to be a pervert). It is only going to last for a couple of years. Might as well grab that while you can.

OK, my above comment is only a short term goal. This points you towards longer term goals. Do you know what you want to do yet? Even if you think that you have the answer, you can always change stuff around later but even so, having some idea of what you want is not lightly dismissed.

If your main goal is learning new things, then perhaps you want to be some type of scientist. They don't tend to get rich like rock stars but the income potential is not bad. You could do that and end up owning your own house.

You could do way worse than to take some classes in philosophy. That is as close to pure academics as anything. Even so, if you do end up trading on your education for a living, a minor in philosophy would make you considerably more marketable than someone who followed a similar academic track but never touched the stuff.

Past that, read what Greek Goddess has to say. There is lots of good advice there. At your age, you are going to meet a lot of people who are still fairly shallow but those who become your real friends will not remain so. Also, you will have them as at least occasional friends for the rest of your life.

As an example, several years ago, I lost my wallet with my entire life in it. I needed my birth certificate to get the rest of the process moving but the state that I was born in has a rule about not giving them out without ID. Well, it could suck to be me in that situation. Or it could fail to suck that my father's dorm mate went on to be one of the Senators from that state. I never asked my father what he was like as a 20 year old but I would imagine that he was pretty typical of young guys in college.

Adding to that, what are you going to be bringing to school with you? In keeping with the angle that the friends that you make today are not going to be the erudite sophisticates that they will become, bringing stuff that gets you noticed is not automatically a bad idea.

Having the best home entertainment system in the dorm earns you points with shallow people. As does bringing a musical instrument (not an accordion or xylophone though). A good set of tools will go quite a long way towards pranking others. As a long shot guess, do you build your own computers? An Oskar Wu box will score points with the subset of people who are going to be the big wheels in the IT industry.

A lot like me. There seems to be a common thread here: You will like university.

I hated high school. I hated it so much that I started counting down lessons I had remaining in my final year so I could get the hell out and go to university (I'm not American, we don't use the term senior year). I hated the lack of intellectual company to keep, I hated the fact that I had to get up incredibly early in the morning, and most of all, I hated the fact that I had obligations to take ridiculous subjects that I didn't actually care about. But university is different. For one, the people are, in general, smarter, and most importantly, you have significantly more control over what you can do and what courses you take.

Sounds like loneliness and normal frustration. It's a common side effect of intelligence.

But don't despair! There actually are more interesting, intelligent people than meets the eye. I know it's tough (I've always felt mentally older than & disconnected from people my age), but if you reach out and give people a chance you'll find that it's not all ignorant idiots, even if it feels that way sometimes. Sometimes it's all in how you view yourself (as different, for example) that leads you to think that you can't connect to others. Part of it is that you're on a different "wavelength", but a lot of it is internal negative thoughts about yourself.

You aren't alone. I'd venture that most posters (including myself) here have experienced the same kinds of feelings, thoughts and annoyances. Are there any people in your classes that DO pay attention/discuss? You could try reaching out to them instead of focusing on the morons.

Also, I know it's hard not to, but I wouldn't think too much about what other people do. It drives you crazy, and honestly they're irrelevant to you. Ignoring people is tough but essential for mental survival sometimes.

OH AND --> Washington U is an amazing school, congratulations on getting in! You will definitely find plenty of people more like you there, trust me.

Sure they do, rich people can lose their money through bad stocks or ressession. Poor people can get lucky with an idea, or win the lottery.

BUT, why is there an attitude that your paycheck defines you? I've met rich people whom I wouldn't spit on and poor people with hearts of gold.

I'll be damned if I am going to allow someone to tell me, being poor myself, that I am worthless because I didn't climb the ladder. So the fuck what.

The problem is, as you expressed that the system is built for the rich. That part is true, but that does not mean we have to throw out the free market to fix this problem.

It is a ratio problem, and untill the rich class realizes that they cant keep hording and making the pay gap bigger and bigger, they will always do what they have always done.

My advice to them is that if you don't want government stepping in, then be responsible about what you do, and be introspective about what you have, in terms of knowing the difference between what you want and what you actually need.

I am needed where I work, otherwise I wouldn't have a job. We all play our parts, and all classes are needed.

Any jaded dickhead who thinks they are more important than me, I dare them to do my job as well as I have done it. Don't complain about my dirty fingernails if you arn't willing to get your hands dirty yourself. Quit bitching and be happy that there is someone there who is willing to do the things you don't want to do.

I am not against wealth, I am against self centered jadedness and judment of those who don't have what you have.

I don't know if it's more myth than reality, but I'll freely admit that this doesn't happen to most people. I'd say that from what I've seen, most of the bad parts of people's lifestyles could have been circumvented if they'd have acted differently. Just my personal observation.

I've also lived in both lower and middle, and that's my justification. I grew up in an incredibly poor family, having almost been on the streets several times. Had it not been for the choices my father made along the way, things could have been much better for us.

I've moved out of there due to my efforts, and what I was willing to sacrifice in order to get here. When I said lower has it better than middle, I didn't mean to presume that life is better. I can most assuredly testify that it isn't. What I meant was that it was easier to go from lower to middle, than it is to get from middle to upper. I think both of us, considering our histories, could testify to that. It took hard work for both of us, but for me, I'm happy where I am now, and the amount of extra effort I'd have to make in order to get to upper class isn't acceptible for the benefits to me. So I choose to maintain my position, happy that I've left the lower class as a result of my efforts.

I was like you in High School. In Sixth Form college (it's like the intermediate stage between High School and University here), I came out of my shell a little bit. But going away to University was the best thing ever. I met a lot of great people over my three years there, and you're lucky that American Universities are four years!! I dunno how it works there, but I'd say the best way to enjoy it is to live on campus in halls (dorms?) for the first year or two, then rent a house somewhere with friends. Also join student societies in your interest areas. You'll meet a lot of great people that way.