The Initial Friendship Market
From Admissions Beat by Lee Coffin • Vice President and Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at Dartmouth College
May 12, 2026 · 50 min · Season 9 · Episode 16
About this episode
Sociologist Janice McCabe discusses insights on friendship from her book as students transition to college.
In the season finale, sociologist Janice McCabe offers insights on friendship from her new book Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends, as this fall's entering class makes the transition from home to college. "Belonging is a powerful human need," Professor McCabe notes, and the post-admission period leading up to orientation and the start of classes is what McCabe calls "the initial friendship market." An expert in how people connect in social situations, she advises students to "be intentional about what, who, and where you look" for friends during this fast-moving moment, a powerful transition when everyone is eager to make new friendships.
People in this episode
Host: Lee Coffin
Guest: Janice McCabe
Topics covered
- friendship
- college transition
- social connections
- belonging
- sociology
Keywords
- friendship market
- college orientation
- social situations
- making friends
- belonging
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Dartmouth College
Books & works: Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends
More episodes of Admissions Beat
- Odds and Ends · June 2, 2026 · 39 min
- The Transition from Home to College · May 5, 2026 · 41 min
- The Things I Wish I'd Known... · April 28, 2026 · 60 min
- Guiding the Voyage of Discovery: The College Finder · April 21, 2026 · 58 min
- Once a High School Principal, Now an Admissions Officer · April 14, 2026 · 46 min
- AP or Honors, Which Looks Better for Colleges? · April 7, 2026 · 51 min
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