The biggest adjustment for me post-college was the issue that maintaining friendships past college requires more effort. In college you see people in class, everyone goes to the same parties, etc. You all live in the same dorms or at least nearby in the same neighborhoods. Your social life is basically built-in. I haven't run into the problem of having trouble meeting people - you meet people through other friends, coworkers, and the whole hobby thing that's been covered. It's the issue of going out of my way to make plans with people - I won't run into them 3 times a week in class or in the laundry room and be able to make spontaneous plans 5 times a week. I naturally tend toward loner-ness so if I didn't purposely call or text people for plans, and follow-up when people contact me about plans, I would spend most of my time alone. If you notice that you didn't have to put forth much effort for a social life in college, keep in mind that post-college you may have to be more proactive about making connections with people. If you do that you probably won't have trouble maintaining friendships and making new friends.
The transition after college was the hardest time of my life. I went from a life of fucking randoms, drinking all night, and sleeping all day. Then I graduated...... I finished a semester late, so I was alone among my friends. I also had no business connections and had to leave the college to do anything with my life, so I moved back in with my parents to Atlanta. So to recap, new city, no friends, no job, no women, and living with my parents. I hated life. Fast forward a few months of interviews, an entry-level job, and meeting some people and life gradually bounced back. I love my life now, but don't get me wrong, there are few things in life more enjoyable than college. You might be excited about making money, having a career, family, etc; but there will be one day where you'd trade it all in for the collegiate "good old days".
Not one person has said "Have lots of money" yet? It's pretty much the ONLY way to makes friends nowadays. I've seen MTV.
Also graduating this spring. However, I can still hit our fraternity parties (and thus underclassmen college girls, who needs friends when you cam have 18-20 year old girls?) as an alumnus for a year or two before it starts getting genuinely weird. Hell, maybe even three, until the current crop of freshmen graduate.
Maybe not at lame ass frat parties but Im always for young coeds wanting to hook up, particularly with me. I did notice though that after a while it was more trouble than it was worth trying to deal with girls still sneaking into a bar because they don't have a fake. None of them can handle drinking and make god damn messes of themselves.
I suppose it's the cost of doing business. How else can I ensure a steady access of girls in their physical primes with minimal effort? Every time I hit bars on "normal" nights with no college parties taking place at the venue I yearn for even the most dismal and cliched frat basement parties. The talent is just sorely lacking, and for a few hours I totally understand why some guys get married early. P.S. As far as bars go, it's much easier dealing with girls who lack IDs, need passbacks, or need help getting in with their fakes as a legal drinker. At least now I don't have to worry about getting myself in, bypassing a potential roadblock.
I second this. Figure out what the "in", social apartment complexes are and use it as your grown up dormitory. If you don't know which ones are fun, go apartment hunting on a warm Saturday afternoon and check out the demographics of the pool. If it's packed and buzzing with drunk 20-somethings then you've probably found a winner. If it looks like a day care center then you want to move on unless you have a legitimate MILF fetish. Less tangibly, the best advice I can give is the same advice I'd give to someone going into middle school: If you're invited to something, just say yes, no matter how lame or uncomfortable the activity sounds. Yeah, you'll probably find yourself saying "What the fuck?" when you unwittingly end up in a Souther Baptist revival on a Saturday night but you will have enough good times and good friends that you can easily laugh at the other shit. And don't shy away from the coffee and ibprofen. Makes hungover, Friday morning meetings much less miserable.
Just wanted to reiterate this point. As someone perpetually moving and trying to meet new people this is some good advice. Sure, the majority of the time it's for naught, but I've met some cool people and had some real fun. And what's the risk? A bit of discomfort? I tended to meet most people through work, but like a previous poster said, be careful with that shit. I got really tight with people at a previous job. We all used to go out, party, etc. But personal stuff started spilling back into work. People fucked other people, jealousy, and what not. My last month or two at that job became very awkward and personal stuff started to really impact the way that I could perform at my job.