Back in the day, finding old college friends was quite challenging. You had to publish a classified ad or look through the phone directory, which wasn’t an appealing prospect. It came down to that or hoping to get lucky at the next reunion.
Social media, search engines, and specialized services have made finding old college friends online quite simple and free. People search engines have made it very easy to find people online.
Here are some ways to find old college friends on the internet. At least one of them will work!
Before you start, collect and organize your information about them. The more you have to go on, the easier they’ll be to find. Try to remember as much as you can. Get in touch with others who knew them and ask them what they know or can remember.
Search Facebook
There’s a hack to finding old school friends on Facebook or looking someone up based on their location. Enter their name in the search bar, then click on “Choose a School” under “Education” from the column on the results page. Enter your college name and check if their name appears on the list. You can also search by choosing “City,” then “Choose a City” in “Filter Results.”
You might find a mutual friend or someone else they knew. You can do a Facebook search on that person as well. At least one mutual acquaintance will have a public friend list you can look through. They might be friends with someone who has your friend’s name. It might be a different person who shares the name or your long-lost college buddy!
Join Alumni Groups
To find them using this method, google your college name enclosed by quote marks, then the location of the college and the word “alumni.” If the college has an alumni association, it will appear on the results page immediately. A lot of colleges have Facebook pages for alumni groups too.
If you find the group for your former college or university, you must register as a new member. It will give you access to information about other members, reunion announcements, photos, class directories, and more. Your old college friends might be members too. If that’s the case, you’ll find out quickly. You can send messages through the group’s system or email them.
The best-known alumni site is alumni.net, which has been online for nearly twenty years and boasts millions of members worldwide. You’ll likely find the person you’re looking for in its database. You register in three simple steps. Signing up is free.
There is a bulletin board on alumni.net where you can post a message. When signing up, you need to provide additional information and invite two or more people to the site, which some see as inconvenient.
Search for Relevant Organizations
Your old friends may be associated with a company, another school, or another establishment. You can conduct county, state, and even country-based searches, and you can expect to get lots of results. Rather than enter the name of an organization, you can search with a term specific to it. It would be a good idea to do this if your college name was very common.
When you join a relevant organization, you can search for people by name. Searching by maiden name might not be helpful if you’re looking for a woman who’s gotten married since college.
Try ReferenceUSA
If your area has a good public library, ask if it can give you access to ReferenceUSA. This site has some of the most reliable information about people. You can access it with your library card if the library has this service. You can access it through your computer at home or go down to the library and open the site on one of theirs.
Conclusion
It’s normal to lose touch with people over time. According to a study, the number of friends in a person’s life peaks at about 25, then starts to decline. People graduate, focus on work, move away, get married, or have children. They have less time to nurture friendships.
You’ll have more energy and time for friendships as you get older. What’s more, the feeling of reconnecting with an old college friend is hard to describe. It feels even better when you can catch up and rekindle the fire. Of course, not everyone will be interested in reconnecting, but you’ll never know unless you try.
