The OED defines 'popularity' as 'the fact or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many people or by a particular group of people; general acceptance or approval'. In this sense then yes, you can be popular at university: it's a universal possibility within any social environment. However, when focusing on the transition from mandatory to further education, what's different is the significance of 'popularity'. You may feel or seem popular, but it holds a lot less value than it did at school.
You may feel or seem popular, but it holds a lot less value than it did at school.
Nevertheless, establishing a social presence at university is definitely possible, with societies and sports clubs being the explicit example. Joining a circle with a common interest or goal immediately gives students 'many people [or] a particular group of people' to feel 'general acceptance or approval' from.
Unfortunately though, they tend to carry the age-old social baggage that school did. University culture continues to be attached to images of 'freshers', drinking and clubbing, an your participation in these can seem to partly measure your loyalty to a society or sports club. Whether it's an initiation, or the weekly trip to Soho on a Wednesday night, drinking culture is pushed in these circles as the way to make friends and feel included.
This is then perpetuated by social media as socials and events are posted online. Their 'general acceptance or approval' of each other is intentionally presented to others, and creates an image of popularity within the University community. Consider the posts from the Ski Club's annual trip (who look like they do more drinking than skiing); intentional social media engagement gives these groups a stronger social leverage, and the people within them can thus can be stereotypically categorized as 'popular'. Beyond their societies and clubs, individual students may use social media like this too. Someone who puts significant effort into their Instagram are more likely to appear on more feeds, be recognized, and considered 'popular' on campus.
It's evident then that certain characters have a greater social presence than others at Uni, but 'popularity' seems to have a lot less significance than it did during compulsory education. School is like a microcosm of the wider social reality: confined by the walls of the classroom, and the structure of the education system, it can feel like your whole world. When the learning is mandatory too, the social side of compulsory education is seen just as equal, and sometimes more important, in relation to the academics. Fitting in with peers naturally becomes a major concern. However, at university, the social boundaries and academic expectations apparent in high-school shift: socialising goes beyond the confinement of the classroom, and academics are particularly at the forefront.
It's evident then that certain characters have a greater social presence than others at Uni, but 'popularity' seems to have a lot less significance than it did during compulsory education.
There are 20,934 undergraduates, and 26,937 postgraduates attending Newcastle University as home-campus students this year. If we consider these numbers to be the 'particular group of people' the OED refers to, then the potential feeling of 'general acceptance or approval' that defines 'popularity' is lost in the masses. It's next-to impossible for the whole student body to know a particular individual, and vice versa, nobody is expected to identify all 47,871 students walking around campus. For example, someone who spends their days in the Percy Building could go their entire University life without ever meeting someone based in the William Leech building.
This wider university community also helps defeat the pressure of 'popularity' too, as every student immediately shares a general commonality. Whether it was a first, second, or clearing choice, each student made the same decision to attend that particular university, creating solidarity, strength and university pride in the student body. On another level, everyone was also accepted by the university, thus deserving to attend through the university's approval. This common ground and equality subdues the differences between students that could cause the emergence of a social hierarchy, and subsequently the categorization of 'popularity'.
In this more complex and academically-focused environment, 'popularity' can begin looking like an immature occupation.
The choice of going to university also makes it's social element less significant in comparison to compulsory education. In this more complex and academically-focused environment, 'popularity' can begin looking like an immature occupation. Deciding to dedicate three years or more towards earning a degree - for some - shifts their social life to the peripheral: pulling all-nighters to lock-in at the library is just as symbolic of university life as drinking culture is. As students begin preparing for a particular career, university can be a semi-professional environment, making popularity-politics an insignificant concern. In fact, within lectures and seminars, you are most-likely meeting others interested in the same field, so creating social hierarchy between potential colleagues could have damaging consequences in your own professional future.
You also can't contain socialising within the boundaries of university, as friendships are created beyond the institution. As aforementioned, no longer confined by the walls of a classroom (or a lecture hall), you being socializing in the real, wider world. Without the militant structure of compulsory education, you're no longer fixed within the microcosm, so the pressure to fit in, or be 'popular' within it is eliminated.
So, to answer our original question, yes, you can be popular at University... but it certainly isn't as significant as it was during your GCSE chemistry class.