Roommates

If you're in the market for a roommate let's talk about things to look for and things to avoid:


Look for:
Someone with a similar sleep schedule. Right now you think "oh, hey, I can sleep through ANYTHING and still get up at 6am for my daily run" or perhaps you think "No amount of blow drying at 7am will wake me up." I hate to break this to you, but you are an idiot. Sleep will be your saving grace your first year of college... don't risk it.

Avoid:
Your best friend. I know, you sleep over at each other's house all the time and it would just be SO AWESOME if you shared a room but think of it this way: if you do not live in the same room, you meet two new people AND if one of you gets sweet housing and the other gets shitty freshman housing, the whole group isn't stuck in your crappy shared 6'x10' jail cell. Also, being roommates is a sure fire way to set your friendship up in front of a firing squad, at least until you get apartment style living.

Look for:
Someone with a major similar to yours in intensity. I have been the roommate who was making a coloring book while someone studied for an Ochem final. I have also been the girl who rolled off her bed at 6 am to write a paper and landed on a naked guy left there by my roommate who had recently dropped her pre-pharmacy major...

Avoid:
Someone with drastically different values. Not into sex? Don't pick someone who is going to be 'experimenting' in college. Not into the Greek system? It's totally okay to cross off potential roommates because they are rushing. Now, I'm not saying to pick your identical twin because both of you will change and college IS a time to grow and surround yourself with new ideas but remember your dorm is a place to go to get away... not a place to battle it out.

Some other good tips:
A good number of colleges have a lot of ways for you to pick roommates, someone you knew before, a sort of online dating system or random... but be sure you apply for your housing early. I got stuck in a girls-only high rise with rooms approximately the size of my closet at home. Everyone else I knew was in somewhere cool, why? Because I waited until I had a roommate to put in my application... April is too late, you will pay for it later.

Talk about who's bringing what... and hold them to it. I had to walk down the world's longest hallways, into a lobby, take a left walk into a different hall and stand there for 4 minutes any time I wanted popcorn. That's effin' ridiculous. Also, be sure you provide the things you'll want to take with you... for instance, who owns a flat screen t.v.? I do! Who doesn't own a mini-fridge and doesn't need one? Yea, I outplayed her...

If it's wrong, leave. No matter how perfect your roommate looks on paper, it's possible that college will not be as kind to them as it is to you... you have this wonderful blog to help you out! If they turn out to be spawn of satan, or even if they're just not your cup of tea... go to your housing office. I stuck it out an entire year with my freshman roommate. What a terrible choice. There isn't anything wrong with you or your terrible roommate, you may just need to swap with two another pair to find a better fit.

Here's the crappy adult advice that I'm going to repeat more than anything else... be honest with yourself. If you are not a stay up all night party down type don't think that by saying you are one on your application you will magically become one in college. College is one of the few places where if you are EXACTLY who you want to be, you will find at least 5 or 6 people who love you just like that... and 5 or 6 close friends.. well we'll get to HOW TO GET YOUR "GROUP" next time

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