Picking a Roommate

Second semester is here, which means there are lots of questions flying around about roommates and who you'll end up spending next year with. Whether you're picking a roommate for the very first time, or you're in college already, it can be really stressful to choose the "right roommate for you".

My college, and most others, offer three options: Select, Survey, and Random.

Select: I chose a college that was far away from my home town, and being a smaller college, I ended up at a school none of my classmates had decided to go to. I wasn't worried about making friends, but I was worried about finding a roommate. I went on my class's Facebook page (I promise your school has one) and put in a short bio about me and started reaching out to people I though I was similar too. Oddly enough, a girl I had known from summer camp in middle school reached out to me. We caught up, talked a bit about what we were looking for in a roommate, and decided it was a good idea to room together. It has been a wonderful experience, but there's a few things you need to think about before you decide to room with a friend.

1. Are your sleep schedules similar? If she's a night owl, and you're a morning person, things could get difficult.

2. What about your study habits? Do you like to study in your room or in the library? How do you feel about noise level in the room?

3. Are you okay with spending all day and all night with someone? or do you need some time to decompress by yourself? The last thing you want is to get tired of your friend, or feel like you can't get away from them when you need time to yourself.

Survey: most colleges have a system where you fill out a survey and you can find other people whose habits match yours. Study, noise, room temperature, messiness, tolerance for alcohol, etc. This is a great way to make sure you're going to be okay with your roommates general habits! Most of my friends in college decided to match with people through the survey system, and they ended up loving the people they roomed with! They've never had most of the typical disagreements for roommates. Just one word of advice here: SERIOUSLY be honest with that survey. The worst thing you can do is fudge a little, and match with someone who is your complete opposite.

Random: If you're a bit of a rulebreaker or want a fresh start, you also have the option of going completely random, and letting the system decide. Personally, this would make me SUPER anxious, but my friend Makayla tried this and ended up loving the person she's with! They are really similar, good friends, and they've never had a disagreement. If you're braver, try this! It might really work out for you.

How do you think you'd want to choose your roommate?