There’s one thing about living on campus that everyone always worries about and that is the roommate situation. Unfortunately, unless you have a friend that you plan on living with, you will have very little control over who your roommate will be. Sorry!
When it comes time to sign up for housing for the first time, most colleges will have incoming freshmen fill out a survey of roommate preferences. You’ll answer questions including sleeping habits and visitor preferences and be matched with someone who has similar answers so honesty is the best policy here. You could get lucky and have a fantastic roommate who you’ll become best friends with…or be unlucky and get stuck with someone who’s a nightmare. If you’re faced with the latter, you have limited options but one trick I’ve found is to make friends with your resident advisor early – he or she will help you get any issues resolved quickly and efficiently or act as a mediator to help negotiate differences.
Setting ground rules on the first day is also a must. It sounds strict and uncool but important to plan out study times, lights out, clean up schedules, etc. so you won’t step on each other’s toes later down the line. If your roommate still makes sharing a room difficult, you can try to switch rooms by contacting the housing office to file a formal complaint. Most schools will only let you change rooms if your roommate is hostile (think: stealing your things, displaying abnormal/aggressive behavior, drinking or doing drugs). If you are fortunate enough to get a new room assignment, remember to set those guidelines from the get-go…and pray to the housing gods that your new roommate is better than your old one!
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