A Guide to Picking a Roommate
Picking a roommate can be a daunting task. Sometimes picking a roommate can feel like speed dating. Whoever you pick is someone that you will be cohabitating with for the whole year, and for many people, it is their first time sharing a room with someone else. While it is true that you don’t necessarily have to be best friends with your roommate, picking someone with a similar personality or interests can make the transition to college a lot smoother and can lessen the chances of tensions or disputes.
Here are some basic questions or qualities that I believe are important to consider when picking a roommate:
- How late they like to stay up: knowing someone’s general sleep schedule can help determine if it would be easy to live with them. If you aren’t a heavy sleeper, having a roommate who consistently stays up later than you could be a potential issue in the future.
- How messy they are: if you are someone who likes to keep things neat and tidy, picking someone who has the same priorities when it comes to keeping the room clean could be important. At the least, it is definitely a question worth asking potential roomies. TIP: Beware of people who define themselves as an organized mess- from personal experience, this most likely leans more towards the mess and less towards organized ;)
- Going out habits: this sort of relates to number one, because having differing schedules at night can often be an issue if it becomes disruptive. If your roommate has similar going out habits to you, it can be a fun way to bond, and it can be nice to know that you have each other’s backs if you go out together.
- Major: while it isn’t super essential to have a similar major to your roommate, sometimes it can be nice. Having similar majors might mean similar workloads, and if you want to hang out, they’re typically as busy with homework as you are. And if your roomie turns out to be the same major as you, you gain a study buddy!
- Preferred room temperature: while this may seem oddly specific, rooming often works best when living with someone who likes the room a similar temperature to you. This way, you can avoid a power struggle with your roommate over the thermostat.
- Policy on overnight guests: this is something that can be good to know for future reference to avoid any ~awkward~ situations.
- Do they think they are more introverted or extroverted: if you are trying to pick a roommate based on personality characteristics, this is a good question to ask.
- Are they open to sharing things: this could be anything from clothes to food to cleaning supplies.
- What is their favorite movie: just a fun question to ask, and I feel like sometimes you can learn a lot about a person based on their favorite movie.
Hopefully, this makes picking a roommate at least a little bit easier. If you get lucky, you may end up picking your new best friend. I know my freshman year experience would have been totally different if I had picked a different person to be my roomie.