Choosing a roommate can be a very stressful situation, especially in your first year. How are you expected to live with someone that you’ve barely met? Will you get along? What are they like? What if they don’t live near you and you don’t meet in person until August? There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to living with new people. Here are a few pointers to make the most of your living situation.
1. Get to know as many people as you can!
This tip holds twofold: before choosing your roommate, make an effort to meet as many people as you can. It can be super scary to reach out to people, but it will be very rewarding when you have an idea of some of the people you will see around campus before the semester starts! Secondly, get to know a bunch of different people, so you can have a variety of roommate options prior to declaring your housing situation. When reaching out to other new students, remember that everyone is in the same boat, and sending a quick message goes a long way toward making everyone feel more comfortable about the transition into college.
2. Find out what their interests are
A surface-level way to get to know someone is to ask what their interests are. Do they have any hobbies? What type of music do they listen to? What types of TV shows do they watch? These are great and fun ways to connect with people quickly if you have similar interests, and it is fun to have a roommate who shares your interests, so you can do things together when you have any free time. However, it is not at all necessary to choose a roommate with similar hobbies as you. Living with someone with different interests than you (or someone who is a different major) is an easy way to expand your horizons while also reflecting and learning more about yourself and possibly growing your own interests.
3. More important than interests: Values
While it may seem like a great idea to choose a roommate who watches the same shows as you and listens to the same music, it is unlikely to work as well as planned if you don’t share the same values on some essential things. And most importantly, it is helpful to find a roommate who shares a similar work ethic to you and how they value their time. If you are always doing school work and do everything in your power to succeed in school, you are not going to get along well with a roommate who skips class and watches TV all the time. If you value your sleep and try to go to bed by 11 p.m. while your roommate stays up until 3 a.m. every night watching TV, again, it will not be a great situation.
4. Living habits
Other good questions to ask and things to keep in mind are when your prospective roommate goes to sleep or wakes up, what time do they normally shower (if you share a bathroom), if they plan on having people over frequently, and if they plan on regularly going home on the weekends. If you and your prospective roommate both have similar answers to these questions, chances are you will have a generally compatible living situation.
5. Keeping a good situation going, or handling a not-so-good one
The most important thing when it comes to maintaining at least civil roommate relations is to have clear and open communication. If your roommate is not filling up the Britta after they use it, ask them to fill it up, so you’re not always the one doing it. Sometimes, it can be difficult to step up and speak out to your roommate, but your living situation is what you make of it, so try to have good communication so it can be the best scenario for both of you.
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