<p>Wdaveo makes a good point also. I think the thread Linnylu started would be very helpful also.</p>
<p>Once your child has found roommates, it wouldn’t hurt for them to begin to exchange ideas for their roommate contract. During the first week on campus, all occupants of a suite are provided a roommate contract and they are expected to work out the expectations for the room and how they will handle disagreements. Subjects such as visitors, quiet hours, sharing items, cleaning, etc. are covered here. Have them take this seriously because whenever you have multiple people living together, there will be some things upon which they won’t see eye to eye from time to time. This allows them to avoid some awkward conversations later as it makes the expectations clear ahead of time.</p>
<p>Also know that the UA will take care of your child in the event of any serious issues where safety is a concern. We were very impressed and thankful for their quick response in moving our D due to the situation.</p>
<p>Hi Linnylu…couple of things regarding roommates. D has been pretty active about posting on FB 2016 page. She has met some very interesting students. Some of them very high achieving. She has found her 3 roommates using a combination of ■■■■■■■■ and the FB Page and one girl she met at Capstone Day.</p>
<p>She used ■■■■■■■■ and the FB page quite a bit. Don’t discount these sites, they really do help. You just have to spend a little time. D has met many kids from the Honors College and has posted questions asking who is in IHC and what language, etc. These have given her a base of kids that she continues to either text or FB with. Let me say that my youngest is very social and not shy and quiet. lol </p>
<p>My older daughter, used these tools too and while she did not find a roommate, she wanted to do random, but she did make many new friends that continue to be friends 2 years later. Many times over orientation weekend, we would be looking at someone saying to each other - " I think I know you from FB?" LOL There were some fun moments when you were trying not to seem like a stalker, but staring and trying to tell if it was the person you knew on FB.</p>
<p>Are there some on the FB page who are a little over the top? Yes, but that is to be expected. Keep in mind that some ppl don’t care how they present themselves because they are not sure they will be attending. And some of it is youthful bravado…</p>
<p>I know that my D would love to talk to your D Linnylu…feel free to PM me. I have no problem putting them in touch. Anyone else who wants to get some of the kids together from posters here on CC feel free to PM. I love what was said about parent involvement…yup we are definately involved and care about our kids and their future. AND we are all committed to to UA!
RTR’</p>
<p>Beware of parent versus child descriptions! While not dangerous, it was funny how a friend’s mother insisted that her child have neat roommates. She is meticulous in her housekeeping and assumed her son would remain so when in college. I can tell you, he is not very neat in his dorm room. His current roommate pulled him into his suite, thinking he would be neat, as opposed to the messy boys he had lived with the year before. Unfortunately, he’s not, but the suitemates are a lot more tolerant, as all three of them lived with some real slobs freshman year. It was just a bit of a shock, as they all thought they were getting a neat freak roommate, according to his mother, when in reality, he’s kind of messy!</p>
<p>Exactly montegut, and not just about being neat.</p>
<p>I found ■■■■■■■■ and roommate finder to be completely useless… I know that sounds harsh, but I think those survey/profile type things just convey so little of what someone is about. I found my first roommate on the FB group. To me, it made a lot more sense to socialize with everyone and get to know their interests/tastes/values. Not only that, but you also end up making a lot of friends in the process. The prospect of rooming with him became pretty natural when it was time to find roommates. No telling how it’ll work out now, but I think in some cases this could be better than hardcore scouring ■■■■■■■■/roomie finder for a roommate and just going by answers to a survey.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>So true…and the same goes for stating how social your child is. Some parents will want to indicate that their child won’t party or whatever, when in reality their child might do so…maybe not in a crazy way…but more than parents think they will.</p>
<p>Montegut…You are so right! My D has been overly honest about her weaknesses, one of which is neatness. Not a slob, but she likes to have her things about her. lol We know she is being honest, but you are taking a chance on believing what someone else says straight off.</p>
<p>We have really looked at FB profiles and pics and found those to be very telling. If you see lots of Red rowdy cups, you can make assumptions…D is trying to avoid party animals and the boy crazy types. And she had no problem saying that up front. She has also spent a lot of time texting potential roomies. Texting, Twitter, FB each of these give an insight that helps. It’s not perfect, but it helps.</p>
<p>It’s a process and I am glad that she is in it early, because if things seems off, she can change her mind and find someone else. It’s the best that we can do given the tools that we have right?</p>
<p>I would definitely attempt to use Facebook as a tool to find roomates. Yes, sometimes people can misrepresent themselves on there, but in general, it’s a good way to find roomates that you would get along with. I didn’t find the Alabama Roomate Finder to be particularly helpful. It seemed a lot like a very odd dating site.</p>