<p>Dear daughter 2, dear daughter 1, dear son.</p>
<p>Welcome screwdriver. I'm in VT too.</p>
<p>The best roommate is the one with whom your child lives with the BEST. DD is from the opposite coast as her college. She had two roommates her freshman year...one lived about 2 hours drive away, the other about 20 minutes. First girl was nice but moved out to be near friends she had from HS in a different dorm. Second roommate was an "absentee" roommate, and DD missed the camaraderie that having a nice roommate brings. This year's roommate is also from a close drive away, but she and DD get along very nicely. They live similarly, and are great roommates. They are NOT best friends, but enjoy each others' company. And they really LIKE sharing a room. That is the BEST kind of roommate!! BTW...only roommate #2 went home on weekends.</p>
<p>Unlike blackeyedsusan's experience, my D has not had a warm, fuzzy relationship with her international roommate. They are like ships who pass in the night. They simply do not have anything in common. Sometimes it can be great to be so different, other times it is not. It depends on so many factors. On the other hand, ships that pass in the night is preferable to ... oh ... situations like "tie on door" ... or catty roommate ... or social butterfly roommate who has friends over & makes it clear roomie is not wanted ... or some of the many situations that can and do arise no matter WHERE the roommates are from. People are people. Some click, some grate, others coexist.</p>
<p>My freshman roommate (well ... the girl I shared a sliding/lockable door with in my otherwise private room) was a friend from high school. We felt comfortable both being together & hanging with other friends. Sophomore year, I got an apt. with the best friend I made freshman year. We were very close friends with similar interests & friends. It was a disaster! It should have worked, but it just did not ... we each moved into apts. with several other girls we knew slightly ... and we both liked that much better (and we remain best friends to this day).</p>
<p>I don't think there is any general rule of thumb. It's luck of the draw.</p>
<p>Like kelsmom's d, my d had a not so great experience with an international roommate. D was over 1600 miles away from home and missing friends and bf and then was matched with an international roommate who spoke minimal English. School had a large number from the other country and most kids from there more or less just stuck together. Plus the international students all returned home in Dec. and a new batch arrived in February. Students with international roommates had the option of moving in with another person in the same boat, getting a new international roommate, or holding out for a single (never happens). D actually opted for another international and got a really sweet girl for her second one. Still, would have helped to make her freshmen year a whole lot smoother if her first roommate hadn't lived on "Tokyo time".</p>
<p>Roommates are not that big of a deal, if they are not obnoxious (cultural differences are not the same)- after all, there is the rest of the floor to acquire friends from. I can see why some schools do the match randomly (with no smoking allowed anywhere and listing dorm choices causes some major issues to become moot). I always got along better with roommates than sharing a room with my sister... Expectations are the key- being best friends is not necessary. So many variables/choices- no one way to best do things, only different ways.</p>