Choosing a friend as a roommate - good or bad idea?

Parents Forum
21

<p>I am currently in my fourth year of college, living off-campus (second year, I’m in a school where that’s pretty common) with a very close friend from high school who goes to another school in the area. It is our first year living together and her first year living off-campus.</p>

<p>I agree that a lot of it has to do with how close friends are. We’ve gotten ourself through enough rough patches that we can do the same living together. We know each others habits and quirks. I think some of it is definitely compatibility of lifestyle, whether that’s noise/party/study habits or even recycling. My other roommate doesn’t recycle anything and then doesn’t take out the trash and it is an enormous pet peeve for me. I know that’s silly, but there you have it. I think it’s great to have a roommate you already know. You can make friends, but I have also been assigned some truly awful roommates. I don’t think it’s worth losing the friendship, though, so they need to really think about if they can deal with that.</p>

22

<p>Agree with the posters who say it’s an individual matter - results vary!
My son did fine first year with one of his friends. They extended the group in second year to get into a large apartment and included yet another good HS friend. That did NOT work out. Ruined the friendship.
So both options are risky. Personally, I thinking doing some research to find someone on facebook and sharing living habits to make sure they’re compatible might be the best way. No guarantees but I think it increases the odds of success.
I was paired with a random roomate in college and we ended up best friends. Lucky.</p>