<p>I'm about to start college (first year). Because I'm an international student and need to attend international orientation, I'll be arriving a few days before the rest of the freshmen and so will be able to move into my dorm room a few days before my roommate gets there.</p>
<p>I've been thinking about something though, what exactly is the unwritten rule in this situation when it comes to picking a bed or a side of the room? I was actually thinking of just sleeping in a sleeping bag the first few nights and then doing the selection/negotiation when my roommate arrives. Not sure if that's the best option though.</p>
<p>First one there gets to take it has always been the way it’s worked with my roommates and me.</p>
<p>Don’t forget you can always rearrange the furniture in the room, so it still wouldn’t be a bad idea to wait on getting really settled in until they’re around. I remember back freshman year I was friends with guys in seven different rooms, and each of us had a different layout for the furniture.</p>
<p>Well, normally I would say wait until your roomie gets there to claim sides, but you’re not moving in on the same day but days earlier. I’m sure your roommate will understand if you pick a side and get settled in without much communication between the two of you; if he doesn’t, he has more issues than the squeaky bed and small dresser.</p>
<p>Omg just pick. I picked the side with my first two roommates and there were no duels over who gets what side after they arrived. I’m moving into my fall place a week earlier than everyone else so I’m not sleeping on the floor waiting for them to come. It’s seriously not a big deal.</p>
<p>I did try to be nice and I took the top two drawers on the dresser between our desks, but I took the bottom two drawers in our main dresser this summer, to be fair.</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s not going to make a difference which side you pick. Colleges put identical sets of furniture in every room to make sure that both roommates get exactly the same things. The bed/dresser/closet on the left side of the room isn’t going to be any different than the bed/dresser/closet on the right side. </p>
<p>If your roommate is going to give you a hard time about which side you claim, then you have bigger problems to worry about.</p>
<p>Most kids don’t care. That furniture all sucks…it’s probably years old, for crying out loud. If your new roomie is petty enough to care that they weren’t consulted when choosing rooms, it’s going to be a rough year.</p>
<p>If you’re feeling nice, leave the room as you find it (don’t move anything around), and when your roommate arrives say “Oh, I picked this side, but if that makes you uncomfortable we can switch.”</p>
<p>Although why that would be the case I can’t fathom, unless they have night terrors and need to be near a door or something (again, in which case, it’s gonna be a rough year).</p>
<p>Usually the roommates have a cattle-ranglin’ contest to determine who gets which side of the room. That’s the custom over here. I’d propose it to your roommate, you know, to be polite.</p>
<p>Just pick a side. If you feel like being nice when your roommate arrives, you can say “hey i just put my stuff on this side, but if you want we can switch”. Chances are that they will say you are fine. It’s not that big of a deal!</p>
<p>You can probably still pick, but if your roommate absolutely must be on the bottom because they have a morbid fear of rolling off the top bunk in their sleep, be nice and let them have it.</p>
<p>For bunk beds: usually roommates trade off over the semester. Nice, since the only change is in bedding. No major overturn of the room.</p>
<p>When you move in first (since I’ll be dealing with this, too), make sure you keep to your side. Like, keep their side clean for the day they get there and don’t have your posters/furniture/whatever taking up their desk or something unless you guys have agreed to share something.</p>
<p>I don’t think it should be much of a problem. I went to physics camp last summer where we stayed at a university campus and because my flight was much later, my roommate picked her side of the room hours before I was there. It didn’t even cross my mind that, “Omg I didn’t get to pick which side I wanted.” It’s not like I expected her to just sit there for 12 hours, not unpacking anything just so she can ask me which side I want. It didn’t matter. The furniture is the same on both sides. I, for one, will not be sleeping on the floor.</p>
<p>And as I see it, waiting for your roommate to arrive to “decide” which side of the room he/she wants is basically an open invitation for them to have their own way. Leaving it for consultation is basically having the roommate TELL you which side they want. Just pick a side and don’t worry about it :D</p>
<p>Get some blue painter’s tape. Lay out a good strip across the center of the room. Half for you. Half for the roommate.<br>
Worked great for me last year.</p>
<p>Oh, and talking about etiquette, my roommate this year (who is my best friend from college) told me he will go back early to college this fall to claim the good side of the room haha.</p>
<p>Just go ahead and pick whichever side of the room you want, but bear in mind that your roomie will want SOME of the nicely-located spaces in the room. Don’t take the bed that’s able to be against the wall, the desk by the window, AND the most convenient closet. I loved my roommate freshman year, but she totally swooped in the first day and claimed ALL of the good spots (and we had literally NO room to re-arrange furniture, so we were stuck…) leaving me in lots of awkward configurations!</p>