<p>has anyone on CC ever met someone at a college visit weekend or on facebook and decided to live together freshman year rather than taking a chance on a random person? </p>
<p>if anyone has had this experience or knows of anyone who has done this, it would be awesome if you could share the pros and cons, and the sucess and disaster stories!</p>
<p>i found my roommate on facebook and it worked out wonderfully. we have never fought or anything.</p>
<p>My daughter found her freshman roommate via Facebook. The college had a Facebook group for incoming freshmen and a questionaire that the kids filled out and then they could download the spreadsheet to see responses that matched best with what they put as answers.. They then contacted each other via Facebook about 1 month before housing requests had to go in and they get along great.</p>
<p>i found my roommate over facebook on one of those questionaires.</p>
<p>i guess it can work out great for some people but i wouldnt recommend it or ever do it again if i could. we seemed to get along great the first couple of times we talked online and stuff but theres only so much you can find out there. (i think) she wasnt entirely truthful when she said she likes to go out alot, stays up late, and is neat. by the second half of hte semester she didnt go out on weekends, made me feel like an *** when i came in at 2/3 in the mirning, went to sleep at around midnight, and was WAY messier than me (and im right in the middle).</p>
<p>we got along great in the beginning of the semester and hung out togehter all the time and with the same people but our personalities didnt mesh socially and it got to the point where we didnt say anything in the room besides for hey. and she never left the room. so yeah.. she wound up transferring anyway because of family issues/homesickness but i always think of that random person i couldve met if i had taken the chance.</p>
<p>me and my new roommate who moved from a forced triple on the other campus get along GREAT. we talk all the time in the room but have different groups of friends and everything.</p>
<p>my advice is only arrange roommates if you have MET the person. i know a couple of people who found roommates at orientation and have a great situation.</p>
<p>I found my roommate on Facebook.</p>
<p>We had both gone to a scholarship weekend in March, and he messaged me a month after asking how much money I had gotten. I don't think we ever talked to each other at the weekend, but he looked like a cool guy though, so I asked him if he would consider being my roommate, since we both had to room with honors students anyways. Basically, I outlined to him my preferences (time going to bed, music I like, what I like to do for fun, etc.) and it worked out. We're actually pretty good friends right now, and I would definitely consider being roommates with him again next year.</p>
<p>A couple of my friends down the hall tried this too, and although they get along fairly well, they have had a few rifts with each other this year, and probably would not have roomed with each other had they known what they were getting into. So be careful.</p>
<p>My first semester freshman roommate was a "friend" from Livejournal. We both joined the UMD forum and found each other that way. All we knew was that we liked similar music and we figured that would be better than someone completely random.
It was a pretty bad experience; I was so excited to find someone who wanted to be my roommate that I didn't bother asking any "What is your sleep schedule?" or "What types of activities do you want to get involved in?" type questions. Turns out that she always wanted to sleep until 2 in the afternoon and if I turned the light on in the room at 12 pm to do work, she would get upset. When I joined a sorority, she constantly made rude comments about my "sorostitute" sisters. We did have some good times together, but they were overshadowed by all the bickering. I moved to a different residence hall for second semester, and she moved into a single room.</p>
<p>Overall though I'd have to recommend having a "new friend" for a roommate, because you do have the opportunity to match interests and talk about issues ahead of time.</p>
<p>Both of my kids met their roommates during a college visitation prior to their freshman year. My daughter and her roommate were in the same small group at summer orientation, and really hit it off. She almost didn't ask her to share a room because she wanted to meet a lot of new people, and was afraid they might limit themselves. They are now soon to graduate next quarter, and they have spent 3 of their 4 years as roommates (one year her friend was required to live in the sorority house.) I know they will be lifelong friends.
My son met his roommate during a school visitation about a year ago. He and this other boy hung out together during the three day visit, but neither were sure where they would decide to enroll. Once they had both chosen the same university, they figured it would be a good idea to have some input as to a roommate, rather than just luck-of-the-draw. It has worked out very well, and they are planning to share an apartment next year.
What seemed to work for both of them was to choose someone they had no proir connection with, but whose personalities seemed to be a good match. Both were fortunate in that they had the opportunity to spend a few days together before they decided to room together-- I think the personal interaction is more realistic than a Facebook impression.</p>
<p>I never thought about picking a roomate via facebook. Is this common?</p>
<p>I'm sure it could work out, but facebook can be surprisingly deceiving. When looking at my suitemates before school, I had a completely different opinion of them then I do now. Not a bad opinion either way, it's just hard to get a good feel for someone online.</p>
<p>my daughter met her roommate at college orientation and it has worked great. they are roommates in their second year too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm sure it could work out, but facebook can be surprisingly deceiving. When looking at my suitemates before school, I had a completely different opinion of them then I do now. Not a bad opinion either way, it's just hard to get a good feel for someone online.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's very true, but would it'd probably be awkward to call them or something... Is it better than being randomly assigned?</p>
<p>I have a friend who hooked up with her roommate on facebook, and they didn't last. Actually, they ended up hating eachother. My first roommate was a random pic, and it turned out to be a horrible experience. Either way, things can go wrong. My advice would be to stick it out with a random pic, and if you don't like them, then move in with one of your friends later.</p>
<p>don't a number of schools have their own 'questionnaires' to help find a roommate that shares your interests?</p>
<p>My best friend and I very well might end up going to the same university. We both really want to room together and we have known each other since we were basically born (our parents were friends). I have heard people tell me that you shouldn't room with friends and stuff like that, but what do you guys think about this? We both get along really well, and we have both spent lots of time sleeping over at each others houses (for over a week at times). We both have very different personalities, but i think thats what helps us get along well, does anyone have any advice on this type of situation?</p>
<p>My daughter was "set up" with her roommate by a mutual friend. My d went to summer camp with the friend and her roommate went to school with her. It has worked out very well.</p>
<p>as dt_ says, questionnaires are now part of the process at many but not all schools. DS had wonderful success with that--freshman roomie still his best friend and apartment mate 3 years later--and said at the time that on his hall that the only two roommates who weren't good matches were boys who had found each other through the school's "find your own roommate" online list. However, I read a feature article in the newspaper once that lack of honesty in responding to the questionnaires (perhaps due to parents seeing or filling them out or just kids hoping to create a different self at college) means they don't always work so well.</p>
<p>My daughter's college has a very random roommate match-up process. Basically there were no questions asked other than if the student was a smoker or not. The college claimed that research had shown that lengthy questionnaires didn't make improve roommate compatibility. I would think that at least some basic "lifestyle" questions(ex., early riser or prefer to sleep in?, neat or messy, etc.), at least, would help somewhat.</p>
<p>azngamer, I am sure you have heard this before but I would reiterate that rooming with your best friend from hs is not the best way to meet new people and grow socially. I think you both are likely to have a better time if you request the same residence hall but have different toommates. That way you can still hang out but you will meet more other people.</p>
<p>S is rooming with the kid who was assigned as his roommate at summer orientation. Although they have different interests and, therefore, spend a lot of time apart, they live together compatibly and share the same major.</p>
<p>I'm currently living in a triple, with one roommate I met on facebook, and the other was an acquaintance from church (who I didn't really know).
I found my facebook roommate on my college's incoming freshmen class group, where we filled out a questionnaire. And I think (and she thinks too, hopefully) that we get along really well, we can chat and have similar interests and the same major, lol.
My church roommate is really cool too, fun to talk to, since we have the same religion, we can keep each other accountable (so if that's important to you) and since she lives nearby back home, we carpool back together.
I'm still living with them next year and I have no problems with them other than one of my roommate's sleeping problems (she goes to sleep very late and doesn't wake up for class.)</p>