How do I adjust to having a roommate?

Student Lounge College Life
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I’m going to Texas A&M, (forensic and investigative sciences!) and I’m nervous about the whole roommate part. I do have roommate experience, I worked at a summer camp and roomed with 5 other guys but that was pretty easy because we were all camp counselors at a church camp (so I guess the same personalities) and we were never at our dorm/cabin/house because we were very busy. But I don’t really know anyone going to school with me, so I have to do roommate matching so I probably won’t be with someone who is like me. How do i adjust to that change and deal with someone who is likely a totally different person and on a different schedule and life than me?

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This is part of growing up. To deal with people different than you. Communicate, and don’t judge too quickly. You don’t need to be best buddies. That’s a high bar. You just need to be able to tolerate each other.

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@neela1 yep…growing up & maturity. I think living in the dorm, sharing a bathroom and having a roommate is one of the best college experiences ever! So many life skills & life lessons can be learned.

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There are a couple of things that I think are key when you’re selecting roommates, to make living with each other easier.

  • are you both night owls or early risers? If you’re opposites living together is harder
  • match your level of cleanliness/tidiness/organization. If one is a neatness freak and the other is perfectly happy living with piles of clothes and junk everywhere, there’s potential for conflict.

Anything else that’s important to each of you: reach an agreement up front and sign it.

Aside from all this, learning to adapt and get along with people who are not like you is a valuable and useful life lesson.

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This!

Often new students think that “everybody else” has made bffs in the 1st few weeks of school. It does happen, but more typically people find a few people fast (roommate/suitemates/dormmates/teammates) and hang out with them for the first few weeks.

But then, once you know your way around campus and what the rhythm of college is like, most people start getting to know more people- from classes, ECs, who hangs out at the same times & places they do, etc- and organically start to widen their circle of acquaintances. With more time and shared experiences (work and play), some of those people start to become friends.

possibly- but probably not! You can share a lot of values but have really different personalities.

The key things with your new roommate/suitmates are:

  1. be upfront about how you work (do you go to bed early/late? are you up early/late? what times do you think are early/late? do you like to study in your room? if so, do you need quiet? how much mess can you live with? is it different than your roommate(s) tolerance? If you share the same tastes in music, great- but agree on earphones/headphones.

  2. If/when issues come up, be direct, honest and respectful.

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It can be tough to adjust to having a roommate in college, but it’s also a great opportunity to learn how to live with someone else and compromise. Living with someone, even as a roommate, creates a bond of a special kind. All it takes is a bit of patience and tolerance at first. And wow, forensic and investigative sciences, nice!

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