<p>I know it's not my business..and my S doesn't seem to be overly concerned, but I wonder if this has happened to anyone else.</p>
<p>S is leaving in two weeks for freshman orientation-- actually a pre-freshman trip. Students received an email with contact info about their roommate...my S reached out-- said hi-- that back in early July...no response since then. He tried FB - the student is NOT a FB person (ok - a social hermit maybe?)....didn't even join the college FB page nor friend anyone from the school yet.
We googled him...a very bright guy from a prep school outside Phillie...and his parent is a semi-famous and very wealthy person. (That might explain the privacy and FB lock-down).</p>
<p>Seems odd to me to let it go and say hi on the first day--but I suspect it's done that way sometimes. My H is encouraging S to phone him...say hi, find out if he wants to share a fridge...etc...S says - well he didn't respond, so he's just not interested in me. </p>
<p>Could be out of the country and away from the computer? If his family is famous I guess I could see not having a public FB page.</p>
<p>Ds’s roomie is an intl student, and it took him a long time to respond so I understand the nervousness. In his original e-mail did your ds bring up the idea of what to share, etc? Or just say hi?</p>
<p>My daughter agonized over her room-mate’s non response. Turns out the girl was in a summer program overseas and couldn’t connect. Let it go. Help your son see the non-response isn’t personal. It’s not that the roomie isn’t interested in him.</p>
<p>Our thoughts exactly…we figured he’s famous, wealthy…probably abroad or on extended vacation.
But who in this day and age is out of touch with electronic connections- NO ONE!
…S doesn’t seem too bothered…although he did say yesterday “what if the guy is a weirdo and we don’t get along”…</p>
<p>All they have to do is respect one another and compromise on hours for lights, room temperature and how dirty/clean the room can stay…easier for boys than girls I think…</p>
<p>“semi-famous” and “very wealthy” could also meant that the family is in the process of making different housing arrangements, depending on roommate/housing policies at your son’s school. (When my d. was a freshman, there was an extremely wealthy student on her dorm floor, who also had one of the very few singles, and happened to have the largest single room available. D. did not think that the rich kid having the best room on the floor was entirely a coincidence).</p>
<p>*** Note: this is entirely speculation on my part. I just think it’s possible that the parents might feel that special arrangements are needed, depending on how “semi-famous” they are.</p>
<p>I thought your son was roommates with my son until you got to the wealthy part. Son and his roommate have exchanged e-mail. “Hey, I’ve got a fridge, so don’t worry about that” “cool” . Doesn’t seem to bother either one of them.</p>
He could end up being a weirdo whether he responds to the email or not.</p>
<p>
I have a kid who’s not on FB and she’s not a social hermit - she just doesn’t want to put info about herself out on the internet accessible by all.</p>
<p>My advice is to not worry about this. The roomie could be busy, could have given an email address he’s not monitoring, could have made a typo in the address, or just want to avoid the whole thing for now. Again, responding to the email or not or having a FB or not has nothing to do with whether he’ll end up being a good roomie or not.</p>
<p>And he really could be unhooked. We just booked a vacation for Labor Day where there is no cell service at all. Hooray! (The resort provides this information before you book. ) I am thrilled.</p>
<p>D’s school does not give you roommate information until you walk into your room on move-in day. Their feeling is that everything can and will be worked out face-to-face: not over Face Book, not through email and not via text message. Talk about stress!!! It forced us to just do what we felt was the thing to do. We are in the same state so we brought the frig and microwave. Brought the Brita pitcher too. What’s the worst that can happen, we thought. Everything worked out fine. Roommate had nothing for the room since they were from the opposite coast. They planned on buying near campus. They bought the printer. Girls shared without a problem-each taking what they had brought/bought at the end of the year. My advice is not to read anything into the situation. Do whatever you feel is best and things will work out.</p>
<p>You’re not alone. Mine’s that way, too. No FB for her, never texts, and only checks email every so often. I know the stereotype is that all teens are on e-media 24-7, but there is a percentage (albeit small) who choose not to be.</p>
<p>When my roommate emailed me, I was out of the country, so I did not get her email for about two-three weeks after she sent it. She told me later that she thought at first I was really anti-social or mean or just didn’t like her email, but really I was just away. We ended up as good friends.</p>
<p>D1’s roommate did not respond to her FB friend request before freshman year. Turned out the girl did not come to D’s college after all. It is a time of year when kids are getting off waitlists, so maybe your S’s roommate isn’t coming (or isn’t ready to admit that he is coming while he holds out hope for a spot off another waitlist!). Heck, a really wealthy family might have put down deposits and even $ for a dorm deposit (depending on how your S’s school works) at more than one place, even though they are not supposed to.</p>
<p>My kids have been away on wilderness programs for weeks without internet and cell service, so I would not worry about the lack of communication. </p>
<p>But do update us when they finally do meet!</p>
<p>Who knows? Boys aren’t always into being perfectly socially responsive. Maybe he’s busy, maybe he’s not into facebook. Big deal, don’t read too much into it. He doesn’t even know the “me” he’s supposed to be interested in. Don’t make an issue out of nothing.</p>