No Show Roommate

<p>We just learned--from the student, not the school--that S's room mate will not be attending this fall. Any thoughts or suggestions on what happens next? Anyone else had this happen?</p>

<p>My daughter had the same thing happen freshman year. The night before move in my daughter received a phone call from her roommate to be - it seems they deposited at several schools and waited until the very last minute to decide. </p>

<p>My daughter moved in, left with her sports team to train for several days and when she came back she had a roommate.</p>

<p>They’ll probably try to fill the bed. You just won’t know with whom for a while yet.</p>

<p>She’ll get a new roommate-probably someone who was either on a waitlist for housing or someone who was originally assigned to a triple.</p>

<p>Sometimes they don’t fill bed. In this economy, that may be more likely than in prior years.</p>

<p>My son had a suite w/4 roomies. One was a no-show. The RA told the guys they would probably fill it, but the school never did. To the OP, your daughter if she now has a “single” may like that very much. If she really wants a roommate, she should make that known to the RA and the school. There will always be transfer requests. A friend of mine has already requested a transfer for her daughter and school has not even begun…a whole ‘nother story for another day…but parents might want to take a peek at their kids’ Facebook pages LOL.</p>

<p>If they don’t fill the room and you don’t at least request a roommate they might charge you for a single. So beware.</p>

<p>If she wants a roommate I’ll bet she’ll get one, either before school starts (a waitlist kid or pulling someone out of a forced triple), or shortly after school starts. There are always kids who for whatever reason don’t get along with their roommate and are looking to switch rooms.</p>

<p>There were two guys in my son’s dorm whose roommates never showed up freshman year. They eventually moved in together, since both of them found having the only singles in a dorm full of doubles to be lonely.</p>

<p>One of the three kids in my son’s forced triple didn’t show up. They didn’t fill the slot – and a good thing, too, because the room, which was designed to be a double, would have been pretty awful as a triple. We never knew what happened to him. My son had his name, address, etc., but there was never any communication.</p>

<p>^ Yeah, that happened to me, too. Well, sort of. I was in a forced triple, had communicated with both roommates a lot about what we were bringing/colors and such, and then I got an email a couple weeks before school started that we’d already been de-tripled because one roommate decided not to come. It was really weird, since we’d been talking all along about everything. They didn’t fill in the slot, which was nice…the room would have been pretty bad as a triple.</p>

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<p>So true…my D is getting worried about her fit with a roomie who has purple streaks and piercings! Trying not to judge the book by it’s cover and hoping it’s a case of country kid meets city kid. At least there have been no mentions of binge drinking/drug use which would really be nerve wracking should it take place in the room!</p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry about it, sk8rmom. Getting along with a roommate is more about mutual respect than having the same interests (though dramatically different music tastes can be really annoying). My freshman year roommate was incredibly girly in behavior and interests, but was also super into sports at the same time. I was the pierced roommate. Her side of the room was bright pink, tie-dye, and wall sticker Beatles quotes. I had a System of a Down poster. It was funny because everyone who met us at the same time made the assumption that we were going to be at each others’ throats in no time, but we ended getting along really well. While I’m glad that I never have to listen to High School Musical or Legally Blond: The Musical ever again, it was far from a nightmare.</p>

<p>Also, I never saw someone not show up at the beginning of the year, but a girl down the hall’s roommate left after a couple weeks. She had the room to herself for a little while until they filled the vacancy with someone from temporary housing. She was upset at first because she enjoyed having the double to herself (as we named it, “the dingle”), but they wound up becoming best friends.</p>

<p>Truthfully, while I am not a fan of tattoos or piercings, I have found that most that have them are really quite “normal” because they feel free to truly express themselves vs the kid who looks really normal on the outside and is really a cutter or has an eating disorder they are hiding from the world. </p>

<p>If the kid is in a single and never gets a roommate, I’d ask about having the extra bed removed. My older D had a roommate who moved out and D was left with a single and ended up really really lonely that evolved into depression. There was absolutely nothing we could do right down to having any information due to privacy laws.</p>

<p>Missypie, the SUNYs are tripling at many campuses, and some have said they will not get “de-tripled” till spring semester. And they “deferred admit” more into jan. They will NOT have an empty bed. </p>

<p>My daughter signed up for a single. If your kid has one, and doesnt want it my advice would be child should call or walk over to Residence life, and very nicely tell them he/she would like a roomie. My guess is some kids want singles, so dont be shy.</p>

<p>Both my older kids had roommates who vanished into thin air. In both cases they moved in a few items and my kids never saw or heard from them again. In my oldest D’s case she had her friend move in and they moved the other girls sheets and towels to her friends room. Done with the permission of the RA. The school had a freshman had to live on campus rule and the first roommate had a sister who had an off campus house and the girl lived there. In my son’s case the boy moved in sheets and towels and some music equipment. That was the last time my son saw him in the room. He would occasionally see him on campus and he did call my son at the end of the year to ask about how to check out. In that case the boy was local and had a gf in town who I assume he was living with. In both my kids cases it looked like the roommates were paying for the room but not using it. Strange. My son loved not having a roommate.</p>

<p>S originally requested a single but didn’t get it. Guess we were wondering what the odds were he’d end up in one by default. We’re assuming he’ll be assigned a new roommate, but are hoping it’s not a last minute thing. Private college, in dorm required first two years–not sure how tight housing is.</p>

<p>^I know a friend of mine who was in a similar situation last year, the roommate did show up a little bit more often. The two roommates spent orientation and about a week after that getting to know each other before the roommate moved off campus to live with her girlfriend. The girl apparently still went back to the room occasionally to pick up some thing or another and ate meals in the attached dining hall, but my friend would always report how awkward it was to have her roommate suddenly show up in their room once every few months and sleep there. I think one of the times the only reason she was there because she was hosting a prospie for her sports team. All the girls in the section felt like they never really got to know despite her “living” in the section and seeing her randomly around campus.</p>

<p>Happened to a kid S knows last year. His roommate never showed. According to univ. policy,there was a 10 day waiting period before new roommate could move in.
On the tenth day, a kid on the waitlist for dorm space moved in. </p>

<p>Ironically enough, the kid S knows was caught violating a dorm rule and kicked out of the dorm. The kid who moved in late spent the rest of the school year in the room as a single.</p>

<p>Somehow, i got lucky and aquired a single this year and i’m a freshman. :D. But i turned my ap in early and the school has a policy if you turn in early you get what you want.</p>