<p>No need to contact parents, but at one college panel, the kids said be prepared when you visit to take us out for a nice meal (after the college food) and expect to take friends. It seems you all have been doing that, and I have no plans to call, but will take the roommates out with DD to a nice restaurant.</p>
<p>Yes, taking the roommate and a bunch of other friends out is one of the great pleasures of having a child in college! We never even found it that expensive, because my d's friends were so polite they always ordered from the modest end of the menu, and several of the young men all but pleaded with me to let them pay their share. Daughter's former bf actually once took the check and walked off with it, requiring a determined effort on my part to get it back. I later realized he was mildly intoxicated (it never occurs to me that someone may be drunk) - he went off to the bar when we thought he was in the men's room! Oh well, at least he's former.</p>
<p>I completely agree with the previous posters about minimal contact between parents of roommates being the rule. We met each of d's roomies on move-in day, saw 'em again at graduation, and that was about it!</p>
<p>S1 is at a private military college where roommate info is not provided prior to move-in. On drop off day there is a luncheon for the families and you are seated with the families of the kids in your child's "company". We sat at a table with 2 of the 3 roommates' families and an upperclassman is assigned to each table to answer any questions. This was a great icebreaker but after this day the only contact with the other parents was an exchange of pleasantries at events. </p>
<p>I would like to meet S2's roommate and his parents when the kids move in, but I will not be initiating contact before then. I think it is going to be hard enough to get my S to call the roommate.</p>