<p>I did this and seem to have gotten a really nice girl. How many of you did potluck? I don't know anyone going into the program that I am (which has its own dorm), so I kind of had to...didn't really want to do the facebook thing either.</p>
<p>I'd rather have a roomie who shares my sleeping/studying habits than a good friend who doesn't. I'm obviously going to be a freshman, so any words of wisdom from the experienced?</p>
<p>First roommate I had was really awesome. We hung out a lot, great guy. Messy, but a great guy. Second roommate was nice, and very neat, but he didn’t talk much and we never hung out.</p>
<p>All of my random roommates ended up being horrible, horrible people. [I feel like I mention this on every roommate thread.] If they hadn’t moved out, I would have seriously thrown in all the money I was paying and just walked away. I’ve never been so miserable in a living space, and I’ve lived in some pretty terrible situations. My advice to people is to NEVER go with a random roommate, but it sounds like you got lucky. If you get along with her, that’s great. Never expect to be best friends, and make sure you spend some time apart so you make other friends and develop your own interests and not hers.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone at my school has a random roommate their freshmen year.
And most of them work out just fine. You don’t have to be all bff with them. Just get along and not kill each other.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I really liked my freshmen roommate and we’re still friends today.</p>
<p>AtomicCafe - why were your experiences so horrible?</p>
<p>Beta- Work out the logistics of shared living with your roommate at the very beginning so you have some framework. Topics like: division of space, drawers, closets; cleaning of shared bathroom if that is required; overnight visitor policy; lights-out/quiet time; sharing appliances-which ones-microwave, fridge, TV,etc. </p>
<p>If discussing the details feels to intrusive at the beginning, just be sure to express your preferences clearly and calmly when they come up, emphasizing the desire to find compromise. </p>
<p>Since your college matched up your lifestyle preferences, you may have a very nice time with your roommate. Good luck!</p>
<p>I did that too and out of everyone going to UNC, I got a girl who lives 10 minutes away from me & who is friends with a lot of my friends, but we just never met, even though we went to the same middle school. Preeetty big coincidence, but I think it’s going to work out well. :)</p>
<p>i agree with fauve. you should set guidelines before hand, also so you both know what each other’s buttons are and how not to press them too</p>
<p>I was in therapy by October due to the results of my roommate draw. It is my goal to never see that girl anywhere ever again. At the foundation of all our issues, she did not make it so that we could talk about problems. She was neurotic and would start screaming and crying and demanding an apology if I mentioned that there was something about the living arrangement that was bothering me, or if I reminded her about a guideline we’d agreed on after she broke it. So any kind of an issue we may have had, and they were plentiful, there was no chance of us ever resolving them without bad blood between us because she just COULD NOT COPE. So my advice is to not take it personally if your roommate brings up an issue with you, and speak up if something is bugging you. If you guys can’t communicate, do what you can to switch rooms. Without communication it will never work out well.</p>
<p>I don’t know, I went with random and I have the names of 3 girls I don’t know at all. So I guess I’ll find out in about a month from now. I’m kinda hoping that if I don’t like one that I can at least like the other 2 (in my head it’s like, better odds of rooming with at least one person I like if I have 3 other roommates than just 1).</p>
<p>But I usually get along with people so I’m not worried.</p>
<p>I went with random and it was a horrible living arangement. The person who added me knew I was looking for someone, but decided to add me without asking. She violated groundrules she set- such as no throwing up in the room, not keeping pieces/drugs in the room, locking the door when she left. I attempted to switch rooms, she agreed to move out, then the deadline hit and she said she changed her mind. She would do weird things like when I was listening to music, she would walk past my desk, go to her computer and then put her music on max and sing. She would come in really late and put her music on the computer while I was sleeping. She locked herself out of the room several times. She would get naked while I was in the room. She came in the room and puked several times. Instead of going to the bathroom, she would sit in the room puking. She was also a hyperactive stoner which I never witnessed before. It was just really bad. Luckily she literally slept every night second semester at he BF’s room. Just a really bad experience. My advice is to make a written contract and have a serious discussion about rules BEFORE you move in, or once you do. It will prevent a lot of awkward conversations. There were plenty of people who had random roommates and it worked out really well. Just try and address everything before it becomes a problem. And bring ear plugs. If all else fails, remember a room is just for sleeping.</p>
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<p>Roommate #1: My favorite [since I picked her from a website]. Sort of a loner who played video games about 20 hours a day, but nothing too bad. She lasted a little over a month before she left for financial reasons.</p>
<p>Roommate #2: Never actually moved in. Her stuff entered the room and was moved out in the space of a few hours, though I never actually saw her. The only evidence of her ever coming in was a nasty note written to me referring to me as a f*ggot.</p>
<p>Roommate #3: My least favorite of the lot. Our personalities clashed above all else. She was a sorority girl [and very stereotypical about it], several years older than me, went out drinking every night, EXTREMELY religious and conservative [ironically], brought home a new guy each night. The only guy she brought home more than once was her ‘boyfriend,’ who was recently released from prison after a drug-related arrest and what sounds like attempted rape of a minor. She threw up on my stuff while drunk a few times, usually came stumbling in at around 3am to have sex with a guy in our room. Once, the guy was so drunk that he crawled into my bed, thinking I was her. Definitely NOT the happiest few months of my life.</p>
<p>^that sounds awful. do u know y ur 2nd roommate left you a nasty note and moved her stuff in and out so quickly?</p>
<p>I had 4 roommates in 2 years, and 3 in one year.</p>
<p>1) Had to drop out of school because he planned to commit suicide or hurt other people…whatever he wanted to do it involved the police and I had to get my locks changed.</p>
<p>2) Arrived at midnight on a Sunday with all his crap and nobody told me when he was arriving or that I was getting a new roommate. He never took a shower and would wake up, throw some axe on and roll out…So I left that pretty quick. The room smellt like total garbage</p>
<p>3) Total introvert…would sit at his computer and have long wierd webconversations in Polish. Would be gone half the time on track meets. </p>
<p>4) Nice guy but a total party animal on academic probation. Would always be gone on the weekends because he would be passed out at a friend’s. Would also go to sleep at around 4-5 AM everyday which ticked me off. </p>
<p>Ahhh…I had a friend who was gonna room with me but then decided on another school. There is always a possibility that random roommates will suck and I have had the worst luck. Room with a friend if you can! That “you will end up hating each other” crap is overrated.</p>
<p>I had a random roommate. We were polar opposites (I walked in and her whole side of the room was bright pink… I hate pink). She was super loud and outgoing whereas I am super shy and quiet. However, we made it work. We weren’t best friends but we were friends nonetheless. </p>
<p>I only know of like 2 or 3 people that had really bad roommate experiences.</p>
<p>i have never heard as bad of roommate stories as the ones here. im not a bad roommate, i might do somethings that some of these bad roommates do if my roommate did it too or didnt care, but im gonna try and be a good roommate. i cant believe the lack of conideration some of these people have. im def going to room with a friend after my freshmen year.</p>
<p>Just remember that friends aren’t always good roommates. You may not be used to their little habits, or the stress of sharing a small living space [or a lease if you move into an apartment] often breaks friendships up.</p>
<p>And I’ve actually only met two people [myself included] with unbearable roommate situations. Compare that to about 100 people I know in dorms. Sure, some people say they “hated” their roommates because they didn’t end up being best friends or their roommates left their socks on the floor, but that’s so minor that I don’t see a reason to complain.</p>
<p>Also, while I understand what you mean by wanting to be a good roommate, remember to be a little tough. Never be a doormat if you have a bad roommate, and remember that the RA is on your side. If you get someone terrible, mention it so you can avoid it.</p>
<p>@Atomic – Wow for #2, sounds like a real piece of work, and #3’s just far far worse. I’m not quite sure how she could be both deeply religious and conservative and (pardon the expression) such a whore. Hopefully you never have those experiences again.</p>
<p>I’ll probably be someone’s bad roomy just because I’m massively introverted and spend 16 hours a day on the computer (the late-nights nonwithstanding).</p>
<p>Its honestly the luck of the draw. I had a random roommate and random suitemates and had terrible experiences with both. but I know people who were in the exact same position and positive experience (im jealous of them for that)</p>
<p>everytime I think about it I get upset, paying 50k to go to school to live with horrible people who make up stories or run their own drug dealing business from your own room</p>
<p>I’m in a suite actually so I have a roommate and 3 suitemates, and I have an RA in my suite. I wasn’t very happy about the ra but at least he will help prevent problems. My roommate and suitemates seem nice, except I haven’t gotten to talk to one from china but that will be interesting.</p>