<p>I have a slightly different roommate question that was alluded to by an earlier poster. Does the question " will you have guests overnight?" mean out of town visitors or BF/GF? At first we thought it meant BF/GF and then thought it was out of town guests. That makes A BIG difference. Any thoughts??</p>
<p>I know when my older D went to college there was a contract they agrred to and signed. this was aobut certain behaviors etc… My D’s dont care what a roomate looks like as long as they are good people.</p>
<p>Being good roommates does not mean they have to have similar personalities. When I was in college, I lived with several roommates over the 4 years. When I lived with my good friend, it was great at first, but since we shared all the same classes and friends, we got on each other’s nerves after awhile. Plus, my grades dipped after I started going out/partying more when we lived together. We both had very good grades, but she could get away with less studying, and she often tried to coax me into “having a good time” instead.</p>
<p>My best roommate situation was actually my senior year, when I was matched with a freshman (*gasp!) after previous roommate decided last minute to move off-campus. The freshman girl and I had nothing in common, but we were both respectful of each other and were very cordial, but not friends. The best part: She went home nearly every weekend, leaving the on-campus apartment for me and my longtime boyfriend (now husband. :))</p>
<p>I’ve seen the non-smoker/smoker option mentioned a few times. Do these universities allow smoking in the dorms?</p>
<p>^^^ I don’t know of any schools that allow smoking in its buildings, but it does matter to non-smokers, as the belongings (particularly clothing) will smell of cigarette smoke. Heck, I could smell it on my mail that I picked up from a smoker’s home.</p>
<p>I think getting a random roommate in a lot of cases works out best. My older son got a random roommate and it worked out fine. They liked each other but were not best friends and they still see each other occasionally now that they both live off campus. My younger son will be attending Wisconsin in the fall and he has already decided on living in a learning community and because of that he got to choose his own room. He chose a room but his roommate will be a complete surprise to him.</p>
<p>When I was in college, my freshman year roommate was chosen randomly as well. We were so different from each other, she was the kind of person if I had known her in high school we would have been in different circles. But, in college, we got along famously and became close friends. Mainly because we had one important thing in common: we were both tolerant and accepting of people and were respectful of one another. Those traits go a long way in helping people get along.</p>
<p>Agent99 – I think the smoking question relates to pot rather than tobacco, as students on the FB roommate search posts will say yes they smoke, but not cigarettes. </p>
<p>But also true that a smoker who goes outside to smoke still has clothes, backpacks etc that will all smell of smoke so would be a concern to someone who is uncomfortable with that.</p>
<p>My kids had roommates chosen by their colleges. D1’s roommate became a 4-year roommate and has become a lifelong friend, even though they don’t have a lot in common on paper. D2 wasn’t as lucky–the college put a partier and a non-partier together which didn’t work out. Roomies were cordial, but both moved on to other roomies after freshman year.</p>
<p>I think your daughter’s weight will probably not be an issue. Also think random roommate selection probably works as well (or badly) as Facebook, where everyone is posturing and buffing their images anyway. My kids both had difficult first year roommate experiences but did much better later - my oldest found good roommates and stayed with them through senior year, and my youngest (a freshman) has found a very promising group to share a suite with. Try not to let your daughter know that you’re worried about this - I think our parental anxieties only add weight to our kids’ anxieties.</p>
<p>Your daughter will discover that her weight isn’t going to matter to the roommate. As others have mentioned, sleeping habits, cleanliness, partying, etc. are bound to be far bigger issues. </p>
<p>And thanks everyone for posting on the smoking issue. Both my kids are asthmatics and I was getting concerned that dorms allowed cigarette smoking. Oregon doesn’t allow any public indoor smoking whatsoever but other states do.</p>
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I think it mostly refers to BF/GF. Maybe an occasional out of town visitor, but who wants a GF/BF having sex in the next bed.</p>
<p>^^^ Agree. I assumed it meant BF/GF. Most roomies don’t care about an occasional out of town guest.</p>