<p>Do most people request a roommate to avoid the possibility of being assigned someone you don't get along with? Or do most people get a roommate through random assignment?</p>
<p>It’s definitely mostly random. I’m struggling to think if there’s anyone I know who didn’t go random.</p>
<p>RoxSox, from what you’ve heard, are most of the people who went random happy with their choice?</p>
<p>Um, some are, some aren’t. I personally got a crazy ***** who attempted suicide and had the most obnoxious boyfriend in the world who she would Skype at 3AM every night. So I switched rooms. Now my roommate and I do not talk at all, not one bit. That’s fine with me though, she’s quiet at least. My friends live somewhere else and I prefer it that way.</p>
<p>Some people wind up being somewhat close with their roommates (though this is pretty rare.) Most people I know don’t really like their roommate or are kind of annoyed with them, though I think this is a perfectly understandable thing since after many weeks of sharing a room with someone, you can get kind of annoyed.</p>
<p>My advice to anyone who hasn’t had a roommate before is to just let things happen. Try not to cling (I know it’s hard in the beginning of the year) and if you don’t wind up being friends with your roommate, that’s okay. Most people aren’t. You probably won’t be able to stand your roommate after a year of living with them. IMO, that’s understandable.</p>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t really say people think of going random as a choice. Most everyone does it. And if they aren’t happy, they don’t think “oh, I shouldn’t have done a random roommate.”</p>
<p>Yeah I guess for most people it isn’t really a choice. I just think of it as a choice since I’m from Madison so I have multiple friends going there.</p>
<p>You’re probably better off NOT rooming with a HS friend. Things are different when you have to share a space 24/7. UW quit using questionnaires as they discovered it was just as successful to do random assignments. Your roommate is someone to share space with, not someone to become best friends with. As long as you can agree on lights, noise and visitors in your shared space you’ll do fine. And perhaps messiness level.</p>
<p>CPD- avoid the temptation to choose someone you think you know over a complete stranger. Much easier to maintain privacy when others from your past have no insider information to pass along. In general it is very easy to never run into others from your HS, even with many from town. Happy to hear you plan on the dorms instead of commuting- a much better freshman experience to be on campus than near it. The college friend who walked to classes missed a lot of late night fun (parents don’t like night doorbell rings).</p>