<p>I was recently asked by this girl to room with her when we go to college next year. She is someone I went to camp with a few years and while we were friendly, I wouldn't exactly call us friends. Not to mention I haven't talked to her in years. She seems like a nice person and all, I just don't really know much about her.
Part of me wants to just take a random roommate and "expand my horizons" if you will, but I'm also a little worried about getting some crazy klepto chick who sleeps with her eyes open (obviously an exaggeration, but you get my point).
It would be great to hear from someone who's been in this sort of situation and how it turned out, but opinions or suggestions from anybody would be more than welcome as well.</p>
<p>I would say no to a best friend or a HS classmate. An acquaintance from camp I think would be fine to room with.</p>
<p>I agree…at least you have at least one thing in common and maybe either or both of you are still in touch with other camp friends at other schools. Neither of my d’s had the slightest thing in common with any of their freshman roommates with the exception of being females and attending the same college.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I should also add though, that at University of Miami, where I will be going, there is a sort of roommate compatibility questionnaire that you can fill out that allows the university to match you up with somebody with similar interests and routines and stuff like that. It’s not exactly foolproof, but it’s better than completely random assignment I suppose.</p>
<p>All colleges have some kind of questionnaire and they all say they try to match you up with somebody compatible but not one of my daughter’s HS friends who are now freshman who got random roommates have really clicked with them and some are down right not compatible (night owl with early bird - something they always ask on those forms)</p>
<p>@ kiddie: not true that all colleges have some kind of questionnaire that matches students up with someone compatible. UC Davis doesn’t, since they just ask you to rank the 3 residence hall areas from most preferable to least preferable to live in, whether you want a single or a double, and if you want to be part of a living-learning community.</p>
<p>I was an RA in college. In my experience the best friend or classmate situation failed more frequently than the “blind double” situations for first-year students, but for upperclass students there were more conflicts between blind roommates than roommates who knew each other.</p>
<p>I think the problem is because freshman often come into college expecting that their BFF will have the same interests as them, that they will spend most or all of their time together and just have great fun. They then find out a) that their BFF has very different living standards than them, which usually causes the most strife and b) that it’s NOT FUN to hang out around someone 24/7. It’s just annoying. I think upperclass students tend to discuss that stuff beforehand with potential roommates and only room with people that they know they can live with, but they have experience in the whole dorming thing so that’s to be expected.</p>
<p>You can still expand your horizons with a non-random roommate. You said you don’t know her very well, and anyway, your roommate is only one person out of many that you will meet in college. I think what’s more important is to have a frank conversation about expectations and living standards and see if your ideas are compatible. She could be the nicest girl in the world, but if she thinks she should be able to borrow your clothes without asking and use your computer when hers is dead and you’re not cool with that…then you shouldn’t live together.</p>
<p>I was in the same situation you’re in now. A girl from my high school asked me and we were friends, but not close. I told her no at first because I wanted a random roommate “to expand my horizons” too. Right before we had to agree on roommates I decided to live with her and I think it was the right decision.</p>
<p>The best part was that I knew her enough that I felt comfortable sharing a room with her but didn’t know her too well that we got sick of each other or fought all the time. My friends who got random roommates had a lot of drama like cleanliness, stealing food, and bringing boys to sleep over that I didn’t have to deal with. I think a friend from camp that you haven’t talked to in a while is the perfect situation because your not so close, but you do know she’s not a psycho.</p>
<p>I could go either way on this. If you’re more comfortable rooming with someone you know, then room with her. I’ve rarely seen Freshman roommates work out, regardless of whether the people know each other or not. Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met has some issue with their freshman roommate (thought not all, I’m sure; some people are outliers). I think that rooming with someone you know probably works better when you’re an upperclassman, since you’ve gotten the hang of dorm life at that point, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing to choose a roommate as a Freshman. </p>
<p>I did it, in fact, and while my Freshman roommate and I definitely had some issues, I’m very, very glad I didn’t end up someone worse. She kept me up all night and had 50 alarms go off in the morning, and it almost drove me crazy, but I could have ended up with the perpetual drunk roommate that threw up in the sink on the weekends (or somebody even worse) like others I know did. So, to some degree, by rooming with someone you know, you eliminate some of the risk/uncertainty. </p>
<p>But then, there can be arguments/issues/etc. So be aware.</p>