<p>fencersmom, tell your s's gf that the sleep apnea machine does make noise, but it's "white noise" like an aquarium pump... only bothers you for the first 2 or 3nights then it helps by drowning out the other noises. Not silent but better than loud music or conversations all night. I can't even imagine having to share a room with someone on an unlimited cell plan.... obnoxious!</p>
<p>My son is bringing a fan for cooling AND white noise in case the hall is really noisy. I set a small rotary fan on low-med. each night because of my husband's snoring, but it's definitely habit forming-- I find I now have trouble sleeping without it, even in the winter :(</p>
<p>lol lspf... the fan...the snoring...sounds exactly like my house! (I even packed a small turbo fan for the hotel room when we were on vacation last week....)</p>
<p>fencersmom, my brother needs the same machine for sleep apnea, and dragonmom described it perfectly. I'd think that earplugs would also help if it's any problem. And believe me, it's better if the roomie got a cure for that apnea already; the alternative can be broken snoring, insomnia, and then wretched fatigue by day. She;s found a diagnosis and cure before many others would have! I hope she's nice. Anyway, earplugs are great preparation for marriage (but only for sleeping!!)
Maybe in return for being easy about the apnea machine, Lisa can ask the roomie to try wearing a blindfold so Lisa can still stay up with some light on after 10:30 p.m.
Seems like a fair compromise.</p>
<p>While most or all dorms are smoke free, asking if one smokes is still an important question. One of my daughter's roommates had asthma, and another said she didn't smoke; well she did, not in the room, but outside. Her clothes would reek of smoke as would she. I don't know why she said she didn't smoke, but the other 3 girls were not happy. It also wasn't only cigarettes she smoked!</p>
<p>To me, the most important question is the one about smoking. I've read on other threads that the kids lie because their parents are watching them fill out the questionnaires. </p>
<p>My S will be OOS in California, and I found myself relieved to learn his other 2 roomies are also OOS. I don't know why I feel this way; I guess it's just common ground to be totally lost together. Hand-matched by a housing official at Chapman.
Majors must have played a role, since he's with another film department student and a kid with an undeclared major but some EC's in theater. </p>
<p>On the questionnaire, they separated out the smoking question. Then came 5 other questions (messiness, noise, borrowing, and maybe somethings that indicated extrovert/introvert). They asked the kids to self-rank, and then name which ONE of those things (other than smoking/nonsmoking) was the MOST important to them re: compatibility with a potential roommate. I found that interesting.</p>
<p>I don't know how my daughter's school assigns roommates, but the roomie is from in-state and D is from Europe. I think that's a good thing--if they have a great relationship, D may be invited home some weekends and can reciprocate with a European home away from home offer. And if they don't get along so well, maybe the roomie will at least go visit her family occasionally since it is nearby.</p>
<p>My good friend and former teacher of my daughter and I were talking, and she commented, "What a gift! Imagine lucking out like that and getting someone like D for a roommate." And I think she's right! I hope the roomie turns out to be a good friend for her, but if not, she's already got several Facebook friendships going and is looking forward to meeting them in real life.</p>
<p>At MIT, students enter a housing lottery with dorm preferences, then are assigned a temporary dorm room and a temporary roommate for orientation. During orientation, all of the dorms hold social events so that freshmen can get a feel for the culture of the dorm, and near the end of orientation, students enter a "re-adjustment" housing lottery -- if they want to stay in their current dorm, they are allowed, but if they want to move, they enter their preferences.</p>
<p>Once the second housing lottery is run, everyone is assigned to a dorm. Each dorm then has an internal room-assignment event -- in many dorms, culture varies by floor or unit, so often dorms will set aside one night for freshmen to visit each unit in an organized way. Freshmen rank the units, the units say which freshmen they'd like to have, and another lottery is run. At this point, freshmen can choose a roommate they have picked, or they can choose to be assigned one by the dorm housing chair. The housing chair stays up all night assigning people to rooms, the final list is posted in the morning, and all the upperclassmen help the freshmen move to their new rooms.</p>
<p>It's somewhat complicated, I guess, and it does involve quite a bit of effort from upperclassmen. But it's very good for helping everyone find the right place.</p>
<p>Fencersmom - another thing to cheer up the GF, my D was always an early to bed - 11pm was late for her - college "fixed" that! She still isn't a night owl by college standards, but does stay up later. Things change.</p>
<p>Thanks for the headsup on the sleep apnea device (C-pap? See, I can learn!). Lisa spoke to the girl and she is much more calm. The roomie just put down 10:30 so that they wouldn't put her with someone who parties all night in their room. Lisa is breathing a sigh of relief!</p>
<p>Here's something I just remembered: my freshman year, my roommate was literally Miss Virgin Islands. She NEVER ate! I put on the freshman 15 and she never moved out of her size 1's. Sickening! (I still get Christmas cards, etc. from her. Nice lady even now.)</p>
<p>Just a small point: sometimes it's hard for 17- or 18-year-olds who have never left home to describe accurately what will be their study patterns / sleep schedule / personal vices after they get to college. When the questionnaires are wrong, it's not always because someone lied.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Quote:
"My son just got his rooming assignment -- diverse . . . . But all boys." </p>
<p>That could change soon. The University is enacting gender neutral housing starting next year, I believe.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Really? I could certainly see a college allowing non-freshmen to choose to room together without regard to gender, but it's hard to imagine, in the foreseeable future, a university assigning freshmen to share, say, a one-room double or triple on a gender-neutral basis.</p>
<p>D's college asks one question: Smoking or non-smoking? (It matters just like non-smoking rooms in hotels matter. If you're a non-smoker, the odor can be overwhelming.) They found that random placement of roommates - single sex within a room - was no worse than the painstaking matching they used to do, and certainly a lot less work!</p>
<p>They did ask if you wanted substance-free or a quiet study floor. D wanted neither, and ended up randomly assigned to the quiet study; same with her roommate and at least one other room on the floor. So now they're all plotting to subvert authority - quite a bonding experience - a common enemy!</p>
<p>" 'I don't do well with compromise' and 'my ego requires me to get my way'."</p>
<p>That girl has a future in greeting cards...</p>
<p>Chedva, I had to smile when I read about the subversive plot. Please play Mom, too, though, and encourage her to remember to respect others while trying to liven things up - some people on the floor did want a quiet floor.</p>
<p>My D told stories of some people in her class who got "put" in sub-free without requesting it, who made life miserable for others - not her floor, but another in the area. Her sub-free floor was "sub-reduced", with most of partying going on out of the dorm, that seemed to be a good compromise.</p>
<p>Don't worry, cangel - my d is the type that always worries about others' feelings. But yes, we did talk about the subversion not going too far.</p>
<p>Although we wonder - there's only one quiet floor for the entire freshman class. If they can't fill it with freshmen who want it, perhaps they need to rethink the concept.</p>
<p>Idmom06 - your D's roommate does sound like a twin. My D's roommate was also happy only when she got her own way. My mother-in-law went to Parents' Weekend and after meeting the roommate told me in an aside that the roommate was a very unhappy girl! Guess when you are in your 80s you have seen it all - she pegged her to a T.</p>
<p>The one night when my D was sick and exhausted and went to bed before 10PM the roommate screamed at her since she couldn't call her boyfriend. By this time she was in trouble with her Dad over her cell phone bill so she had switched to an internet phone. My D asked couldn't she call him from the hallway and the roommate retorted she didn't WANT to call him from the hallway. She was pretty ugly with her parents, too - I saw that on move in day. </p>
<p>My D would study in the library on the main campus which was open 24 hours and ended up sleeping on the library sofas or in the student center instead of going back to their room on the separate campus for freshmen.</p>
<p>For 2nd year you can pick a roommate if you so desire and my D appears to have picked out a good one. I think her new roommate may have been in a similar situation as the new roomie's mom was very insistent on meeting my D and getting my email address. We've corresponded and she keeps telling me how sweet my D is and how happy she is that our D's are roommates.</p>
<p>I think I had the opposite of helicopter parents. I had rmmt from hell my first semester. My typewriter was stolen, and brick put in case to keep it heavy. Checks were stolen from back of checkbook and forged. Scarves, jewelry, etc. were taken. Boyfriend was often snuck into room, and once I awoke when his friend, a football player, was in my bed. The mother called every morning at 7 am to make sure her DD would rise for class. R.A. was useless. My salvation came when rmmt got pregnant and moved out.</p>
<p>I am so happy that S goes to a school which listens and helps their students.</p>
<p>rofl 2cakes...yes she does...lol!</p>
<p>WCMom - My d was practically living in the lounge because of her nightmare roommate last year. And interestingly, my mom flew to Atlanta to visit her sister and they both drove up to Chapel Hill to visit my d one weekend. I rec'd calls from both my mom and my aunt the following week, very concerned about the mental stability of my d's roommate. THANK goodness the new roomie (knock wood) seems so normal.</p>
<p>JHS, I don't believe they've worked out whether it would be enacted first for non-freshman. Very early discussion I heard was actually that incoming freshman would be the tester grop and would have gender neutral housing before upperclassmen. I haven't paid much attention to the issue, so this is just what I've heard 2nd hand (or worse).</p>