I am applying for housing for the fall term of 2018 and I don’t know if I should get a roommate or not. I really want to socialize with the people on my suite but I feel like if I don’t get a roommate (choose single rooms in the suite instead) they will just be in their own rooms and almost never socialize with the other girls in the suite. If I get a roommate I most likely will socialize with her, but I would lose my privacy.
Do people in the suite with single rooms socialize or they really just mind their own business?
Is it worth it to have a roommate?
Everyone’s different, and it really depends on your personality and your suitemates’ personalities. You could get some suitemates who don’t really want to socialize and keep themselves, regardless of whether you share a room with them or not. Or they could be super social and friendly. or they could have their own friend groups already and only be polite to you. Or…who knows? Everybody’s different.
It also depends on you.
A lot of people think of college dorm arrangements as some kind of effortless friend generator, but that’s not so. College (and all adult) relationships take a little bit of elbow grease - you’ve got to make the effort to get to know people and foster that relationship. Sometimes, your roommates/suitemates just won’t be suitable friends because you like different things and that’s okay. I’ve known people who like their suitemates well enough but all their friends live elsewhere or whatever…that’s fine.
So choose a single or double based on how you actually want to live next year!
If this is your first year and your college has a good roommate selection process, you might consider getting a roommate. Consider how particular or difficult you might be to live with, also. My DS and his current roommates are moving to a single suite setup next year so that they will be together but have more privacy. Their school’s roommate selection process worked for them and they are well matched.