<p>If you are a boarder at a boarding school, what would you recommend: having a roommate or having a single room? I'm going to be a new sophomore next year and my school is allowing me to choose.
Also, if you are going to boarding school next year, what are you choosing? </p>
<p>I am choosing a roommate. It will be a lot easier having a friend the first couple of days. Though it would be nice to have privacy, you could become lonely. </p>
<p>It is a built-in friend and companion. It also attracts many people to your room as you will have two different friend groups and a probably quite larger room. However, if you like a bit of quiet time, it’s not the best option. Living in a dorm will give you plenty of socialization and friends, but you might like to be able to study and rest quietly and alone. Additionally, if you don’t get along, it could grow into a problem. It’s really quite a personal decision.</p>
<p>I, for one, will be requesting to have a roommate. Seeing as you will be an incoming sophomore, I would suggest you do the same. Since all of the returning students have already formed friend-groups and you will be attempting to fit in, it will give you an immediate friend. At one school, an AO said that they tend to match incoming sophomores with eachother, so this may give you someone who is in a similar position. It will be easy for you to relate and connect with eachother. Of course, there is another side to this argument, but I think for your situation, the best choice would be to request a roommate.</p>
<p>I agree- if you were an incoming freshman, I might say differently. But having a built-in friend will be great. And, if she is a returning student, she’ll have bunches of friends to introduce you to!</p>
<p>I would recommend you to have a roommate at least for a semester or two. In addition to forming a friendship, you can also learn to live with others. I object to an idea of living all 4 years alone. </p>
<p>Most schools require a year of living with a roommate (maybe as a freshman, sophomore, or junior), so, if you think you might only want a roommate for the learning purposes, make sure to check into those policies.</p>
<p>Depends what school, I think. For example, Lawrenceville’s house system makes it so that you have a built in group of friends already, and it’s not actually necessary to have a roommate to get a “built-in friend”.</p>
<p>But I’m not sure about other schools, it’s more about how close your dormmates are to each other.</p>
<p>You kids all seem to assume that your roommate will be your friend. Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn’t choose to have a roommate because I fear no one will like me or be my friend or want to hang with me those first few days. You will have PLENTY of opportunities in any dorm (or club or classroom or dining hall or…) to make all the friends you want//need. I would consider first your level of need for privacy. There is very little of it at BS. Having a single could be your saving grace if you are a person who needs solitude once in a while or who just likes to sleep without interruption. If you are an only child, think very carefully about how having a roommate will affect your transition to BS when there is so much else to adjust to. Some OCs crave company, some don’t. Consider how much you (would) enjoy sharing your bedroom at home with a sibling and go from there.</p>
<p>I’ve always said I would want a roommate, but I think I’d hold off until my second year when I could request to room with someone I already know I get along with. I like sleeping without interruption,… ( @ChoatieMom, I’m going to rat out my brother again and say that he makes so much noise coming out of the bathroom which is across the hall from my room.) I might actually like a small and cozy single.</p>
<p>stargirl: you make a good point. You can’t control outside noises, but it may be nice not to have to deal with in-room annoyances. The lights-out schedule, especially for freshman, pretty much guarantees silence after a given hour, but having to wear earplugs to deal with a roommate’s snoring or other eccentricities is not optimal. I like your approach of waiting until you can room with someone who actually is a friend. I think that method is more likely to result in a happy arrangement.</p>
<p>You do have to be careful, though, making sure you have a good relationship without being together all the time outside the room and that you have similar strategies. Overall, I like it as well, though.</p>
<p>I snore. Or so I’ve heard. </p>
<p>For the first year, I would definitely go for a roommate. </p>
<p>I know that most would want a roommate, though I am one who definitely needs alone time. Consider how much time you spend with your family when you’re at home, and how easily you make friends. I think that I’d be okay with a single because I’m willing to put myself out there to make new friends, but since you have all these people telling you to get a roomie, I guess maybe you should! </p>
<p>^I’ll have plenty of time to make friends outside of my room, but I need that alone time so I would rather have a single. All I can keep thinking of is if I have a roommate and they have finished their homework and want to go to bed. I would have to turn off the lights and use a lamp and I, for one, am not able to work productively like that. That just keeps bugging me, idk why.</p>
<p>If you have certain specific needs (like above), you might need to get a single. A restless sleeper who needs to scroll through Tumblr for an hour a night is a good person for a single. Anyone who needs silence and/or bright light to study is probably a candidate for a single. Just look at yourself and your needs/wants.</p>
<p>Thacher’s freshman students all use single rooms in their first year. The logic is that in the first year, they are busy adjusting to new environment and some may need more privacy than others. Into the second year, they get to make friends that they prefer having as a roommate. By doing so, the school tries to minimize the risk of having a mismatch, although it is also a learning experience. You cannot just avoid the people you don’t like. You learn to live with them, listen to them and ultimately try to resolve the people issues instead of avoiding them. It is one of the big advantages of being in a boarding school. </p>
<p>Sophomore boys and girls have a dorm with both doubles and singles and may request a double room and can also identify several boys/girls he/she would like to have as a roommate. Other boys/girls will do the same and the dorm faculty will try to accommodate everyone’s requests. Sometimes, during the year, there are roommate switches, and some who are in singles go to a double room, and some in a double room go to a single. This way, all students have an opportunity to have a roommate. I believe that sharing a room is an important experience – especially for an adolescent. </p>
<p>I know Andover has a questionnaire to pair people up for first year. But really what you like is up to you. Depending on the type of person you are. OCD or not, morning person or not, you can make a pretty simple decision.</p>