<p>Is there a questionnaire to fill out to match up roommates or is it just totally random? This can apply to any college you know of.</p>
<p>There is a roommate questionnaire to fill out. Included in the questionnaire it will ask you which dorms you want, and you can chose what matters more to you - matching the location or matching the roommate requirements.</p>
<p>There’s a new trend among college freshman (not just at Elon), and I think it’s too soon to tell if its a good thing. As soon as students are accepted, they begin forming Facebook groups - I think that’s good. But almost immediately after that, kids begin looking for roommates through those groups. There’s even a new Facebook app that is supposed to help you find roommates who are a good “match” for you based on an online profile you fill out. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. First of all, people are not always what their FB shows them to be. Secondly, choosing a roommate because you both like country music and you both played basketball doesn’t mean you’re compatible. Roommate success or failure is much more a personality thing - do you respect other people’s property and living space, are you courteous regarding noise and privacy, etc? These are things you can’t tell on FB. </p>
<p>I don’t know what the success/failure rate is for roommates chosen online vs letting the college place you randomly (within the results of the questionnaire you fill out) but I know this was discussed on CC last year, with a lot of college upperclassmen chiming in with opinions. </p>
<p>I think the danger with choosing a roommate you’ve “met” online is that leads to high expectations (you expect to end up as best friends), and if those aren’t completely fulfilled you feel like there’s something wrong. Whereas if you get a random roommate, as long as you can peacefully co-exist you feel like it’s successful, so there’s less pressure for the other person to meet your ideal of the “perfect” roommate. </p>
<p>I also noticed that girls tend to be a lot more worried about finding a roommate and more likely to chose their own roommate online. Boys tend to be more willing to let the college pick.</p>
<p>My daughter was going to do the “random” roommate thing because she didn’t think she could judge other people’s true roommate potential by their Facebook. But as it turned out, the Accepted Students FB group spun off some sub-groups of kids from different geographic areas. About 2 dozen ED/EA kids from our area arranged to meet up and go out to lunch one Saturday in April, and during that meetup she and another girl really “clicked.” They ended up rooming together and it has been great.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think this new ability to get around the college’s roommate questionnaire and chose your own roommate puts a lot of pressure on students to make a big decision that they just don’t have enough information to make, at a time when there’s already a lot of confusion and tension. My neighbor’s son attends a college that does not allow incoming freshmen to chose their own roommates - they are always assigned by the college. Although that might not be popular with incoming freshmen, I think it’s probably a wise way to handle it.</p>
<p>the questionnaire for Elon was maybe 4 questions, something like this</p>
<p>do you sleep late or wake up early?
do you want to share things with your roommate?</p>
<p>and that’s about it. Random roommate is sort of a college tradition but in today’s world I believe there are a few reasons why someone should consider using facebook for college roommate selection;</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If your religious and want a roommate who will accept you, yes living with different types of people is important, but time and time again i hear stories about how someones roommate tried to push their religion on them and for a whole year that will get annoying.</p></li>
<li><p>If your gay. Simply because not everyone will be accepting and it will be a lot more comfortable not to have to hide yourself. </p></li>
<li><p>If you don’t drink. Yes its illegal, but college kids do it. Many of my friends don’t drink and feel uncomfortable when roommates bring alcohol around. On the other hand my friends who do drink feel weird drinking around their roommates. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are a few other exceptions. Keep in mind that is is a growing experience living with someone who is not like you. However you must also keep in mind that you are going to be living with this person for a year.</p>
<p>My roommate and I found each other on facebook and we get along great.</p>
<p>I agree with pakjan6 on her list of potential problems. There is another problem with random matching which was my D’s route. The assigned roommate can withdraw enrollment ( after getting off a waitlist at their first choice) and your student is assigned someone from overflow housing at the last minute. They are more randomly placed. The school that runs like butter didn’t run so smoothly for our D in this area. She is fine and has weathered everything quite well. I just wanted you to be aware of potential issues. People also do make changes for spring. I think if the whole University did it randomly it might work better. In talking with her friends from other schools form coast to coast everyone seems happy. Two did it randomly but that is how the University does it. There was one mismatch but she is ok with it. The facebook roommates all get along. Although, some may not room next year together due to different residential interests. I agree the facebook method does put a lot of pressure on the student so I can see both sides to this discussion. I think it comes down to personality types. My d is very easy going ( not like her mother) and is not a planner so going random wasn’t so traumatic. Other kids who like to have control or a plan may do beter with the faebook method. I do think they move kids if necessary in the spring. I also agree with Lafalum84 about expectations. I told my d that being able to co-exist was the most important thing. Sometimes it is best that you are not best friends with your roommate just that you respect each other.</p>
<p>Another problem with looking for a roommate thru FB was that a girl asked my daughter to room with her, and checking the girl’s FB it was clear that the girl was a much bigger partier than my daughter. This was confirmed when she actually met the girl at spring orientation. This left my daughter in the awkward position of having to come up with a reason to turn the girl down. She told her (and at the time she was being totally honest!), “We already know each other, so if we go with random roommates then we’ll still know each other plus we’ll meet more people.” </p>
<p>The whole “find your own roommate thing” is incredibly awkward. It’s like finding a prom date, only worse because you’re looking for someone to LIVE with for hopefully a year. I think it adds a LOT of anxiety to an already nerve-wracking situation - deciding where to go to college, and moving away from home. But now that Facebook exists I think things are going to move in this direction, and some kids find having that sense of control more reassuring.</p>