<p>How are roommates decided? Do they pair you up with someone who is similar with you along the lines of personality and likes/dislikes?</p>
<p>Excellent question. The answer(s) are yes and no. First, you will fill out a card in June about your preferences for dorms…I think you list the top three in order of preference. There are regular dorms and some with themes, like Tierney and Queens. From there, the ResLife people get information from admissions and student enrollment and they try to find people who would make good roomies. Its not a perfect system and its not an exact science and yes, sometimes you get dorm drama. Bringing together 5,000 kids from all over the country, with different interests and habits and upbringings its hard to find a perfect match. RA’s encourage kids to resolve petty differences like adults, but in situations that are egregious, they can make changes. But those are VERY infrequent. In four years my D had a variety of roomies…freshmen year was “interesting…” but in the end, that particular roomie and she made amends and remain so. Sophomore year was tough because of freshman year drama it made for not many good choices…long story. It worked out and they got along fine…the other person snored like a goat however. LOL. Junior year she got her top choices and the apartment she wanted in Walsh, with her bestest friends (boyfriend on another floor.) She stayed with those same roomies Senior year in Campbell apartments…the new dorms. Its a transition from living at home to living semi independently…and sometimes there are difficult transitions depending on the maturity level and habits of people. </p>
<p>Its fabulous if you have a super roomie freshman year, but from anecdotal experience, not too many repeat with them…many have changed gears by then. Found their own clique and kids with the same study habits. My D roomed upperclassmen years with all kids who finished Phi Beta Kappa. They had “study parties.” Which meant working…but munching…and periodic humor…but mostly working like dogs. You have to pay to play as they say…and that goes with getting A’s. </p>
<p>Good luck. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>@Sov, do you know if you can request an specific room mate if you know someone else going to Fordham?</p>
<p>Yes, at least for RH</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m sure it’s the same for LC. I’m heading over there in two weeks and I may meet someone cool.</p>
<p>My daughter found someone on the facebook group that was started last year, they seemed to hit it off, met at summer orientation, and then requested to be roommates. And they were put together, so yes, you can make requests. </p>
<p>Be careful though, things aren’t always how they seem…</p>
<p>Unfortunately I do not use Facebook, but I get what you mean.</p>
<p>I see having a room mate as a learning experience, especially for people who have always had their own room like me. It should be interesting.</p>
<p>THanks sovereign debt! One more question, do you get the chance to talk to your roommate over the summer and know who it is?</p>
<p>My D did get notification in summer about roommate but i am not sure how they figured out how to “talk” to one another. It was not til much later that they learned which dorm and that they were in a triple. It worked out fine and they are planning on all three rooming together next year</p>
<p>Going random will not kill you. It is all about communication. I am a freshman at RH and I live in a forced triple on the Science Integrated Learning Community. That means I am in a two person room with three people. ResLife at Fordham is not the best. They have a habit of screwing people over and a being very strict. Keep in mind we are a Jesuit school. I lucked out and have an amazing RA. </p>
<p>My roommates became best friends. They will be rooming together next year. I am actually going to miss them. We all have our ticks about each other, but it has turned out rather well considering. I have heard horror stories and not everybody ends up loving their roommate. I think you figure it out though. It took adjustment but we got there. It comes with being direct, (“Hey, next time someone uses my chair could you make sure they put things back where they were?”) and understanding your own faults, (“Sorry it’s messy. The test yesterday killed me, I will clean it soon.”) </p>
<p>Fordham sends out your roommate info rather late. We did not meet until we got here and conversation on facebook was not the most conducive for us. We all wanted the bottom bunk and we did discuss that, we talked about who was bringing what and such too. Luckily we all live fairly close, 20min-3 hours so if something didn’t turn out well we just grabbed it next weekend.</p>