Should I room with my best friend?

<p>There's this two-year college my friend and I are both applying to to get our generals done. She wants to so she can save money, I want to so I can boost my GPA. It offers housing, and I think it might be fun to room together, but I'm not sure. I'm worried that rooming with her would come in the way of us meeting new people, especially for her because she's not that outgoing. However, I was at a program for high schoolers over the summer that was at a college, and I had a roommate, and I learned that roommates can really suck sometimes if you don't get along.</p>

<p>Mostly what I've read is that you might not like living with your friend because they might have habits that you don't know about. I don't think this will be a problem for us. We've been best friends since second grade, so we've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. There's not much she could do while we were rooming together that would suprise me.</p>

<p>On another note, I'm worried that if we go to the same college together she might cling on me and not meet new people, and get in the way of me meeting new people.</p>

<p>Personally, I wouldn’t. Aren’t you going to college to network and meet new people on top of earning a degree? If possible, I sug</p>

<p>Its sweet that you’ve know each other since you were small girls, and maybe you’ll be close your whole lives. So this is a tough decision. Since you either will or will not do it you’ll never know how the other choice would have turned out, giving an element of risk that the other way would have been better. Still, I’d advise against rooming together. </p>

<p>Habits you don’t know about is one issue, another are liberties that a stranger might not take. Borrowing your stuff without asking. Another is people change, and not in the ways you always expect. But these aren’t the reasons I’d suggest not rooming together; its something you already pointed out. </p>

<p>Even roomates that are strangers sometimes feel hurt if their roomate starts doing things with other people and they aren’t included (although there’s no reason they should expect to be included). In your case this is going to be a strong probability. What if you meet some new friends and they like you but not necessarily her? If you start spending time with them your friend will likely expect you to include her. You’ll be forced to choose between them, exactly as you forsee. But if you don’t room together you can still be good friends without being under the scrutiny of her always knowing what you’re up to. And it may be doing her a favor, too, because she’ll have an incentive to broaden her base of friends instead of just relying on you.</p>

<p>I think its best to room with a friend. Not a best friend mind you, but just a friend. Maybe even an acquaintance. That way, you know you’ll get along, but won’t be so obsessed with each other that you won’t meet new people.</p>

<p>I used to say no to this questions. But if you KNOW you get along with this person and can live together, and if you know you can make yourself get out to meet new people (join groups, in your dorm, in classes, etc.), then there is something to be said for it. But you need to have a frank discussion with her that you are going to work to meet new people, and might have some activities that you are involved in that she isn’t interested in. You just don’t want her to think you are going to be joined at the hip.</p>