The Friend Roommate

<p>Alright, so next year I am going to a college that some of my friends from H.S. will also be going to. A friend of mine suggested possibly rooming together, since he preferred not to be with a stranger.</p>

<p>I know how everyone says that you should never room with a friend cause you'll end up hating them by the end of the semester, but how bad could it be? I mean we would still go out and make friends not just hang around each other only, why can't you use the familiarity to give you the confidence to go out and make new friends instead of being by yourself??</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Room with a stranger or my friend?</p>

<p>We can’t give you tips on dumping him until you tell us whether you absolutely want a stranger roomate or not.</p>

<p>Some of my friends love it, some hate it.</p>

<p>I have been on trips with my best friend on the same room</p>

<p>and we work just fine</p>

<p>Well I think I could deal with a stranger roommate but I’d greatly prefer having a friend there to make things more comfortable. I just don’t want it to limit my ability to make friends in college, I want to use it as a springboard to make new ones</p>

<p>Room with a stranger. Tell him to stop trying to make it an extension of high school and that you have some growing to do.</p>

<p>Why do you say that?</p>

<p>Personally, what’s the point of going to college if you’re rooming with someone you already know? It’s like a domino effect. Are you going to hang with him all the time? Is he only going to want to hang with you? College is a time where you should try and experience something new and place yourself in situations that you’re not used to. I think you’re cheapening your experience by not rooming with strangers (for the first year). Not everyone will have a roommate from hell. A big chunk of people are actually friends with the people they were placed with and have good memories. You don’t ever want to say “what if”.</p>

<p>Plus, rooming with a friend can be a bad idea unless you guys have actually lived together before. It could either make or break your friendship. You don’t notice the little things that will get on your nerves until you live with someone. I only roomed with friends my junior and senior year of college because I spent copious amounts of time in varying living conditions where I knew we’d get along.</p>

<p>i would explain that u dont want to end up hating each other, but suggest that you request the same building, then you are close, but not on top of each other.</p>

<p>I’m rooming with one of my friends next year, but I’m a freshman in college now, so I’ve gotten to know her and what her living style is. I think it’d be harder to room with a friend from high school–it’s not always easy to predict how they’ll be as a roommate, and while you get along great right now, spending hours on end every day with them could turn bad real fast. It’s different when you’re talking about friends you’ve made in college; I see them every day, so I know I won’t get sick of them, and I know what kind of a roommate she’ll be.</p>

<p>I’d suggest going with a random roommate, but the choice is really up to you. I know a few people who roomed with friends from high school and still get along great, but there’s always the chance you could end up fighting all the time and possibly ruining your friendship.</p>

<p>im rooming with my best friend right now and things havent changed. of course we have our own friends since we’re in different majors and take different classes but we’re still just as close as ever. we still hang out together and we’re not sick of each other. it just depends on the people. i heard all those stories about how you shouldn’t room with your friend and all, but do whatever makes you feel comfortable.</p>

<p>Well me and my friend aren’t the closest, we are casual friends, not best friends. As it is right now I hang out with him possibly once a week. I figure if its like what chickenboi said maybe then you can just use your friend to help put yourself out there to make new friends.</p>

<p>Then you can hang out with the multiple groups and have a lot of fun.</p>

<p>Just a theory, I’m eager for more input!!!</p>

<p>^probably better that way…</p>

<p>ask him about his living style. What music does he like? is he loud? when does he sleep? does he need all the lights off when he sleeps? is he clean?</p>

<p>Small things will lead up to you wanting to kill him later so make careful decisions now…</p>

<p>1 reason I wouldn’t want to room with a friend is because I like being by myself and strangers would leave me alone…;; I have mood swings so I wouldn’t want to be around friends all the time because I WILL end up being an ass to them.</p>

<p>If a friend ask me to be their roommate I’ll explain no to them. I know when I go to college I will be roommating with a complete stranger. Though if you desire to roommate with your friend, I don’t think it will be awful as some explain.</p>

<p>I’m rooming with a friend from high school (not best friend, just friend) and I don’t like living with him. I never knew he was so lazy and messy until I lived with him. I’m not rooming with him next year.</p>

<p>is it impossible to switch roommates? what if its a mutual decision?</p>

<p>Yeah but why go through that?</p>

<p>My best friend from high school visited me this week at my school. She is an awesome, awesome person and I love her greatly- but honestly, I am very sure that we would drive each other crazy as roommates. Just this last week, I couldn’t help but feel quite a few tinges of irritation over menial roommate issues. I realized…I really hate people all up in my space…crumbs and dirty tissues on my futon where I sleep? Not okay. Dirty bowls/candy wrappers left out all over the place? Not a fan. Taking up the bathroom for an hour at a time? A little irritating. Sleeping before 1am? Not a fan either. </p>

<p>With my actual current roommate it is completely different. Coming into college I roomed blind. I was lucky to find the best roommate ever…it has been 7 months, and I have no complaints whatsoever. (Obviously this is not always the case-however, I would much rather take the chance going in blind again than risk going in with a high school friend). We are great friends who talk and hang out every day, yet we give each other space and go off and do our own things as well. We aren’t too ridiculously messy, we share everything with an understanding of boundaries, we both don’t like sleep, and are a bit crazy. From day 1 we both had the outlook of being good roommates first (menial roommate issues are easily addressed because we both have the mutual respect of one’s property), then friendship just came naturally. With friends from high school, one takes for granted that friendship can overlook menial roommate issues. Sadly, this is not always the case, and a friend may take personally a simple request to “clean up.” Rooming with college friends is a little bit different, because you have lived around your friends everyday and have already observed their habits</p>

<p>I think that I would rather live with a stranger just for the opportunity to easily make a new friend (maybe). That way I would at least know two people early on in college as opposed to just one. And maybe I could be friends with my friend’s roomate as well :).</p>

<p>I write from experience: I have had two “random roommates” and one “friend roommate.” In my case, I had great experiences with the “random roommates.” They were very easy to live with. I had a terrible experience with the “friend roommate.”</p>

<p>The problem with living with a friend is that you will know things about them that you would be better off not knowing. For example, I knew that my “friend roommate” was irresponsible before I lived with him, but I didn’t know just how badly that would affect our relationship.</p>

<p>My “random roommate” from freshman year, on the other hand, was very easy to live with. Even though he was sexually active, he understood fairness. If I left the room this time, then next time he’d go somewhere else. We felt at ease talking with each other and left on good terms.</p>

<p>There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a “friend roommate.” You just have to honestly ask yourself, “Can I live with him?” I should have known that the answer to that question was “no,” and I am paying the price for it.</p>

<p>Well maybe it would be helpful for everyone if we could list the qualities of a “good” roommate and then it would be a lot easier to judge!!!</p>

<p>I’ll start:</p>

<p>-Respectful
-Fairly Neat
-Someone you can talk to
-Someone that can help expose you to other groups on campus</p>