<p>I was just wondering when the ‘roommate finder’ program will be opened up for use. Also is this software helpful, or do people usually just use facebook to try to find people?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Roommate Finder is cumbersome. It doesn’t have good search features and it has limited information. However, it works OK for finding some potential roommates and messaging them or getting to know them on Facebook. My D didn’t use the Facebook group for finding roommates.</p>
<p>The text on the RMF page says at the moment:<br>
“The roommate finder program for the fall 2013 term will be available beginning November 1st. New Freshmen students who have completed a housing application will receive an email to their UA crimson email account when the system goes live on November 1st.”</p>
<p>I found my S very reluctant to use RMF to “stalk” complete strangers to find potential roommates (his word for it). I’m not sure if this is a similar experience for others, but it was very difficult to get S to write initial emails to strangers. Then when many of the people he tried to communicate with simply did not reply to his messages, that put him off even further. </p>
<p>Ditto on the OP’s comments.
Don’t have high expectations for RMF being user-friendly - you will need to wade through (eventually) 100’s of individual roommate profiles - there are additional profiles being posted constantly, but there is no way of foregoing the ones you’ve already seen/‘rejected’, and by Feb/March of next year, you will be faced with 10+ pages of profiles, listed in no apparent order. </p>
<p>Furthermore, students can choose their own usernames for their profiles, so you have some bizarre profiles with no relation to a persons name, and it is beyond difficult to recall a profile name if your student wants to look for someone they met/FB’d with, but their RMF profile name is nothing like their real name. And, if you combine that with CC profile names, you (as a parent) will have a doozie of a time trying to keep straight which parent goes with which student goes with which profile goes with which Facebook name goes with which CC username goes with which dorm preference goes with which … come Bama Bound time. :)</p>
<p>There is a ‘save’ feature, which allows students to at least save off to the side, profiles of students they think are good matches. But each time they view RMF, they will see all of the profiles, again, in no apparent order. So, happy wading! </p>
<p>Profiles will be few and far between at first. Come Feb and Mar, there will be a flurry of activity, but be warned: if your student has not taken the time (and effort) to reach out to students well before room selection day, they are unlikely to find RMF effective in finding their roommates at the last minute, IMO. </p>
<p>Another flaw: in RMF you can search by age. Huh? why not be able to search by year in school?! I mean, you can have <18 year old Sophomores and 20+ year old Freshman, so searching by AGE will not necessarily get you to roommates that you want to be in the same YEAR in school as you. </p>
<p>Beware: there is an option to list how clean you want your living situation. “Like things put away” or “Comfortable with clutter” and so forth. I bet nearly every kid chooses to put down that they like things neat and clean (who doesn’t?), but WHO actually does the cleaning for them now dictates the real truth in this response. If it is the parent who routinely picks up after the student at home, the student will naturally check the “likes things picked up” response, but this has NO bearing on what will actually happen in the dorm! There are better questions to ask in the RMF profile that will get at roommate compatibility. </p>
<p>Seriously, some bright UA Computer Science programming student needs to approach UA Housing about redesigning this system. What a great project to take on!</p>
<p>My D used RMF and Facebook. She found her suitemate thru RMF…they had a 99% match. Roommate messaged my D and they chatted via FB and met at Greek Preview Weekend. Now 2 months in they are truly best friends. Both are in different sorority’s, but they are very close. Found the other two roommates at Greek Preview too.</p>
<p>BUT the key was being VERY honest in your answers. D actually asked me to look over a few of her answers before she hit enter. </p>
<p>It is cumbersome, but it does work.</p>
<p>I should also add that my S currently has 3 great roommates, all found through RMF. Yes, the system does work, so I did not want my previous comments to put anyone off using RMF. USE IT! It’s a great tool (i.e., service)…it’s just not a great tool (method). We are so lucky that our kids get to pick their roommates ahead of time at UA! </p>
<p>Once you have narrowed down your search, I would recommend using the old fashioned telephone and the more new-fangled Skype as well - this can be nerve wracking, yes - but I have always told my kids that people can ‘hide’ behind words in texts and emails, and/or what is said can be misinterpreted. It is important to have telephone conversations and in-person chats, where possible, to supplement mere print. Using the telephone and talking to people face-to-face is becoming a lost art in our culture…look at all of us on CC. 
</p>
<p>Having a parent look over S or D posts can be a good idea. Honesty (being yourself) is the key to finding great roommates, whatever method you use.</p>
<p>My son was not pleased with ‘roommate finder’. He is also not a facebooker. He pinned his hopes on finding like-minded roommates at the CBHP interview event. He found 4, but they were all taken - with each other! In desperation he asked me find him somebody through CC (there seemed to be some fishing activity at the time on the roommate front which I had mentioned to him) and, voila! BEST ROOMMATES EVER! In fact, all 4 are determined to room together next year and we really hope that can happen with all the housing uncertainty. </p>
<p>I don’t know if CC is like a magic genii (ask and ye shall receive) or we just got lucky, because not only do the boys get along famously but I adore all of my fellow room-mommies and am forever grateful that CC connected me to such smart, compassionate, deliciously funny women and their totally terrific sons.</p>
<p>Roll Tide, CC!</p>
<p>My S also found his roommate on CC. I was discussing how nervous I was for him as he had the last sign-up date and described him a little bit, and another mom PM’d me and her son pulled him in. I was so grateful, and am still as my son and her son are getting along, and so are the other 2 random suitemates. Maybe CC is a majic genii!</p>
<p>Rolltide94, be yourself and use what you are comfortable with. If you are a big Facebook user, you will be more comfortable with that tool (although most people are different IRL than they are on FB). If you are not a FB user, don’t use it to look for a roommate. If you plan to go to Capstone Scholars day, that’s a good opportunity to meet potential roommates.</p>
<p>RF is a useful tool if used in conjunction with common sense. If it appears a parent may have written the profile rather than the student, may want to steer clear. :)</p>
<p>I will share my own story. I offered to help but my son said absolutely not, he would handle it. He found one student right off the bat and felt so comfortable with that student he had no qualms letting that student take control of choosing the other two suitemates (as that student wished to do). I asked son to please share my contact info with that student’s mom and/or the other moms. Son politely declined. He had already not wanted to room with one boy because I knew that boy’s dad and son thought we’d talk about them. Drove me a little (ok, very) crazy to be shut out of process but I was also pleased he wanted to take care of it himself. Fast forward to room selection day, when a CC mom posted asking where room xxx was. It was my son’s room! Thus I “met” the other moms of the kids in my son’s room, thwarting my poor son’s efforts to stop the moms from talking about the kids.</p>
<p>^^^Ha-Ha-Ha, fellow Room-Mommie - if only they knew… ;)</p>
<p>^^^^^^ If we are talking 1st floor RCS-N… I believe my daughter may live across the hall- although I don’t believe they have met.</p>
<p>^ Well, the girls in the suite across from my son promised to bake my son cookies (during AA week). My son is still waiting for those cookies!</p>
<p>So, that does NOT sound like my daughter. LOL I must be confused.</p>
<p>Yes, Sniner, first floor - just have her knock if she experiences computer issues. It’s their favorite thing. They are very nice boys. Their silence is deafening, but maybe that’s just for the TRM’s benefit…</p>
<p>These are girls directly across the hall. I think your D may be a few doors down. You should send your girls over to visit. It’s a good time, the room was cleaned this weekend for the first time all semester. Tell them to go quick before it’s chaos again!</p>
<p>OK, I just asked the husband (who was there when the cookies were offered) and he said it the girls in the suite right next door and not across the hall. Sniner, still wish you’d send your girls over, even without cookies. I may be prejudiced but the boys are all kind of cute in their own way.</p>