<p>I will be a freshman at Vanderbilt this fall and will be filling out my housing application soon. Now I am in a bit of dilemma about who I should choose as my roommate.</p>
<p>See, I am an international student. And this year, 2 students from my country got accepted to Vanderbilt. Both of us know each other quite well, and I think it would be great if we were roomies. There would be no chance of conflicts, and we would have no problem adapting to each other's ways. But a few people have advised me that doing so might isolate us from the rest of the student body. They say it would be better for us to enter the random housing draw.</p>
<p>What are your opinions on this matter? Should I choose the safety of selecting my own roommate, or take the risk and let lady luck choose for me?</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem with rooming with someone from your own country. You will only be isolated if you do not attempt to expand your circle of friends. I think it may help ease the transition if your living situation is not stressful. My D’s freshman roommate was very different than D, and it was a difficult situation. The next three years, she lived with a friend. She and her friend had many other friends and did many things without each other. It was a great situation.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt doesn’t do much of a “study” on how to put people together although I imagine there is some attempt to mix things up and not put people from the same towns etc together and to mix in athletes with artists and engineers etc. Davidson actually does an personality inventory test and has a high percentage of students living together sophomore year who were placed together freshman year.<br>
Since the advent of FB, many students do try to request each other based on random meetings at accepted students days or other factors they see online. Our son showed up and got a great roommate from Los Angeles, very considerate guy, although they were not really much alike. That nice guy is an Resident assistant for next year. He and my son would not have dreamed of requesting a roommate but reality is that a segment of Vandy freshmen will make such requests now. </p>
<p>Freshman year is a bit sheltered as in you will have a VUCeptor who will be a support to you and meet with a group of freshmen. You will have at least one freshmen seminar to share with classmates and to get to know a faculty member. You will have organized things for freshmen orientation. You will have a random academic advisor in the faculty till you declare a major and pick a new one. You will find have Residential college (your freshman dorm) coffees teas and get togethers or even recreational sports teams to root for. You will have a faculty advisor residing in your dorm with his or her significant others and my son really got to know this advisor. There are special freshman class outings in the fall and parties. </p>
<p>so even if you don’t request a roommate, you have many supportive inclusive opportunities for socializing.<br>
the opposite can also be true…even if you pick your high school classmate, the two of you can make a pact to make as many friends as possible and to make a plan to live with others by your sophomore year. One idea I suggest…is to come up with a theme, present it to the selection board and to organize a house in the Mayfield Lodges for sophomore year. Ten private rooms, Living room and kitchen and two baths. My son’s house was a huge mix of people who spoke different languages and were from different nations, different political persuasions and different goals in life. You can google Mayfield Lodges to get a look at that option but again…you have to have a winning presentation to get one and you have to get a group of ten freshmen and some recommendations with a faculty sponsor to be competitive.<br>
Keep you eye on the long view of how to make the most of life at Vanderbilt. Just sharing a good second year option. There are other good ways to go second year as well which people might post about for you.
by the way, congratulations to you and to your classmate! Go Dores!</p>
<p>Thanks for the information everyone. Also, how easy is it to mix with local students? I heard that international students mostly keep to themselves…</p>
<p>My D didn’t really click with her roommate, who she met on Facebook. They got along fine but they just didn’t end up being good friends. The first few weeks of school, my D felt a little lonely because she didn’t know anyone and didn’t really have anyone to hang out with. She found it difficult to make friends to hang out with from her VUcept group or from any classes. Then she got to know a couple of other girls from the hall of her dorm and things got better. Some of the girls who went "random’ on roommate selection ended up with great roommates and ended up best friends. Frankly, I think that wouldn’t be a bad idea for you. Since you do already have a friend on campus, it would be a good way for both of you to meet other people. Chances are, one or both of you will end up with good roommates, which will expand your circle of friends immediately. Otherwise, I think you do risk isolating yourselves, especially since you are coming from out-of-the country.</p>
<p>my WASP son is a Chancellor’s scholar and he spent spring break in NYC region visiting a guy who is Jewish, a girl who is Polish American and fluent in three languages, a guy who is Chinese American and bilingual, a guy who is Filipino and bilingual --all members of his class at Vandy. His housemates in the Mayfield Lodge from his sophomore year included two girls who are Polish speakers, a guy who is Pakistani American and a girl from Shanghai and girls from Florida, a guy from Ohio, an African American girl from the DC region. It is all about just making the effort. I am sure you will do just fine and you will not be isolated or left out. Being a freshman always has certain aspects of being alone and relying on your own somewhat while time passes enough to sort out friendships. Coming from Bangladesh already indicates you are a very able person! You will be fine rooming with your friend or not.<br>
My message for my sons was to understand that adulthood does have aspects of loneliness but that this is necessary as you go through the processes that help you find your friendships that will sustain you in life beyond the sustenance of your family and origins. “have a high opinion of yourself and an equally good opinion of those you meet,” cut everyone a break as freshmen…plus it is normal to make errors of judgment at times, “freshman follies” happen, but all Vanderbilt students are gifted and highly motivated and the freshman that seems annoying and misguided at age 18 may be a fine person as a junior" that is my parental advice to share and the way in my view to also cope with going Greek or staying independent on campus. Stay open hearted and all will be well.</p>
<p>International students often do keep to themselves. However, it’s almost entirely self-segregation. If you choose to integrate yourself into the community, you will be a part of the community. It’s up to you. Same goes for everyone.</p>