By Courtney Davis, Blogger
Going away to college can be scary, but going away to college when you don’t have your best friends by your side can be terrifying. As much as you love your besties, you don’t all have the same goals. So when it comes to going away to college you may be stuck on your own, but don’t stress out. Going away to college on your own is a great experience!
You learn to be independent and how to branch out on your own. The only downfall is finding someone to room with. The roommate process can be super scary because you don’t know what to ask them and how to make sure you find the perfect roommate for you. I’ve been through a few different roommates so I have a good idea of what key things you should be asking. So, here is how to find the perfect roommate for you.
Normally colleges have Facebook pages or a roommate matching site where you put a short paragraph about who you are and where you’re from and more basic information like that. Deciding what information to put on your roommate profile can be stressful, especially because the people reading it are basing that information on if they want to contact you about being roommates or not. Here is the best information to put in your paragraph.
Your name and where you’re from
Having a roommate who lives close to you is really convenient because over the summer you can meet up and go shopping for dorm stuff. You can also carpool with one another when it comes to going to and from campus over breaks and weekends.
Hobbies
Listing your hobbies on your profile is SUPER important. Finding someone who likes the same stuff that you do is great because you’ll already have something in common. You can look into joining the same clubs when you get on campus or try out for the same sports. Knowing you and your roommate want to be involved in the same thing on campus is great because it’ll be something you guys can do together to get to know one another better and start to build that roommate bond!
Whether You Like to Go Out or Not
Being honest is super important when it comes to finding a roommate. In college, there is a lot of nightlife so listing if you like to go out or not is very important, and it’s also important, to be honest. Don’t put that you like to go out just because everyone else is and you think it’ll give you a better shot at finding a roommate. It’ll just cause problems down the road if you say you like to go out and your roommate finds out you don’t. If you’re honest and you love staying in find a roommate who loves to do that too! You two will be able to find alternative things to do on the weekend besides going out and you’ll be much happier!
Your Major
Finding a roommate that has the same major as you is great because you might end up in the same classes or be able to help one another when it comes to certain classes. You’ll also be able to go to study sessions together. It’s another great way for you guys to bond and hang out together.
How Early You Wake Up/Go to Bed
If you’re someone who loves to get your work done during that day, so you can go to bed early you don’t want a roommate who likes to stay up all night. If you love to sleep in you don’t want a roommate who likes to wake up super early. This is a super important detail you need to list, if your roommate and you are on the same schedule it’s going to make living together so much easier.
How Much Noise/Light You Like When Going to Sleep
This isn’t something you need to list on your roommate profile, but when you’re talking to people about being roommates it’s an important subject to bring up. I never thought I would have trouble with how much light/noise my roommates like when they sleep, but it can definitely a problem. I like to sleep with all the lights off and absolutely no noise. I’ve had roommates in the past who like to sleep with the lights on. I had no clue she liked to sleep with the lights on and it ended up causing problems in our room. It might seem like a weird question to ask someone, but it could be the difference between you having a good night sleep or not.
Your Instagram/Twitter Handles
Leaving your social media can help people see more about you. It may seem a little weird to have strangers check out your Instagram or Twitter, but it’s a great way to see if the person is someone you can get along with or not. You can determine a lot about someone by what kind of things they post on social media.
If You’re an Organized Person or Not
If you’re someone who is terrible at cleaning up after themselves and think a messy room is a happy room, then don’t put anything about being super clean on your profile. If someone asks how organized or clean you are just say “I’m not a neat freak or anything, but I clean my stuff as much as I can.” This shows them you’re not super crazy about being clean, but you won’t let your stuff get too crazy disorganized. If you’re super into being clean and hate having a messy room, put this in your profile. You don’t want to get stuck with someone who is super messy.
Where You Like to Study
If you like to study in the room, you won’t want your roommate to have people over all the time. This is really important to discuss because if your roommate loves to have people over 24/7, you won’t want all of this going on while you’re trying to study.
The Temperature of the Room
This also might seem like something weird to ask, but it’s super important. If you like to have the room super cold, you don’t want a roommate who loves to have the heat on 24/7. It might not seem like a big deal, but it could potentially cause problems.
These are just a few of the important things to ask potential roommates. Everybody is different and has different things that are important to them. You can ask your potential roommates anything that you think would be a potential problem. It’s super important to be honest, but also be willing to compromise with people. Finding a roommate can be super stressful, but if you ask the right question you’ll be able to find the right roommates for you in no time!
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