5 Tips for Choosing a College Roommate

A college roommate can provide companionship and some relief to the major costs you may be paying. You will want to be very careful when choosing your college roommate, however, because the experience can be a dream or a nightmare depending on whom you choose.

Consider the following tips.

1) Choose someone you know if at all possible.

Finding someone you know to be your college roommate has many advantages.

  • You will know that they are safe. You may worry that someone you don’t know could be a thief or worse.
  • You will know their habits. You might be able to tell if you will be compatible. It is someone with whom you already have a positive relationship, so you know that you already get along on some level.

If you do not know of anyone, then you could ask around to people that you know and trust to see if there is anyone that they could recommend to you.

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No matter what, you will still want to consider the below characteristics, however.

2) Choose someone who has a similar level of cleanliness.

If you are a neat freak, and you get a college roommate who is a slob, there could be a major thunderstorm brewing. This can be a source of endless frustration for someone who really likes things neat and tidy, so you might want to find someone who matches your habits.

3) Find someone with similar sleep habits.

This is especially important if you will be sharing a room. You do not want to be trying to sleep while your roommate is partying at 2 am. Likewise, you do now want to have to tiptoe around all morning because your roommate always sleeps until noon.

4) Choose someone with the same lifestyle habits.

If you are a nonsmoker, then you probably do not want a smoker. Obviously, you may be concerned about someone who does something illegal like drugs or underage drinking because you might get in trouble as well.

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If you like things to be very calm and quiet but the other person likes to party and have friends over at all hours of the night and listen to loud music, then it might not be the relationship for you.

5) Have a long conversation with the person before you decide to room together.

No matter if it is someone you know or not, you will want to speak to the person to make sure that you are compatible. Make sure that you can agree on different things such as how you would share the telephone, what times visitors would come and so forth.

Use the above tips to help you pick a great roommate.