College Roomates: Search for your new best friend

Emma Van Riper '20, Paper Features Editor|March 3, 2020

Many+struggle+with+their+search+to+find+a+roommate+as+their+senior+year+of+high+school+comes+to+an+end.+Some+soon-+to-be+college+freshmen+find+their+roommates+through+Facebook+or+through+mutual+friends%2C+while+others+go+random+and+hope+to+bond+over+similar+living+preferences.

Fastweb.com

Many struggle with their search to find a roommate as their senior year of high school comes to an end. Some soon- to-be college freshmen find their roommates through Facebook or through mutual friends, while others go random and hope to bond over similar living preferences.

As I approach the third month of knowing where I’m going to college, the panic for the awaited roommate search has begun. With social media nowadays, it’s easy to communicate with people going to the same college as you — but is all of this necessary?

In the class of 2024 Facebook groups, you can find endless posts of people’s bios about their life: where they’re from, their hobbies and interests and much more. At first, it all seems so great — so many new people to talk to and get to know. But then I realized that you don’t really know anyone for sure until you start interacting with them in person.

Yes, it’s nice to network a little so you have familiar faces once you get to college, but these people that you’re texting or Snapchatting with most likely aren’t going to be your best friends at school.

Then there’s the big debate: choosing your roommate or going random. I think the best option is to choose your roommate, knowing that you guys may not be the best of friends when school starts.
I believe the most important thing is choosing someone who seems like you could get along with easily. I’m sure all roommates have disagreements at times, but as long as your chosen roommate can respect you and your shared space, I think that should be everyone’s priority.

While this outlook is reasonable, it’s hard to manage expectations. Yes, it would be nice to choose a roommate, become best friends, do everything together and never fight. However, this just isn’t realistic.

To add even more pressure, for most colleges, the quicker you submit your housing information, the higher priority you get when choosing rooms. I’ve put off this roommate situation for a while now, and should probably find one. But on the other hand, there are still people who will hear back regular decisions so there are plenty more people to choose from.

As far as the great roommate search goes, my plan is to talk to some people who I have mutual friends with and see what happens. At the end of the day, it is what it is and whether me and my roommate become good friends or just co-exist together can be a question for the future.