What are some resources to find a roommate?

Hi Ansley,

In my experince, I did not know anyone that was going to the same college as me so I opted to be paired with random roommates. Once at school I made friends and gravitated towards them and ended up living with one friend for 3 years of the 4 that I attened school. Going to a shool and no knowing anyone is not a bad thing, it is good to get out and meet new people.

Additionally, after college I moved to a new city and my first roommate was a friend I knew from college who was moving to the same city as myself. After that, I utilized craigslist, as well as my network of friends and co-workers to search for new roommates. All methods are effective, but for me, I have had better living situations when living with friends or friends of co-workers.

Depending on the school that you are attending, the residential life department may have resources to help you identify individuals that you may want to room with. From personal experience, the school that I attended had roommate portal through residential life that helped match students based on their preferences in regards to when they go to bed, if they snore, if they like to attend schools events, and if they prefer studying in the library or in the dorm. I think it would be helpful to reach out the student life department at your school to see if similar resources are available. Also, a few of my friends found their roommates by joining school-specific facebook groups and interacted with other members to identify potential roommates, so that could be a good way for you to not only find potential roommates but also bond prior to moving in by interacting with each other through social media.

Most schools have a roommate questionnaire to fill out when selecting your housing preferences and they use that to match roommates. Alternatively, the Facebook group for your incoming class is a good place to find people. If your orientation is before you receive your housing, you could meet people their. When I went to school, I did not know anyone going in, and I chose a random roommate. We ended up becoming good friends, and I found that most people I met didn't know anyone going in either. It depends on the school, but I highly recommend going random for your roommate.