Your decorations are hung, your closet is filled, and your roommate is standing across from you in the dorm, shuffling his feet as he grasps for something to talk about. Now it’s time to figure out how to be a good roommate.
Roommates are a central piece to the college experience. Leading up to your freshman year, thinking about your college roommate can lead to a lot of hopes, questions, and even anxiety. But be comforted — the odds of a successful roommate pairing are in your favor! A survey conducted by the research firm Skyfactor among 20,000 students at 15 participating institutions with varying roommate-assignment protocols, found that more than half of the respondents said they were happy with the roommate to whom they were assigned as a freshman; just one in 10 of them requested a roommate change that year.
Whether you’ve known your college roommate since first grade or you’ve never met him/her, here are seven simple but necessary steps to create a healthy living atmosphere in your dorm room. Who knows? You might be the next iconic roommate pair. Before you know it, people around campus will be talking about you like Joey and Chandler or Laverne and Shirley.
1. Ask Questions
Since you will receive your roommate’s contact information before you get to school in the fall, you can start asking questions early. If you start to get to know your college roommate through texts or emails, you can mitigate some of the awkwardness of getting to know someone. We know of students who have even met up in-person over the summer.
As you get to know each other, ask questions about their morning and night routines, their preferred study atmosphere, and what their cleaning schedule looks like. All this and more will not only help create conversation, but will normalize topics like preferences and personal space. It will also help you feel more certain about the coming year and what your dorm room lifestyle will look like.
2. Be Open and Flexible
When it comes to how to be a good roommate, you must be open to ideas that differ from your own. You may not like the idea of a quiet room every evening after eight p.m. or rules about the microwave, but you can develop a flexible mindset and learn to work with the preferences of your roommate. You’ll appreciate it when they’re willing to compromise with you on your pet fish, or love of lavender essential oils in return!
3. Speak Up
With this in mind, it’s also important to speak up when needed. You can be kind and considerate and also stand up for the space and time you need to yourself. There’s nothing more challenging than a passive aggressive roommate who leaves sticky notes around the room rather than just having a face-to-face conversation to talk things through. Chances are, if you are bold enough to ask for the room alone for an hour, they’ll be happy to give it to you. And in turn, they will feel more comfortable asking for the same.
