Housing and roommate season for the 2015-2016 school year is among us. It’s a frantic time of year – a whirlwind of meetings, tours, applications and roommate shopping. Choosing who to live with can be the hardest part, so here are five tips for choosing a roommate.
1. Don’t just live with your best friend.
Just because you’re close friends does not guarantee harmonious living situations. The best case is if you’re best friends AND compatible – a rarity. You need to address other factors besides just best friendship.
2. Find someone similar to you.
In general, it’s best to find a roommate who has similar habits as you. For example, it is ideal to live with someone who has a smilar sleep schedule and enjoys some of the same things as you.
3. Cleanliness is another huge factor.
If one person never showers and leaves dirty underwear in the kitchen and the other does dishes every day and uses the dust buster on the vacuum, it’s not going to work out.
4. Level of social activity.
It’s definitely okay if one roommate likes to go out while the other prefers to stay in. However, things can go sour if the one who goes out comes back belligerently drunk, throws up everywhere, and/or brings home questionable people. Also, if you’re the roommate who likes to stay in, it’s essential to find someone who won’t judge you if you lie in bed and watch Netflix for ten hours straight.
5. To share or not to share?
You need to find a roommate who has on common stance regarding what is shared and what is not, like food and clothes. It can get ugly if your roommate always steals your favorite boots or the last box of macaroni and cheese.