How to Find a Roommate Explained by Three Seniors

On May 1st, many seniors were able to finally take a breath of relief after committing to college. However, that breath was short-lived, taken away by cluttered dashboards, placement tests, and laundry lists of forms and tasks. The most intimidating of them all? Finding a roommate. Bear Hub interviewed three EBHS students with different college experiences, in-state, out-of-state, and international, to hear their experiences.

Arjun Deepak, Bear Hub Staff
June 15, 2020

In-State

Vivek Kumar will be attending Rutgers University, majoring in finance and computer science.
Q: Have you found a roommate yet?
A: No.
Q: How are you trying to find roommates?
A: I posted in the Facebook group and gave people my socials like my insta and snap to message me through.

Vivek’s post to the Rutgers Class of 2024 Facebook page

Q: What are you looking for in a roommate?
A: Someone that just gives me good vibes and values having a balance between academics and fun. Also, people that do not reek of desperation.
Q: How many potential roommates have you talked to?
A: I’ve talked to about 4-5 people as of now. Half of them just text me straight up and say “wanna room” and I just think that’s weird. I think that’s kind of weird because I would wanna get to know a person before asking them to room.
Q: Did you have any fears before starting the process?
A: When I decided to room with someone new, I’ll admit I was kind of nervous because I wasn’t sure if I could find someone that matched my interests. Everyone’s posts on Facebook are the same so it got kind of repetitive and I couldn’t really tell what a person was really like.
Q: How has quarantine affected the process for you?
A: Honestly not that much. I don’t think I would try and meet up with anyone had there not been quarantine.

Out-of-State

Kaavya Meegada will be attending Binghamton University, majoring in nursing.

Q: Have you found a roommate yet?
A: Yes.
Q: How did you find your roommate?
A: A Facebook group for admitted students. I looked at a bunch of people whose bios seemed interesting and similar to me and I reached out on Snapchat and from there whoever I clicked with the most I talked to the most. And by the end, I was only talking to one person and we decided to be roommates.
Q: What were you looking for in a roommate?
A: A friend and someone who I could talk to easily.
Q: How many potential roommates did you talk to?
A: I talked to about 6-7 girls but for a lot of them, it was really hard to hold a conversation over the phone. The girl who I eventually picked made the conversation flow easily and when it did die out we always tried to keep it going.
Q: Did you have any fears before starting the process?
A: I was scared to put myself out there but it really paid off because I found someone I really see myself becoming really good friends with. I was originally gonna go random but I saw a TikTok about a girl who went random and now has a restraining order against her roommate and I did not want that to happen to me… It was the only reason I didn’t go random.
Q: How has quarantine affected the process for you?
A: I think quarantine has helped because we definitely had a lot more things in common but at the same time it forced me to find other common ground other than school. Also, it gave me more time to talk rather than like in the middle of classes.

International

Lucy Milligan will be attending Sciences Po and Columbia University’s dual BA program. In this program students attend Sciences Po in France for the first two years, focusing on social sciences and language instruction. The last two years will be spent, fulfilling Columbia University’s core and major requirements and Sciences Po’s year abroad requirements.

Q: Have you found a roommate yet?
A: Yes.
Q: How did your roommates?
A: My program is small enough that I’m able to be in group chats with everyone and we have weekly video calls which are a great way to get to know everyone
Q: What were you looking for in a roommate?
A: I was looking for someone who had similar sleep and study habits. I was also looking for someone who was looking to travel and explore our area and town. I thought it’d also be nice to room with people from completely different backgrounds as me because of the international nature of my program.
Q: How many potential roommates did you talk to?
A: So there are only about 25 people in my entire program so all of the girls had video calls and I was able to talk to pretty much all of them.
Q: Did you have any fears before starting the process?
A: I did feel a lot of pressure to find a perfect match because no one ever wants to be stuck with someone who isn’t a good fit but you especially don’t want to be stuck with someone in an apartment lease in a foreign country and not get along.
Q: How has quarantine affected the process for you?
A: Well, it was always going to be very unlikely that I’d meet any of my classmates or potential roommates in person because we live across the globe. What has been affected is that there is so much uncertainty with planning, housing, and rooming as an international student, as it’s going to be hard for me and many of my classmates to get to campus in the fall.

Finding a roommate is a challenge no matter where you may be heading. Trying to encapsulate the essence of “you” in one Facebook post can be intimidating, and talking to new people even more so. With any luck, you’ll have found a roommate and a friend; and if not, no harm in rolling the dice.