Leaving for college in six months, senior Grace Mestad is looking at all the various things that students can do while living on campus. Photo by Hayley Morris

By Hayley Morris

Picking a roommate could be one of the toughest decisions students have to make when applying for college. They  would not want to get stuck with someone who they have nothing in common with in their first year of college. They would want to make sure that they clicked and had at least one thing in common, if not more.

Seniors were asked if they were going to pick a roommate at random. Grace Mestad and Kiara Patrick are not picking a roommate at random. Patrick already has one selected and Mestad is still looking for somebody. While Ali Obrochta found hers on the IU admission’s Facebook page.

When asked what they would like to know about their roommate before living with them for a year, Obrochta said, “It is almost like dating someone new, as weird as it sounds, but I personally found it necessary to get to know her the best I could, since I would be living with her for a year.” It is a very good thing to know a lot about somebody before spending a whole school year with them. Mestad said, “I definitely need to know what their personality is like.”

Knowing somebody that had a bad experience with a roommate could be a big impact on someone’s decision on picking a roommate. For example, Obrochta has not heard of anyone that has had a bad experience. Mestad and Patrick both have known somebody that has had a bad experience with a roommate. Mestad states, “Yes, my friend at Purdue got a roommate from China who lived on their time instead of US time so she kept my friend up all hours of the night because she just talked on the phone to her friends in China.” Not all roommates are like this, some may end up being a potential best friend. Incoming freshmen would just have to try it out and see what happens.

While finding a roommate can be a tough decision that a student has to to make, it is always a good experience in the end and people will be happy they gave it a chance. No matter what decision a person makes, they will enjoy every minute of their first year of college. Maybe the roommate somebody finally picks could turn out to be their best friend.