College Roommate Search Puzzles Prepsters

Chloe Saharic, Staff Writer

Last year, juniors were able to blast music and enjoy watching Netflix alone in their room, but now they have a roommate. Ever since the wave of committing to colleges began, the difficulties of finding a roommate, let alone the idea of living with them, has been a stressful part of the class of 2018’s final year at Prep.

There are many things seniors must think about before choosing the perfect college roommate including: pet peeves, cleanliness, and schedules. Senior Rory Belcher says she is looking for “someone who shares similar interests as me and has a compatible personality with mine.”

Before the age of online surveys and social media, many people sent in applications and got assigned a roommate. This process would sometimes work with the creation of a good friendship by the end of freshman year or it would end horribly with two roommates not getting along.

Nonetheless, the internet has given this generation an opportunity that has not been available previously to have a variety of ways to find the perfect college roommate.

For example social media sites have given college attendees a way to communicate with potential roommates and find out if they would be a good match. In her search of finding a roommate, senior Jasmine Lee, who is attending Pepperdine next year, says “a good way to find a roomie is to join your college’s admitted students Facebook group. People post information about themselves with some pictures and I’ve seen multiple people connect with roommates through their posts.”

Others who wish to join the Greek system often do not have to find a roommate. Jane Stanley from the class of 2017, who attends the University of Washington and is in the sorority delta gamma, says she lives “in the sleeping porch in my sorority so I actually has 33 roommates which is not perfect, but I loves everyone and it is super fun!”

Although finding a roommate might be a daunting task, Stanley emphasizes the fact that “finding a roommate is not the most stressful part of college…the most stressful for me was adjusting to everything because it is super different than high school, but once you are adjusted it is great!”