Ds going far to college… look for roommate in advance?

[Musicmom]

Does anyone have experience or advice regarding finding a college roommate? Did you look in advance or just let the college assign one? Ds is going Carnegie Mellon this fall—far away and we don’t know anyone else from our area who is going there. It would be great if he could find a like-minded and friendly (maybe even homeschooled) roommate, but not sure how or if that can be done.

Any thoughts? (Anyone else on these boards going to CMU??)

[Kareni]

It is fairly standard to have the college assign your child's first roommate(s).

(Even if my child were to have gone to the same college as a friend, I'd have advised her that they not room together. I think there would be an impulse to cling to the familiar rather than making new friends.)

Typically the college will send a survey to aid in roommate assignment. The survey my daughter answered had questions regarding the time she normally went to bed, her taste in music, whether she would be inclined to study in her room or elsewhere, if she smoked, and so forth. She ended up rooming with two likable young women.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kathy in Richmond]

Aren't the CMU dorms assigned first-come first served? He might want to send in his choice as soon as he can. The two kids I know who went to CMU (a really large sample, right!?) both filled out the roommate survey and let the school decide for them. And both were extremely pleased with the choice that CMU made (I think they tend to put SCS kids together). The main complaints I've heard recently are about the *types* of freshman housing. Some kids are put in apartments off-campus if they're not quick enough. While that sounds nice, it wasn't conducive to forming many friendships their freshmen year. The old dorms on campus aren't as lovely, but can be better places to make friends. Anyway, the main thing we heard was to try to be fast with your housing forms!

~Kathy

[JFS in IL]

If the school has a Facebook page (most do) and a page for the incoming class, he may find a discussion there where students describe themselves and try to find roommates, so they can have names to put on the forms under "roommate request". At least, ds's college has this.

[Susie-Knits]

If the school has a Facebook page (most do) and a page for the incoming class, he may find a discussion there where students describe themselves and try to find roommates, so they can have names to put on the forms under "roommate request". At least, ds's college has this.

This is what my son has done. It is nice to hook up with possible people and discuss likes/dislikes, habits, and such. The only questions on the housing form were early morning or late night and music or no music when studying. Not much details for matching up people! haha

[Brenda in MA]

The main complaints I've heard recently are about the *types* of freshman housing. Some kids are put in apartments off-campus if they're not quick enough. While that sounds nice, it wasn't conducive to forming many friendships their freshmen year. The old dorms on campus aren't as lovely, but can be better places to make friends. Anyway, the main thing we heard was to try to be fast with your housing forms!

~Kathy

I would echo Kathy's concerns. Get the housing form in ASAP. Dh and I are both alum of CMU. Dh lived in one of those off-campus apartments his first year, and it was quite a long walk to campus and very separate from everything else. He moved to an on-campus dorm room later in his time at CMU and was much, much happier.

Compared to all the other dorms that we've toured at other colleges with our son, the CMU dorms as a whole are pretty nice, and the area around the school is a great college town because UPitt is just down the street.

My son (who is not at CMU) filled out a roommate survey and let the school pick. It's worked out OK. They've had some issues, and ds is looking forward to rooming with a friend next year, but he's managed to get along OK.

Best wishes to your son!
Brenda

[Musicmom]

Thank you all for the info and advice! Yes--I found out last week CMU housing is assigned first-come, first-served by date of the enrollment deposit--one of several reasons we kind of pushed the college decision process a bit last week. Supposedly there's no rush on the housing forms themselves, but still... we'll do those asap.

Looks like CMU does have a Facebook page and page for the incoming class, so we will soon start dabbling in Facebook--something we've avoided till now, but I guess it's the wave of the future. :001_huh:

Musicmom (a 1980's CS major who remembers programming with punch cards!:tongue_smilie:)