A good roommate can be extremely hard to find.
Like shopping for shoes, it can be hard to find the perfect fit. It’s not as simple as finding someone whose personality matches yours, there are different budgets, neighborhood preferences and the issue of pets to consider.
As a way to solve this dilemma, some college apartment complexes offer something called roommate matching.
To do this, you would fill out a small form that asks about 5-10 generic questions and the complex would then match you with someone they deem similar.
This may seem like the perfect solution. Sort of a Match.com for living arrangements. But don’t forget that like how not every first date ends with marriage, not even roommate match will end in friendship.
Don’t get me wrong, complexes, for the most part, do an amazing job in finding people who share your same level of cleanliness and focus but they can also make mistakes. Keep in mind that people can lie when they fill out the roommate matching form.
A smoker may not want to share with the complex that they smoke, so if even if you specially ask for someone who doesn’t smoke it can happen.
The solution to this is to have an open mind and be upfront. College is a great time to utilize roommate matching because it allows you meet a ton of new people.
Sure, they may not be your best friend but there is no such thing as having too many friends. Being understanding of one another can go a long way, you shouldn’t limit yourself to only a select group of people.
Who knows, that random roommate could end up being your best friend?
At the end of the day, the idea of roommate matching isn’t too good to be true because even with the worst roommate you still learn life skills.
If you have any advice on maneuvering random roommates or the roommate matching process be sure to share it in the comment section below!
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