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Back in the day, when we rolled into college orientation we got a slip of paper with our roommate's name on it -- and that sealed the fate of our dormitory life for the remainder of the year. Now, according to The New York Times, services like URoomSurf.com match potential roomies up based on everything from their taste in music to their eating habits. But Anna at Jezebel argues that living with someone who's nothing like you is a "rite of passage ... that introduces students to the realities of the wider world."
Tell us: Do you think college freshmen should be able to pick their own roommates? Or is living with a random person something everyone should experience?
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Tuesday 24 August
By Jane
My roommate freshman year and I had nothing in common and didn't get along. We were polite in the room, but never friends. After the year was over, she unfriended me on Facebook and never acknowledged my presence even when we passed each other on campus. Living with such a cold-hearted stranger for a year was pretty awful, and I can't say the experience taught me anything. I did learn about people who were different from me who lived in other rooms on my hall or who were in my classes - I just didn't need a complete stranger in my room. I wish I had been able to choose my roommate.
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Tuesday 24 August
By Meg
I wish I got to, because I got shacked up with the worst roommate ever. Bad enough I left the dorms after a semester. There was like a little survey about personal habits and the school didn't even listen to it on that (for example, I said I was a bit of a night owl, I got someone who got up early and listened to country music really loud), so I think it would be a good thing.
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Wednesday 25 August
By m
i’ve had such bad experiences with 3 different sets of bad roommates. i even transferred schools. and then missed out on making freinds at the new school. im so glad usurf is for peopel out there now. i dont think i can use it - msot people that are starting now are incoming college freshmen but maybe for grad school in 2 years it will catch on!
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Wednesday 25 August
By A.
I was paired up randomly with a roommate my freshman year, and by the end of the year she was like the sister i never had. If we hadn't of been roommates, we probably would have never been friends, her being a pink loving, girly girl athlete, and me being an anti-social rocker girl. I guess its just the luck of the draw, but having a random roommate can expose you to people you never thought you'd have anything in common with and you can come out of the experience with a good friend
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