Roommate anxieties

cristiline · 07-03-2011, 12:00 AM

Is anyone else more scared of being the bad roommate than getting a bad roommate? I stay up really late on the computer, have a ridiculous amount of trouble waking up in the morning, tend to get the room messy, have trouble containing my laughter when on the internet, am not great at being social, etc. Anyone else worried their roommate is going to hate them?

dwaynejohnson · 07-03-2011, 12:10 AM

Scared? No way. See this as an experience to expand your social skills.

MedSchHopeful · 07-03-2011, 12:21 AM

I'm a little worried just because I tend to be a clutter bug.

PRiNCESSMAHiNA · 07-03-2011, 12:27 AM

I was pretty worried about it myself, but it turned out that my roommate was just as big of a pig as me.

iluvpiano · 07-03-2011, 12:36 AM

Quote:

I stay up really late on the computer, have a ridiculous amount of trouble waking up in the morning,

I do those 2 things also, so I'm a little worried I guess.

RoxSox · 07-03-2011, 12:51 AM

I was a crappy roommate. I was a huge night owl, stayed up till 3AM most days, Skyped/called a lot of people really frequently, slept till 12 or 1, came home late super drunk all the time, kept large amounts of alcohol and various drugs in the room, was really messy, etc. I felt bad for my roommate but I wasn't about to be a silent early-riser straightedge constantly-studying clean freak like she was. I tried to minimize the damage but I wanted to have fun and be who I was. It sucked and was awkward but I'm never having a roommate again, thank god.

hi_im_leila · 07-03-2011, 01:13 AM

I had the "bad" roommate last year and it was literally hell. I couldn't stand being in my room because she was extremely messy while I wasn't, and she had no respect for me, my property, or personal space. I'd advise you to at least take your roommate's habits and feelings into consideration, and while you don't have to change who you are as a person during the time you live with them, try to compromise at least a little bit. I would hate for anyone else to have to go through what I did last year with my roommate.

Kcombs · 07-03-2011, 07:02 PM

Gonna be waking up at 5 for ROTC, will feel bad those Monday mornings for my roomate who'll likely be waken up by my alarm of getting dressed.

zchryevns · 07-03-2011, 08:29 PM

I set multiple alarms on my phone with the ringer set to vibrate. Just keep it on your bed and it will most likely wake you up.

fauxmaven · 07-03-2011, 08:34 PM

Maybe your roommate will be just like you -didn't you do a questionnaire about being messy ,sleep habits etc ?

RoxSox · 07-03-2011, 08:45 PM

^Many colleges don't have those questionnaires.

Goodbyehello · 07-03-2011, 09:08 PM

Ya...I'm a little worried (had bad experience with people who like drama way too much...as I do nothing - maybe I'm too passive ]:- and they want to pick a fight)...I think I'm pretty laid back and I don't really care what habits my roommate have or if they don't want to be "friends" with me as long as they aren't huge drama creators...

Kaleid · 07-03-2011, 09:55 PM

If you have the opportunity to get your roommate(s)' contact information before move-in, do your best to meet them, or at least talk to them through a social website, skype, etc. Be up-front and honest about everything: your sleeping habits, your pet peeves, your level of cleanliness, even your musical tastes. Get to an agreement on almost everything (especially visitation) as soon as possible. When you get to school, you will probably be filling out a roommate agreement with all of that information.

This goes without saying, be courteous. Treat them as you would want to be treated.
More importantly, be honest when something they do bothers you. Don't just keep your mouth shut - little things can turn into huge problems later on, and if you don't discuss it early on, you will spend a lot of time unhappy.

drexeler · 07-03-2011, 09:57 PM

There isn't anything wrong with the traits you listed. Most people are probably more paranoid about having a roommate who is disrespectful with their things and their food.

Just bring a desk lamp if you stay up really late and keep the mess on your side of the room

If you have a very neat roommate who also goes to bed early (which is pretty rare), there might be some negotiating, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Jaime2010 · 04-09-2012, 10:02 PM

I have the troubles with my current roomate . i have another roomate who is my best frend. I live off campus with someone I thought was a good friend. We had the same similarities until he found out one of them is homosexual. From this point he treats him less like a person. He also denies that he is doing nothing wrong. He also has a problem with me because he just dosen't really like me at all. He is not happy here at all I know that he needs to move in order to be happy again. How do I tell him to move so we all can be happy and this tension could finally be resolved our lease ends this september and do not want this tension anymore