<p>I tend to agree with your grandmother. Neither I nor any of my family members attended colleges that let you pick your roommate freshman year, so it isn’t something I’m familiar with. I’ve heard stories about kids picking their roommates out in advance and it not working out, big time. I’ve also heard bad things about schools where everyone clings to their HS friends, goes home on the wekends, and so forth. To me, a significant part of the college experience is meeting different people from different backgrounds from different places. Generally, I would think that the best thing would be to have a roommate whose general habits match yours in terms of lights out, messiness, etc, and to have low expectations. Treat it like a business relationship, don’t expect the person to be your BFF. Having an old friend in the dorm or on the floor might be nice.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you sound as if you are aware of the pitfalls and are prepared to deal with them. Just make sure that the two of you talk things over and make an agreement about things like guests, lights out, and so on before committing. You might find out that although you like each other and want to hang out, you don’t really want to live together.</p>
<p>You also need to be more respectful of your grandmother.</p>