<p>You can request or not request a roommate. Some people requested people they met at Spring Open Campus to be their roommates; I would caution against this – everyone I know ended up not getting along well afterwards. I think the random selection is fine; everyone comes in with that same sense of uncertainty, and you learn to get along with different kinds of people. If it doesn’t work out, you can switch rooms/ roommates; residential life staff are really good about accommodating for this, especially in your first year.</p>
<p>I am still great friends with my first year roommate (and my sophomore year roommate too!). Things worked out very well for me in those respects :)</p>