Question for applying for a random roommate at ISU next year. Is there a page or something of that nature to find other future freshman who are also going random that you can get to know instead of just going completely random? My buddy is going to Iowa and they have something similar.. Thanks in advance!
Roommate Q
- Thread starter Bu4ISU
- Start date
Not that I know of. May be a current student who knows someone looking though around here, or has roomie going on co-op or study abroad. Where do you want to live?
Random roommate sucks. Get a buddy to room with you. Parents will say "friends shouldn't room with friends because it'll ruin the friendship," but really, for guys, it's fine. It's girls that **** everything up.
My first semester was the worst. My roommate snored, smelled, farted when I had friends over, and slept from 6 AM - 6 PM, and played games with his Japanese e-friends from 6PM - 6 AM (yes, those times are correct.) He was kicked out because he failed every class. The next semester, I got a buddy from hs to room with me. I learned a lot about him but we only got to be better friends, and I actually was able to get 10x more social with a roommate that wasn't a freak.
Ask Rabbuk or Whatcha.
My first semester was the worst. My roommate snored, smelled, farted when I had friends over, and slept from 6 AM - 6 PM, and played games with his Japanese e-friends from 6PM - 6 AM (yes, those times are correct.) He was kicked out because he failed every class. The next semester, I got a buddy from hs to room with me. I learned a lot about him but we only got to be better friends, and I actually was able to get 10x more social with a roommate that wasn't a freak.
Ask Rabbuk or Whatcha.
I'd say go random Roomate and live with it. We had 4 of my closest friends and I also sign up for MWL. We each got put within 1 floor of each other randomly.
We still hung out all the time, but our group emerged because we all enjoyed our roommates and their sets of friends. It's nice to break out your freshman year.
Then went on to live with those 4 guys from my HS and one of our roommates from Freshman year for 2 years.
We still hung out all the time, but our group emerged because we all enjoyed our roommates and their sets of friends. It's nice to break out your freshman year.
Then went on to live with those 4 guys from my HS and one of our roommates from Freshman year for 2 years.
Or have it go the other way like me....had my best friend from hs room with me in larch my freshman year. I wasnt invited to his wedding and vice versa.... :twitcy:
I did random roommate and ended up with an antisocial guy that was afraid to say two words to me but would use my stuff whenever I left the room.
A friend of mine did random roommate and ended up living with the same guy all four years of college, eventually having him be the best man at his wedding.
So it can go either way. I would probably try it out and see how it goes. The last thing you want to do early in your freshman year is be that guy that spends all his time hanging out with people he knows from high school. Everyone else on your dorm floor will notice and stop inviting you to things because they'll assume your social circle is already set.
A friend of mine did random roommate and ended up living with the same guy all four years of college, eventually having him be the best man at his wedding.
So it can go either way. I would probably try it out and see how it goes. The last thing you want to do early in your freshman year is be that guy that spends all his time hanging out with people he knows from high school. Everyone else on your dorm floor will notice and stop inviting you to things because they'll assume your social circle is already set.
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Rooming with a HS friend can be a mistake. It really depends on the personalities involved. I tried it. We stuck it out for a year & a half, but the break up was brutal, and we didn't speak for nearly 30 years. That's not as bad as it sounds...she moved to another dorm, was in a different major, and I had a boyfriend who happened to live in a city near ours that I spent most of my time with on break. We didn't really see each other until our 30 year hs reunion.
I strongly advised my son to go random when he went to UNI. He did, sort of. They were over-booked on dorms, and he & his HS buddy had a third guy added to their room. My son has the friendly manner of a black lab, and his buddy was more like a Jack Russell terrier (sizes are also accurate). The buddy knew every button to push to force confrontations. He finally pledged to a house & moved out. I don't think my son has had much contact with him since. Son & random roommate got along great, but stopped being roomies the next year when my son became an RA.
Bottom line...it's not a "girls can't, guys can" sort of thing. It's a "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't" sort of thing. However, going the random route gets you more into the college mode, and out of your high school habits. Part of college is expanding your horizons...and your friendships. If you spend all your time hanging with your high school friends, you can end up limiting yourself.
I strongly advised my son to go random when he went to UNI. He did, sort of. They were over-booked on dorms, and he & his HS buddy had a third guy added to their room. My son has the friendly manner of a black lab, and his buddy was more like a Jack Russell terrier (sizes are also accurate). The buddy knew every button to push to force confrontations. He finally pledged to a house & moved out. I don't think my son has had much contact with him since. Son & random roommate got along great, but stopped being roomies the next year when my son became an RA.
Bottom line...it's not a "girls can't, guys can" sort of thing. It's a "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't" sort of thing. However, going the random route gets you more into the college mode, and out of your high school habits. Part of college is expanding your horizons...and your friendships. If you spend all your time hanging with your high school friends, you can end up limiting yourself.
So much of this college roommates thing is a crapshoot, because it totally depends on the 2 people in the same room, but phuckit, I'll throw out my experience as well.
I kind of went middle ground between random/high school friend. I roomed with a guy from my high school that I wasn't really friends with, but was pretty sure I could get along with (He kind of had the same view of me). So, I had some assurances that I wouldn't end up with a sloth or freak, but I also didn't have the preconceived notion that we'd be *besties*. We also had different things going on, I worked foodservice (and worked my whole time in school), met a lot of people there (including my wife), he...well, hell I don't know what he did, other than he didn't have to work. On weekends we didn't have something going on with other people, we'd hang out or go somewhere, and we'd help each other if needed, but it was kind of "get thru this transition year and see what happens."
We hadn't really gotten any closer as friends, so my second year I roomed with someone I became friends with and near other friends that I made that first year, ended up moving into a house with some of them later on. We kind of lost touch after that, but not any ill-feelings, the relationship really kind of just completed it's purpose. Maybe I should get on facebook and look him up or something...nah...
I kind of went middle ground between random/high school friend. I roomed with a guy from my high school that I wasn't really friends with, but was pretty sure I could get along with (He kind of had the same view of me). So, I had some assurances that I wouldn't end up with a sloth or freak, but I also didn't have the preconceived notion that we'd be *besties*. We also had different things going on, I worked foodservice (and worked my whole time in school), met a lot of people there (including my wife), he...well, hell I don't know what he did, other than he didn't have to work. On weekends we didn't have something going on with other people, we'd hang out or go somewhere, and we'd help each other if needed, but it was kind of "get thru this transition year and see what happens."
We hadn't really gotten any closer as friends, so my second year I roomed with someone I became friends with and near other friends that I made that first year, ended up moving into a house with some of them later on. We kind of lost touch after that, but not any ill-feelings, the relationship really kind of just completed it's purpose. Maybe I should get on facebook and look him up or something...nah...
Did the whole random roommate thing. Tried to be friends but just couldn't.
First night we were walking around and 1 ambulance and 1 police car drove by and he said and I quote "I don't know if I can handle the big city of Ames, Iowa." Yea... it just went downhill from there. I became friends with everyone on my floor and he moved out at the end of the semester and I had the room to myself.
First night we were walking around and 1 ambulance and 1 police car drove by and he said and I quote "I don't know if I can handle the big city of Ames, Iowa." Yea... it just went downhill from there. I became friends with everyone on my floor and he moved out at the end of the semester and I had the room to myself.
Random ones can work. I was matched with random one 17 years ago (god we're old). And we are good friends today. We've taken trips to Italy, Ireland, and France. We visit every couple of months. She'll be in my wedding someday.
We lived together for 4 yrs in college....3 in dorms. And still came out friends.
We lived together for 4 yrs in college....3 in dorms. And still came out friends.
Add me in the it's a crapshoot crowd. First semester I had a random that was not extremely social and moved into an empty room a few weeks in. I had the room to myself for the rest of the semester (which was awesome). Spring semester I was assigned a brand new Chinese student. It was frustrating at times but overall a great experience.
Sophomore year I moved to one of the suite style with another random to be closer to my friends on that side of campus and to get away from the Larch hell hole. Had no issues and got along but the whole floor stayed from the previous year. They had their stuff and I had mine.
Junior year I lived with some friends at Freddy and had the most issues of anything. Moved in and found out my one good buddy was OCD about everything being clean all the time. The guy I shared a room with barely went to class and worked nights at a hotel so he was great but our schedules didn't match up. Both of those guys moved out at the end of the semester and eventually one of the other guys good friends moved in but into my room...not his friend. We got along but the guy that I knew was always locked in his room with the neighbor girl and the new guy stayed up all night doing God knows what and was just your typical awkward engingeer.
Senior year I got in with some great friends and it was the best year ever.
Long story short you never know how it will turn out.
Sophomore year I moved to one of the suite style with another random to be closer to my friends on that side of campus and to get away from the Larch hell hole. Had no issues and got along but the whole floor stayed from the previous year. They had their stuff and I had mine.
Junior year I lived with some friends at Freddy and had the most issues of anything. Moved in and found out my one good buddy was OCD about everything being clean all the time. The guy I shared a room with barely went to class and worked nights at a hotel so he was great but our schedules didn't match up. Both of those guys moved out at the end of the semester and eventually one of the other guys good friends moved in but into my room...not his friend. We got along but the guy that I knew was always locked in his room with the neighbor girl and the new guy stayed up all night doing God knows what and was just your typical awkward engingeer.
Senior year I got in with some great friends and it was the best year ever.
Long story short you never know how it will turn out.
Oh boy, the random roommate deal. I had random roommates fresh/soph year when I was in Friley and both actually moved to their sorority in the spring semester. Both were very nice girls and I ended up with a room to myself. Husband lived in Friley for like 2.5 years and the 1st year guy was a WoW addict and stored drugs in his computer tower, so that was weird. Second year guy was very nice and if my husband had tried to be a little more social, I think they would have been good friends.
The half semester guy was weird as ****. He was an international student and when he moved in, he just threw a mattress on the floor and slept on it. No sheets, just a blanket. He'd sing along to Korean pop music while we were there (little odd) and then **** got really weird when he started stealing my husband's socks out of his dresser to wear to the gym and then throw them on the floor. When my husband caught on and was like "dude, wtf", the guy denied it and said someone must be breaking in, stealing the socks, and then returning to throw them on the floor. But this mysterious burglar didn't seem to care about this guy's laptop that was just sitting there for the taking on the mattress. Right.
So, long story short, it's a crapshoot. What you can do once you see you've been assigned a roommate is find them on FB, or twitter or whatever the hell you use these days and introduce yourself and start talking about who would like to bring what. That gives you a couple months to kind of get to know them and hopefully establish a good relationship.
The half semester guy was weird as ****. He was an international student and when he moved in, he just threw a mattress on the floor and slept on it. No sheets, just a blanket. He'd sing along to Korean pop music while we were there (little odd) and then **** got really weird when he started stealing my husband's socks out of his dresser to wear to the gym and then throw them on the floor. When my husband caught on and was like "dude, wtf", the guy denied it and said someone must be breaking in, stealing the socks, and then returning to throw them on the floor. But this mysterious burglar didn't seem to care about this guy's laptop that was just sitting there for the taking on the mattress. Right.
So, long story short, it's a crapshoot. What you can do once you see you've been assigned a roommate is find them on FB, or twitter or whatever the hell you use these days and introduce yourself and start talking about who would like to bring what. That gives you a couple months to kind of get to know them and hopefully establish a good relationship.
wow, where was this guy from?! I came from a farm 10 miles from a town of 2000 people and I don't think I ever once thought of Ames as a big city!
