How to find a roommate at SDSU
How do you find a roommate?
How to get along with a roommate you don’t know?
SDSU junior Rachel answers all your questions!
What city are you from?
I am from San Ramon, in the Bay Area.
How did you feel coming into college? Anxious? Excited?
I was beyond anxious going into college, with a smidge of excitement. I wasn’t struggling with the idea of being away from home or family for an extended period of time, but more of whether I would belong and if I would be capable of the academic workload. In time, I realized that I had no reason to be so apprehensive because I was surrounded by people who were going through the same internal struggles and who could relate to how I was feeling. As for expectations of having a roommate, I tried not to have any (other than her being a decent human being) since I didn’t want to end up disappointed if the reality of things differed drastically from my hopes. Not to say it’s bad to have certain expectations, but just have an open mind.
How was it like transitioning to having a roommate?
As someone with a sibling, I found that having a roommate was similar to that in the sense that we had our designated bathroom/storage spaces and assigned chores. It also helped that my roommate and I were a good fit (ex. similar sleep schedule, opposite shower times, etc.), so we didn’t really run into many problems. There were certain things that we had to learn to be accommodating about, like the temperature of the room, which lights were on if the other person was heading to bed, and being as quiet as possible in the morning if the other person was still sleeping. But overall, it wasn’t too difficult of a transition from having a room all to myself to living with a roommate.
Any advice for living with random roommates?
My advice would be to do your best to take control of the situation as much as you can and not go into it blind. In other words, use the resources that you are provided to reach out to a few people, determine who (if anyone) seems compatible, and request that they be your roommate rather than allowing the system to randomly pair you with a complete stranger. Personally, I posted a profile on the SDSU Housing Portal with a brief description of myself before scouring through the profiles that other people posted and contacting those who seemed similar to me in terms of interests, personality, and habits (ex. sleep schedule, preferred study environment, etc.). Aside from the Housing Portal, social media is another great resource to find and reach out to people. While this doesn’t guarantee a perfect roommate match, it does lessen the chances of potential conflict due to clashing personalities or lifestyles. When it comes to the actual living-with-a-roommate part, I’d say communication is key and to be considerate, respectful, and willing to compromise if need be.
How was your freshman room experience? Did you connect well? What happened when you didn’t connect?
I can only speak from my personal experience, but I found it surprisingly easy to live with someone who I had only texted (and video chatted, once) prior. I think it made a huge difference that we spent some time texting and sharing about our lives, preferences, and such before requesting one another as roommates. It also helped that we found activities to do or places to go together to build our relationship once we arrived at SDSU, especially during those first few weeks as roommates. In spending time with and ensuring that we felt comfortable around each other, I felt as if it was easier to speak to one another whenever there was an issue or accommodation to be made. Luckily, my roommate and I got along pretty well, so we never really encountered any problems. I guess I’d just suggest establishing a strong line of communication early on so that when problems do arise, it can be dealt with out in the open rather than swept under the rug until resentment begins to grow.
Any advice about how to meet other people?
First, I’d recommend walking around the floor during move-in day, see if anyone has their door open, and start a conversation (or just keep your door open and hope someone stops by)一complement their room, ask if they want to go to Aztec Nights, etc. Also, while I didn’t necessarily participate in them, the RA’s constantly held activities (ex. game night, movie night, workshops, etc.) throughout the year that provided residents the opportunity to meet other people in the building. I will say, although it’s nice to have friends that live on your floor, don’t feel that you need to be friends with every single person. It’s okay to have only a few connections since there are so many other ways to meet people on campus who might not live on your floor or even your building.