As a first year college student, I have gone from my own room with a king bed and my own bathroom, to having to share my room and bathroom with all the girls on the floor. I thought I would make my story this week about what I learned and how you can increase the odds you and your roommate get along and enjoy each other’s company. So here are some tips of what to do and what not to do to make your dorm life fabulous!

First off, have you and your roommate write down your schedule, pet peeves and agree on realistic expectations. I suggest you complete this within the first two weeks of arriving. Then once both you and your roommate are done, talk and be prepared to COMPROMISE. Most likely you and your roommate will have different definitions of what quiet is, what hours of the night quiet hours should be and even how often and/or what clean means. Choose up to three non-negotiable and then see what you and your roommate can agree too. So for me and my roommate one of my non-negotiables was the room must be quiet by 10:30, I am a morning person not a night owl. However, my roommate was used to going to bed at 11 or sometimes even mid night. So I suggested, “What if you call your boyfriend in the study lounge and just make sure you are quiet when you come in. I promise I will text you and tell you when I get into bed so you know, okay?”

She agreed, and things are going great! In return, I obviously get up way earlier than she does, so I promised I would keep the lights out until I came back from the shower. She and I have also had weekly meetings to talk about everything from personal problems and just needed someone to listen, to things that we would appreciate if we could change or adjust. That is also key, if your roommate is coming to you asking you if you can change something, it most likely took a lot of guts for her to ask, so try to be respectful and do it. If you can’t or feel her request is unfair tell her and then together you can brainstorm for another solution.