As the school year starts to approach, so does moving in. It can be an exciting time as you're moving away from home for the first time.

It can also be scary and daunting if you don't know who your roommate is. I mean, why do colleges think it's a good idea to pair people who don't know each other to live together?

However, it doesn't have to be scary and can even be a great way to make a new friend. Here are some tips to make your roommate experience the best it can be.

1. Set Boundaries

It's better to set boundaries early on to avoid any problems later. Setting boundaries allows mutual respect for one another. It lets each other know what you are and aren't comfortable with.

During my freshman year, my roommate and I established that we would let each other know if someone was coming over into a room to stay the night at least a day in advance.

This really helped because neither of us had to awkwardly tell the other that we weren't comfortable with someone being in the room without notice.

2. Talk Beforehand

Try to talk and get to know each other before you move in together. This makes things less awkward when you meet in person for the first time.

You can also coordinate the way you want to decorate your room together. And through this, you can hopefully become friends!

3. Realize You May Not Be Best Friends

Not everyone can be friends nor do their personalities mesh well together, and that's okay. You don't have to be best friends or even friends. You just need to establish respect for one another to avoid any arguments or conflicts.

Forcing a friendship just makes things more awkward than living together needs to be. I had another random roommate my sophomore year and we tried to hang out a few times as friends but it wasn't meant to be.

But we still got along peacefully and never had any issues with one another.