It's time for housing registration, you’re finally done with your
1. Freshman Roomate
"I chose to live with my freshman roommate because our living situation has been perfect for three years now and I got really lucky to be assigned her as a freshman. We are now best friends and will most likely live together again next year in an apartment."
– Female, Junior, Palladium
2. Best Friend
"I've lived with my 'best friend' twice (two different best friends). The first time, I realized that I didn't know her as well as I thought I did. She's weirdly domestic with her long-time boyfriend, and it was like having a third roommate. They cooked together, slept together, and spent all their time at our place even though her boyfriend lived the floor above us. The worst part about it was never feeling like I had my own space, or could relax in my own home. Also, as time passed, I realized our politics and our personalities were very different. She's really conservative, I'm really liberal. She's very talkative at home; I tend to be very quiet. If I hadn't been going abroad the following semester, I would have done bed-for-bed.
"The second time? It's been great. My current roommate is someone who I definitely knew a lot better than the first girl at the start of the year. We get along really well and we're both incredibly relaxed. If we're both home and one of us doesn't feel like talking, we don't talk. At the same time, we have no problem climbing onto each other's beds and watching a movie together. Her friends are also my friends, so I don't mind having them over, because I can be just as relaxed with them as I am with her. We're both laid back and pretty quiet. We're in the same school studying similar things at NYU (we had three classes together last semester), so we have the same course load. We're so comfortable with each other that it works really well.
"My advice is that if you're gonna room with a friend, know what you need from a roommate. Someone can be your friend but be terrible to live with. For me, what worked best was someone who I was already really comfortable with, who had a similar personality and who was studying the same thing as I was. Overall, just make sure you know the person REALLY well before you decide to live with them."
– Female, Junior, Palladium/Senior House
3. Friend
"This year I decided to live with a friend from Stern. We were both going to go random in Alumni, but then we found out we were both looking for the same [living] situation, so we decided to room together in Alumni. So far it’s going really great!"
– Female, Sophomore, Alumni Hall
"In my freshman year, I was matched with someone who I happened to get along with really well. We studied outside of the room for the most part, but were loud and talkative with each other and friends. Even though we didn't have a ton of common interests and studied different things, we played video games with each other, went out to places like the movies pretty often, and usually slept in pretty late. We became close and also began to just talk about various things in our lives that we wouldn't discuss with many other people. We got cool gadgets and lights to deck out our room.
"Our other two suitemates were a bit more introverted though, and kept to themselves for the most part. Their housing preferences were different than ours too for the following year, so I decided to room with my current roommate since it happened to work out. We also decided to room with two new people, who were friends of ours."
– Male, Junior, Palladium
"I'm living with two of friends this year in a triple in Broome. I was worried at first because my two roommates didn't know each other, they're just mutual friends of mine, but they've been getting along nicely so far. We all share a triple, which is annoying sometimes, but also kind of pushed all of us to bond. Although I love my friends, it's hard sometimes when I see them all day on campus at classes and extracurriculars, and then again at home. We just get on each others' nerves! So it's important to live with friends who you know you won't really get tired of."
– Female, Junior, Broome Street
"This semester I'm living with a friend of mine who I've known for about a year. We each have our own rooms, but we share a kitchen and bathroom. We've gotten along really well so far, but I think a lot of that stems from the fact that we're both pretty clean and don't share a room - so we each have our space. Living together has definitely made us better friends!"
– Male, Sophomore, Alumni Hall
4. Acquaintance
“This year I decided to live with an acquaintance. My plan initially was to room with a random, but she suggested we live together and I thought, why not? My living situation now is weird — I realized I didn’t know her at all before living with her. Our personalities clash a lot (she’s incredibly talkative, I’m not) and we don’t have that many similar interests. But we make it work and we’ve definitely gotten to be closer friends”
– Female, Sophomore, Carlyle Court
"I went into this year’s housing being best friends with one of my roommates and barely knowing the other five, except that we were all in the same sorority. Now I can say I’ve made four best friends that I hope will be in my life forever. They are my therapists, turn up partners, and “my people” (Greyʻs reference). At first, I was nervous and wasn’t sure what living in housing, especially as a Senior, only knowing one out of six of my roommates, was going to be like. Now, it is one of the best and most rewarding experiences of my life and something I am so happy my mom pushed me to do."
– Female, Senior, Lafayette Special Interest Housing
"This year I decided to live with a somewhat close acquaintance. We were actually suitemates last year, so I thought it’d be a nice opportunity to strengthen our friendship. The reason I’m living with him today is most certainly not because the housing deadline completely went over my head, and forced me to find a last minute roomie…
In the end, it was nice living together for the first few months, but unfortunately due to personality differences I don't have to think twice about ever getting a place with “xyz” again. Living with a roommate is a blessing or a curse, as one’s true self lives behind closed doors. What you see is not always what you get when it comes to your roommate, but its up to you to make or break that bond."
– Male, Sophomore, Gramercy Green
5. Random
"Deciding to live with a 'random roommate' is really a hit or miss type of game. You either hit and get someone who makes your dorming experience survivable, or you miss and get the roommate of your worst nightmare. I’ve always decided to go with “random” because there’s always the possibility of establishing new relationships with someone you’ve never met– who knows you could make a new best friend. I’ve thought about dorming with friends but I didn’t want to deal with the drama of us hating each other by the end of the semester since we’d be together basically 24/7. Living with a friend can be fun in the beginning, but I assure you there is always room for disagreements and awkward frenemy tensions. Regardless of who you decide to room with, you figure out a way to make it work, complete stranger or not."
– Female, Sophomore, Gramercy Green
"This year I had a unique situation first semester I got to live with my best friend / partner in crime. However when spring rolled around, she left me for study abroad. For the first time I had to anticipate living with a complete stranger. Though it took a while to warm up she too became a great friend and someone I can confide in. I guess I've just been really lucky with roommates!"
– Female, Sophomore, Palladium
My advice? Start with what's best for you. Sometimes it's not where you live, but who you live with. Think about the pros and cons about every living situation and what it is you want out of your living situation. Living with your best friends can mean 24/7 sleepovers, but can also limit your friendships outside of your suite. Living with a random roommate could mean a private conversation free living space, but might involve a whole new level of awkwardness with a new roommate. Regardless of any living situation, you'll create some incredible memories and learn a few things along the way. And hey, if your roommates aren't everything you hoped they'd be, bed-for-bed is a mighty fine option.
