Finding a Roommate

[kar9291]

So does anyone have any advice about finding a roommate? (preferably one that's a graduate student, fairly normal.) I know certain universities have roommate matching programs, but I was wondering if anyone knew about any other resources. Any advice about roommate searching would be greatly appreciated!!

[juilletmercredi]

Before I had an apartment, I was waitlisted for campus-housing. The housing office forwarded this list to everyone else on the list, and one of the other women on the list e-mailed all of the women. I was the first to e-mail her back, and so we chatted and decided to room together. We lived together for two years, and we're still friends.

She finished her MPH program and I wanted to keep my apartment, so I listed it on Craigslist. A lot of the people I interviewed were also students at my school or were students at other schools in my university, and I ended up living with another MPH student for a year. We're still friends, too.

So contact your school's office to see if they offer some sort of list of students also looking for housing, and try CL.

[far_to_go]

I've found that getting roommates can be a bit of a crapshoot- I've had a few random-stranger situations that turned out great, a couple of you-think-you-know-a-person situations that didn't turn out so great, and a few in between.

In my department, returning students often regard incoming students as a pool of prospective roommates and will send e-mails to new students with housing offers. You might take the opposite approach and e-mail students you know who are already in the program to ask if they or anyone they know are looking for a roommate. There are pros and cons to living with somebody in the same program, but for most people it seems to work out well as long as their preferences and habits aren't too divergent (regarding noise, cleanliness, etc).

Do, of course, make every effort to interview/meet in person every prospective roommate. Don't be shy about asking for references from previous roommates/landlords.

[aidamisky]

I'm trying to figure this out too... I was thinking about possibly living alone for my first year, and then looking for a roommate the second year, when I will actually know people at the university. I do prefer to have a roommate, but I'd also like to have some idea of their personality first.

[abc123xtc]

I'm trying to figure this out too... I was thinking about possibly living alone for my first year, and then looking for a roommate the second year, when I will actually know people at the university. I do prefer to have a roommate, but I'd also like to have some idea of their personality first.

I feel the same way. However, since I can't have my own cats, I'm REALLY hoping to find a roommate that has one (this would not be a deciding factor, but it would help). Also, the only way I could afford to live alone is through on-campus housing (my university offers studio apartments that are cheaper than studio apartments in the surrounding area). I would love to live alone, but I also do not want to live on campus. I'm so nervous about finding a roommate randomly! The first, and only, time I did this wasn't spectacular....

[rising_star]

I've found roommates in various ways: the local alternative weekly newspaper's classifed ads; roommates.com (back when it was free); and Craig's List. Each had its pros and cons but they all worked out.