By Mary Macrae ‘14

The process of finding a college roommate has changed throughout the years with growing technology. With the invention of Facebook, students are able to pick their roommates through college groups.

In these groups, students are able to browse through people’s profiles and determine whether they think they would be compatible with one another. This method of deciding roommates though social media sites is a very popular trend this year among new college students. “For finding my college roommate I used the group on Facebook because I wanted to live with someone with my same values and interests. I think if you have a Facebook you should at least browse through the people because it’s a really great way to get to meet and get to know someone. Also, I found potential roommates fairly quickly and I knew it was a safe way to do so,” said senior Ashley Magliaro.

Within the Facebook groups students can post statuses about themselves, including where they live, what their major is and what they would like in a roommate. Then, other students can message these students if they are potentially interested in rooming with them. After messaging them, students can then chat with them and see if they would be compatible and potentially arrange to meet each other in person.

However, even with this new Facebook method, there are still some students who decide to use a survey given by the college or just go random instead. With this survey method, students fill out questions about themselves and what they would like in a roommate. This survey is typically provided by the college.

“I wanted to use the survey for determining my roommate because it had questions on it that I would have never thought to ask in a potential roommate,” said senior Jenna Swink. “It asked whether you like going to sleep with the light on or off and I would have never thought to ask that to someone. Also, I thought that the college and survey would do a better job than me with deciding who my roommate should be because colleges want all their incoming students to feel comfortable and at home.”

This method is not as risky compared to the last method of seeking out a college roommate which is simply by going random.

While filling out all the forms before going to a college, students are able to check a box to receive a random roommate. This way is not as widely used as the other two ways because of the unpredictability it poses.  However, there are still some students that use it.

“I’m going to go random with finding a roommate because if I use a Facebook group or a survey it would be my fault if I decide or get a roommate that I didn’t like. However, if I go random then it wouldn’t be my fault. Also, I think by going random I’ll have the opportunity to interact with someone that I would have never had the opportunity to interact with before if I had decided to use the survey or go random,” said senior Sara Zarny.

These three different methods vary in the amount of control students are given when deciding who their college roommate is. “Whichever way you decide it’ll work out in the end. It all just depends on how comfortable you are with each one and whichever you feel is best for you and your decision-making process,” said Magliaro.