Admissions Blog Posts
New Roommate? Can’t Wait!
Hey, friends and future Paladins! It’s Logan again!
As we get into the spring semester, you’re all getting ready to narrow down your college decisions. You’re thinking, “where do I want to live for the next 4 years of my life?!” Well, home is not just a physical place–with four walls, some beds, and a bathroom–but also where you live and spend time with those you love. It’s often said that home is wherever your loved ones are! So, instead of talking about Furman’s dorms, bathrooms, and (really comfortable) beds, I’d love to touch on WHO you’ll be sharing your home with: a roommate!
Stay tuned as I talk about (1) Furman’s housing application process (2) the “dating profile” for roommates, (3) steps for reaching out to your new roommate, (4) becoming BFFs (or just buds) with your roommate, & (5) the reasons that FU’s roommate process is pretty great!
Starting the Process
After you decide to be a Paladin (woo!), keep a lookout for your first-year housing application to open. Usually, these applications open around April and close in June. Follow this link for some tentative 2022 housing application dates: https://www.furman.edu/campus-life/housing-residence-life/apply-housing/future-residents/. As you may know, all FU Freshmen live in South Housing (SOHO), and Furman is renovating SOHO this spring! So, look out for some amazing upgrades to your future dorm! Where you’re living is important, but WHO you’ll be living with is sure to be on your mind too! That’s why a major part of the housing application process is filling out your roommate survey…
Random Roommates
So, ALL Furman Freshman are assigned a random roommate! Sounds terrifying, right? Wrong! Your roommate will be someone you don’t know, but you’ll be matched up in an intentional way. As part of your housing application, you’ll fill out what we like to call a “dating profile” for roommates. What does this mean? Well, this is a survey in which you include your likes, dislikes, habits, and preferences. You’ll include both personal preferences (like you favorite music genre) and more important preferences (like how clean you like to be). For example, you’ll say when you like to wake up and go to sleep, if you prefer studying or going to events on weekdays, and if you would be alright having an animal in the room. With these questions and more, Furman wants to ensure that you’re paired up with someone who lives similarly to you; this way, you’ll have an easy time getting along and sharing your new home!
Can be Buds or BFFs!
All that being said, the most important thing is that you live well with your roommate! Most of the times work out really well and it’s easy, but if it’s not, you can definitely talk to the Resident Assistant (RA) on your hall and make the necessary changes. You don’t have to be best friends with your new roommate, but you may be! Sometimes your roommate becomes your built-in best friend and you share memories with them for years to come! So, keep an open mind and know that having a random roommate isn’t always risky…it’s also really great.
Tips on Reaching Out
The best way to turn your new random roommate from stranger to new friend is to reach out to them! Once you know who you’ll be rooming with Freshman year, take the time to follow these steps! This way, you’ll know each other a bit before you start living together…
STEPS:
- Text, DM, or Snapchat them to introduce yourself!
- Start up a conversation and get to know them better. You may find that you have a lot in common, or you may learn something new!
- If you feel comfortable, Facetime/Zoom them or meet up in person! This will allow you to become comfortable being around them.
- Talk to each other for any room-related decisions. Decide what each of you should bring for the room; you may even want to match designs.
- On move-in day, it’ll be chaotic, so help each other get everything organized! You may even plan to move in around the same time and meet each other’s parents!
Don’t Hate on Random Roommates!
You may still be skeptical of the whole “random roommate” thing, but it’s really a lot better than it sounds. There are a few reasons why random roommates are great: (1) college is all about getting out of your comfort zone, and living with a person you’ve never met is a great opportunity to grow, (2) randomization means that every freshman–if they’re from SC or out of state–starts out on the same foot, and (3) this is a GREAT way to make new friends. So, keep an open mind and remind yourself that living with someone you don’t know could turn out to be a great experience for you!
If you have any questions, want to chat about roommates more, or just want to make a new friend, I’ll be here. Reach out!
That’s all for today, friends!
Logan Coffee 🙂
P.S. Thanks to some of my Furman Admissions pals for the amazing pictures!