Greetings Readers,
With roommate matching coming up, I am going to give some tips on how to find a roommate. I am also going to share how I met my roommate and how we decided to live together. However, before I begin, I am going to give you a tip that I wish someone had told me. APPLY FOR HOUSING EARLY! I applied on the last day that the school allowed me to, and got a very late number for choosing my housing. My roommate got a late number as well, so we ended up in Mayflower. I personally would’ve preferred another dorm, so I wish I had applied earlier.
Finding your future Roommate:
There are two main ways to find a roommate.
- You can go random. Most of my guy friends went random, and almost everyone I know says it worked out for them. As I mentioned, I live in Mayflower, where it is Suite Style. I had no idea who my Suitemates were until I arrived on campus. They were both super nice, and everything worked out. I am not as close with them as my roommates, but I am happy that I am acquainted with them.
- Find a roommate through the Roommate page on MyUI. This is what I chose to do. On the Roommate portal page, there is a way to read people’s bios and a short questionnaire that they filled out. Then, if you like their bio and think you want to get to know them better, you can reach out to them through socials. (Or if you don’t have social media, their emails are listed as well.) Below is a small example of my bio, just so you can see what I shared with people.
Hey! My name is Savannah, and I’m from Evergreen, Colorado. I’m 100% committed to the University of Iowa! I plan on majoring in Business Analytics & Information Systems, and I am Pre-Law as well. I love to hike, ski, shop, read, go to Church, and travel! I love both a night out and a night in! I’m definitely looking for new friends and a roommate, so feel free to reach out!
(I included ways to contact me as well, but for my own privacy reasons, I won’t be adding them to this blog.)
Questions to ask your future Roommate:
When reaching out to someone, it’s important to say who you are and that you are looking for a roommate right away. I also recommend sharing a little about yourself. When I DM’ed people, I shared that I was committed to the school and that I was looking for a roommate. I reached out to my roommate right after she posted, and she texted back right away that she wanted to get to know me better, too. We talked about our hobbies and where we were from at first. I recommend keeping the questions low-key at first and making sure not to ask any personal questions. My future roommate and I talked for around 2 weeks before she asked me if I wanted to officially be her roommate. I said yes, obviously because at this point, I felt comfortable being her roommate as well. My second biggest piece of advice is only do what feels right and comfortable for you! Since you have to live in this dorm for the whole year, make sure that you are doing things to make yourself feel comfortable.
Best of luck, future Hawks.
Until Next Time,
Savannah
