Communicating With Your Roommate

You may have the opportunity to talk with your roommate before move in day. You may not be able to meet them, but I hope you can talk with them! If your college gives you an email address or phone number for your roommate, don’t just stick it in a junk drawer somewhere- call or email them!

Talking to your roommate before move in day is good because you can coordinate what to bring. You don’t want to end up with multiples of big items. Your dorm room isn’t big enough to have two microwaves, two TVs, and two mini fridges! Coordinate what you already have (for example, one of you may already have the TV) and what you need. Most importantly, don’t leave it to your roommate to buy the remaining items you need just because one of you is bringing an extra large TV. Split up the rest of what you need- one of you can buy a mini fridge, one of you can buy a microwave. That way, everything is fair for both of you- after all, you wouldn’t want your roommate to make you buy all of the big items.

Communicating with your roommate before move in day is also good for relationship building. Get to know each other, find out each other’s hobbies and what music, movies or books you both like. When you talk with your roommate before move in day, it will make things a little less awkward for both of you. This is the person you’re going to live with for almost a year- build good communication from the start!