Roommates are an integral part of your college experience.
Living with a stranger can bring new challenges and exciting experiences that make campus life fun.
You must adapt to changes like using the same bathroom, sleeping in the same room, sharing a TV, and cooking together.
Making everyone’s experience fun, productive, and safe will require patience and compromises.
If you find yourself in shared college rooms or apartments, set yourself up for a successful living situation with roommates by following these ten tips for getting along.
1. Set clear expectations from the beginning and follow them
It may sound odd or unnecessary, but after a month, you’ll probably understand why you need a roommate agreement.
Even if you end up being BFFs, disagreements are inevitable. Setting house rules during a disagreement is the worst time to do it.
You’ll need to discuss and agree on alarm rules, meal sharing, cleaning, appropriate noise levels, guest policy, and other preferences.
The agreement doesn’t have to be long or complicated. All you need is a few agreeable standards to minimize conflict.
2. Beware of alarms
It’s not fair to snooze your alarm several times when someone sleeps a few feet away from you. So don’t snooze your alarm more than once.
Find a strategy or system that helps you to wake up easily, such as drinking lots of water.
Also, try to set the ringer to a medium or low level, and don’t set more than two alarms. The more you can wake up to the vibration of your Apple watch, the better.
3. Clean after yourself
Living with a messy roommate can easily cause frustration and disagreements.
It’s understandable when things happen, such as during finals, when you may not have time to keep it extra tidy.
Still, if you’re always leaving the room cluttered with dirty clothes, books, bedding, or overflowing trash, it will be a major source of conflict.
Remember, you need to be on your best behavior and play your part. Creating a cleaning schedule can also help.
4. Ask before bringing guests over
Most college dorm rooms or apartments need more room for hosting visitors.
So it’s unfair to bring people over, especially when they overstay or come frequently. To ensure you get along with your roommates:
- Consult them before bringing people over.
- Tell them how many guests will be coming and how late they will stay.
- Make sure your guests respect the house rules.Â
5. Communicate openly and respectfully
90% of conflicts happen due to poor communication. To get along with your roommate, communicate openly and honestly with each other.
Letting them know your boundaries and opinions about their behavior will be good for your relationship.
Also, speak about any unusual events in your life so that they are respectful and understanding of your situation.
For example, telling them when you have a major test the next day can make them extra quiet as you do a lengthy study night.
6. Find a good place to study outside the dorm
You’ll probably have different workloads and study habits with your roommates.
If you’re busy with a complex course, finding a quiet and comfortable space in the lobby or library where you can do those long homework assignments without distractions is better.
However, if you’re slumped with many assignments, have a tight deadline, or are too tired from juggling multiple obligations to concentrate, pay for homework to get timely high-quality assistance from experts.
This way, you’re less stressed and anxious, factors that can make you irritable and predisposed to conflict.
7. Be friendly without expecting to be best friends
To keep a good relationship with college roommates, don’t go into the relationship expecting to be BFFs throughout your time in college.
Sometimes, it happens, but treat your relationship like a business partnership.
Just be friendly, make space for personal space, and share financial obligations. Also, have your social circles.
This way, you’ll always have a respectful and cordial relationship that you all aspire to have.Â
8. Educate yourself about new cultures
If you and your roommates are from different cultures or countries, embrace cultural diversity by keeping an open mind and learning.
At first, you may struggle with language barriers and cultural differences, but that shouldn’t be a source of conflict.
You’ll learn new and interesting things that cement your relationship by being around each other, such as new language, music, and food.
9. Practice empathy
When in a disagreement, it’s easy to think living with your roommate is torture and they’re a villain.
However, your roommate is also a person with dreams and feelings just like you, no matter how different or disagreeable they are.
Patience and empathy can help you recognize your part in the wrong, even if partial.
Also, showing care goes a long way, so it’s always a good idea to share those extra cookies, console them when they’re down, or respect their schedule.
10. Look for a mediator when necessary
When you can’t find a middle ground or the conflict escalates into a big fight, it’s better to call a peer or a resident assistant to act as a mediator.
Explain the background of the conflict and the expectations. Having a mediator can discourage all parties from saying hurtful things.
Mediation can help you get along with your roommates by allowing you to see the situation from a new point of view.
Good Roommate Relationships can be an amazing perk to your College Experience
Do your best to establish a positive living situation with college roommates.
This includes actively implementing conflict resolution strategies, practicing empathy, and respecting each other’s space.
You never know; you might end up sharing a room with your best friend for life.
Awesome one; I hope this article answers your question.
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