麻豆传媒

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Larson: 鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 nice when roommates, when they meet somebody on campus, whether it鈥檚 through a tour, through its orientation, through a specialty program, honors program, something like that when they can meet somebody, and then we鈥檒l match them up. And we鈥檒l easily accommodate that. We want them to pick their roommate if they can.鈥�

Larson says it鈥檚 not unusual to have a high success rate of matching students as roommates.

Larson: 鈥淲hen we try to match people, we know that we鈥檙e going to get about 80 to 90 percent success rate just from basic questions. And I think a lot of it is going in with the right attitude of these students knowing they鈥檙e going to have a roommate, knowing it鈥檚 going to be new, knowing it鈥檚 going to be some transition. And we鈥檙e happy with that success rate and sometimes it doesn鈥檛 work, and when it doesn鈥檛 work, we want to make good changes.鈥�

According to Larson, there鈥檚 a higher level of success in finding compatible roommates when he gets prospective roommates talking and communicating.

Larson: 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e matching roommates, we really want to be sure that they鈥檙e talking and communicating. And part of that is through open-ended questions. Part of it is not the yes or no stuff. Tell me something you like to do. Tell me about some of your personal interests. Get them talking and that鈥檚 the way we get success. Once you get them talking and communicating, we know we鈥檙e going to have a higher level of success.鈥�

Of course, no system is perfect, and a match that looks good in theory doesn鈥檛 always work out so well in reality.

Larson: 鈥淲e like to look at it as the honeymoon stage. Sometimes these roommates are not going to work and within two to three, maybe four weeks we know if it鈥檚 not going to work. Then we want to sit down and have a conversation with them and get them out of there. But sometimes it just doesn鈥檛 work. No matter what questions you ask, it鈥檚 just not going to work.鈥�

Larson says that helping students find a good roommate is a huge piece of their transition into college.

Larson: 鈥淲ell, with roommates we find out that sometimes it鈥檚 not a good fit. And when it鈥檚 not a good fit, you know, sometimes it鈥檚 a personality conflict. Sometimes it鈥檚 interests, and it just doesn鈥檛 work. From a housing department, we want to sit down with them at that point and make sure they鈥檙e going to have a good match because it鈥檚 a huge piece of their transition into college.鈥�

And Larson says there are some reasons why new roommates sometimes struggle to get along.

Larson: 鈥淲ell, most students, before they come here, they have their own room, they have their own bathroom, and then all of a sudden now they come to college. They鈥檙e in a residence hall room. They鈥檙e sharing space with someone who鈥檚 an arm鈥檚 length away from them, and they鈥檙e sharing personal belongings. They鈥檙e sharing a bathroom. It鈥檚 tough for them sometimes. I think we understand that it鈥檚 tough for them and we want them to acclimate themselves by having open-ended questions and working with our staff.鈥�

In most situations though, the roommates not only get along, but they become good friends, as Larson explains.

Larson: 鈥淚 will say that most of the time your first roommate is somebody who will actually, you鈥檒l know for a long time and become good friends (with). I remember back in college who my roommate was. I think it鈥檚 tough because you go into it not realizing what this relationship is going to be, but once you live with somebody and you go through those personal, you know, sharing bathrooms and sharing personal space, you get this connection with them, and it鈥檚 neat.鈥�

It鈥檚 no surprise that communication is key. Some students are neat. Others are messy. Some are early birds, others are late night owls. But students who are willing to compromise and communicate stand a good chance of making things work.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for 麻豆传媒.