Tell me the pros and cons of having a college roomate.

Well I've been accepted into a University and the day I move out my house and move on campus is just a little over a month away. But freshman are forced to have a roomate and frankly I'm a little nervous about that. You see I've pretty much grown up as an only child so I never had to share a room with any siblings, I have no idea what it's like to share a room with somebody (especially with somebody I've never met). So can you guys who have been to universities tell me the pros and cons of having roomates?
 
Don't get me wrong I'm looking forward to the experience of getting away from the parents and living with somebody I've never met before but damn is it nerve-wracking
 
Edit:  Uh okay people since when did "only child" suddenly translate to "anti-social douchebag"? Just because I was an only child growing up doesn't mean I'm some shy asshole who whines over spilled milk. I've never had troubles fitting in and I've never found myself over-possessive. I've never started shit with somebody over little things and I've always been nothing but laid back. Okay I'll admit I'm a little messy when it comes to room upkeep but so far that's the only stereotype you guys have gotten right.
 
How about we keep my thread civil, and not just personally attack the OP (a person you know nothing about personality wise) just because you've had bad experiences with only children.

I had my own place, and by that I mean I owned an apartment in the suburbs of Tokyo so I couldn't tell you.  But I could tell you that living alone: 
 
Pro - You're alone, all your shit, peace, whatveer you wanna do. 
Con - Expensive, lonely, etc. 
 
I say live alone, it's better.  Can't trust people, and most of them suck anyway. 

They can keep you up all night 
They can throw you out when they want some time with some random girl 
They can listen to shitty music  
They can be arrogant bastards 
They can have little respect for the fact you have an exam in the morning.  
or visa versa.
 
and that was just the first term. 
Totally depends on the person you get, if you don't like it ask for a transfer..that's what i did. I moved the next day, got my own room. 
I was really lucky though

Body Odour. 
Possibly planning to suffocate you with your own pillow. 
Not placing cups on coasters. < The worst by far.

My roommate was a friend from high school, so I was lucky in that regard. 
 
Pros- Someone to hang out with, Something to do, Someone to talk to when bored/sad, When bringing girls over you can say "my roommate did it" about anything the girl doesn't like about your room, Chance to make a new friend. 
 
Cons- Could be a douchebag, If they have no social life and you have no social life it will limit any alone time, trying to find privacy to jack it, Having to go find something to do outside the room when the roommate has a "female visitor", having to tell the roommate to kick rock when you have a "female visitor", he could be a dirty messy bastard, 

" They can keep you up all night They can throw you out when they want some time with some random girl They can listen to shitty music  They can be arrogant bastards They can have little respect for the fact you have an exam in the morning.  or visa versa. and that was just the first term. Totally depends on the person you get, if you don't like it ask for a transfer..that's what i did. I moved the next day, got my own room. I was really lucky though "

Is she fit?

Yeah, it can totally depend on the person. If you're lucky, you'll get someone who knows people and can get you into some cool parties, etc. If you're not into partying, then you may also get lucky and get someone who's just as quiet as you. If privacy or noise become a problem, you can always go study in the library or just throw on some sound-canceling headphones. Or yeah, request a transfer.

Dorms equate to instantly making a dozen new friends, never ever going to sleep at a reasonable time, and people walking into your room at random to talk to you.  If you keep your door closed all the time, the entire dorm gets the impression that you're a douche.  It's not that bad so long as you don't get a REALLY annoying suitemate

" I had my own place, and by that I mean I owned an apartment in the suburbs of Tokyo so I couldn't tell you.  But I could tell you that living alone:  Pro - You're alone, all your shit, peace, whatveer you wanna do.  "

Oh shit, you're an only child? 
Sorry duder, i feel bad for your future roomie, NOT you. In my firsthand experience, only-children make THE WORST ROOMMATES possible. They usual have: 

• poorer interpersonal and social skills, 
• very little capacity to share, 
• but large capacity to take, 
• little ability to compromise, 
• generally bad at cleaning room,
• tend to become either weirdly attached our out-rightly belligerent to RA and staff, to your detriment wither way.
• they're much more likely to forget to lock doors during..."personal times".

" Oh shit, you're an only child? 
Sorry duder, i feel bad for your future roomie, NOT you. In my firsthand experience, only-children make THE WORST ROOMMATES possible. They usual have: 

• poorer interpersonal and social skills, 
• very little capacity to share, 
• but large capacity to take, 
• little ability to compromise, 
• generally bad at cleaning room,
• tend to become either weirdly attached our out-rightly belligerent to RA and staff, to your detriment wither way.
• they're much more likely to forget to lock doors during..."personal times".

Just empirical evidence man. and heaven help you if your roomie is also an only child, you'll end up having to trade before the 2nd semester. "

I had a high school roommate my first year in college. He made me angry on occasion if I had an exam the next day and he was getting back at 4am (I'm a light sleeper) etc... but overall I realized that he was a good roommate. It gives you someone to talk to and hang out with. Would I trade this situation for living by myself? Probably. But it wasn't bad at all at least for me.

" Dorms equate to instantly making a dozen new friends, never ever going to sleep at a reasonable time, and people walking into your room at random to talk to you.  If you keep your door closed all the time, the entire dorm gets the impression that you're a douche.  It's not that bad so long as you don't get a REALLY annoying suitemate "

" @Mrnitropb said:

" Oh shit, you're an only child? 
Sorry duder, i feel bad for your future roomie, NOT you. In my firsthand experience, only-children make THE WORST ROOMMATES possible. They usual have: 

• poorer interpersonal and social skills, 
• very little capacity to share, 
• but large capacity to take, 
• little ability to compromise, 
• generally bad at cleaning room,
• tend to become either weirdly attached our out-rightly belligerent to RA and staff, to your detriment wither way.
• they're much more likely to forget to lock doors during..."personal times".

Just empirical evidence man. and heaven help you if your roomie is also an only child, you'll end up having to trade before the 2nd semester. "

This. "

" @JB16:  Only children make the worst roommates.   They whine and bitch when things aren't exactly their way, they suck at cleaning, they have no respect for other peoples space and belongings, in my experience they are always universally terrible.  So really, if your gonna worry about something, worry about not being a douche.  Do you know what your future roommate is probably thinking?  "Hope this guy is nice, though not much I can do about.  Might as well make the most of it!"  He is not posting on forums about how worried he is about sharing some personal space.  Hopefully in this next year of college you take the time to grow the hell up. "

I'm going into freshman year. My worst worry about a roomate is that he has absolutely no life and would refuse to leave if I brought a girl into the room.

eh, seems like you're far more likely to be the douche roommate in this scenario. i present the following pieces of evidence in support: 

1. only child
2. anime avatar
3. giant bomb poster

It's a mixed lot. Just don't be a giant dickhole, really. So long as you're chill and not neurotic it'll all go pretty well.

For my first year of university I was stuck with a group of people who would play loud music at all times of the day and night, fail to ever take the rubbish out, constantly get everyone on my floor in trouble with the halls manager and wouldn't clean up after themselves (to the point that they'd get drunk, throw up and sometimes not clean it up properly). On the other hand I'm moving into a house next year with some people who are neat, organised and keep things at a fair volume. It depends a bit on what kind of people you like to be around personally, but from what I've heard from people in general random room mates can be a bit of a gamble.

depends on the tyupe of person you get. some would even lock you out if they were having sex with their girl.

" depends on the tyupe of person you get. some would even lock you out if they were having sex with their girl. "

just stay out of each other's way and be courteous. 
 
it's really not a big deal.  your RA can smooth over anything you two can't work out yourselves.

Roommates are always bad. Flatmates on the other hand are only 80% bad. If you get lucky, it's great, if you don't, get ready to be super passive aggressive in the face of someone else's passive aggressiveness.

Roommates are good for meeting new people and making new friends.  Theyre also good for obnoxious alarm clock habits.

in england everyone gets their own room 100% baller 
going to uni in a few months, gonna be the dickhead i getting crunked as much as possible 

" @Halberdierv2 said:

" depends on the tyupe of person you get. some would even lock you out if they were having sex with their girl. "

Well I wouldn't mind stuff like that as long as he warns me beforehand and it doesn't happen like every night. "

The big thing about being a roomate is 9 times out of 10 you'll either be the guy who's cleaner than your roomate and you'll get frustrated, or you'll be the guy with the cleaner roomate who gets frustrated from the pestering. I've been both. If you can find a person just as dirty as you, you're set.

Pro : You have a life.
 
Con : You're a lonely person who lives a lonely existence.

Pro: You get to know someone you might not have otherwise. 
 
Con: You can't spend as much time naked as you would probably like. Unless, y'know, you and your roommate really get along.

" @JB16:  And I'm saying you even asking that, along with bothering to mention that you are an only child, just shows that you are likely to be the problem in this roommate situation, not the other guy.  Like someone else said before me, I feel bad for the other guy, not you.  A mature person would just go into this with an open mind and not be nervous about *gasp* sharing personal space.  And yeah, I have had a lot of roommates over the years, in fact I will soon have 5 brand new ones I have never met from all over the country, one of which i will be sharing a bedroom with.  And my experience tells me that anyone who says anything other than "New roommates, let's make the most of this!" is usually a shitty roommate. "

It can be fun.  If you know you're roomate it'll be good but also you'll probably get cockblocked all the time and you'll wish you had you're own place or room at least probably once a day, miniumum.  But it's fun and in a year or two maybe you get a house or apartment.  There you have your own room and the fun of being with your friends in a place.  That's where I'm at and it's awesome, the best of both worlds.
 
So enjoy and know if you are annoyed that it will get better.

Dude, you just have to pray to Cthulhu that you get an awesome roommate.

" Dude, you just have to pray to Cthulhu that you get an awesome roommate. "

Fixed that for ya.

My college dorm roommate was a pretty good guy. We never became close friends, but we got along fine. He was a pretty normal dude, but brought chicks home ALL the time. I'm not just talking on the weekends, he even  brought chicks home at 11 am on a Monday. I guess the guy had skills so I couldn't hate on him for that. I spent a lot of time at my girlfriends who had an apartment since my roommate would have chicks over all the time. It worked out fine. The next year I got a house with some friends.

@starrjack1

" @JB16:  And I'm saying you even asking that, along with bothering to mention that you are an only child, just shows that you are likely to be the problem in this roommate situation, not the other guy.  Like someone else said before me, I feel bad for the other guy, not you.  A mature person would just go into this with an open mind and not be nervous about *gasp* sharing personal space.  And yeah, I have had a lot of roommates over the years, in fact I will soon have 5 brand new ones I have never met from all over the country, one of which i will be sharing a bedroom with.  And my experience tells me that anyone who says anything other than "New roommates, let's make the most of this!" is usually a shitty roommate. "

@davidwitten22

" @starrjack1 said:

" @JB16:  And I'm saying you even asking that, along with bothering to mention that you are an only child, just shows that you are likely to be the problem in this roommate situation, not the other guy.  Like someone else said before me, I feel bad for the other guy, not you.  A mature person would just go into this with an open mind and not be nervous about *gasp* sharing personal space.  And yeah, I have had a lot of roommates over the years, in fact I will soon have 5 brand new ones I have never met from all over the country, one of which i will be sharing a bedroom with.  And my experience tells me that anyone who says anything other than "New roommates, let's make the most of this!" is usually a shitty roommate. "

If you weren't feeling even a little anxious about having a roommate for the first time then you were probably a huge dickhole. The fact you're getting 5 new ones and not retaining any is further evidence.  See I can make shit up based on one post too! "

"  
 

@starrjack1

said:

" @JB16:  And I'm saying you even asking that, along with bothering to mention that you are an only child, just shows that you are likely to be the problem in this roommate situation, not the other guy.  Like someone else said before me, I feel bad for the other guy, not you.  A mature person would just go into this with an open mind and not be nervous about *gasp* sharing personal space.  And yeah, I have had a lot of roommates over the years, in fact I will soon have 5 brand new ones I have never met from all over the country, one of which i will be sharing a bedroom with.  And my experience tells me that anyone who says anything other than "New roommates, let's make the most of this!" is usually a shitty roommate. "

Sooo because I made a thread about this I won't be "making the most of it". Since when did wondering about a new lifestyle make me some child who can't adapt? Jesus Christ if you're this judgmental towards everyone you meet then I feel sorry for your roomates because you fit the bill of being a condescending asshole. If you truly believe that nobody is a little nervous about living with someone they've never met then you seriously need to get out more, "making the most of it" or not. 
 
Seriously I don't get where you get this crazy logic from? "Hey this guy's nervous so he must be an asshole!!!" In what state of mind does your dumbass have to be for that to make sense?
 
 

@davidwitten22

said:

" @starrjack1 said:

" @JB16:  And I'm saying you even asking that, along with bothering to mention that you are an only child, just shows that you are likely to be the problem in this roommate situation, not the other guy.  Like someone else said before me, I feel bad for the other guy, not you.  A mature person would just go into this with an open mind and not be nervous about *gasp* sharing personal space.  And yeah, I have had a lot of roommates over the years, in fact I will soon have 5 brand new ones I have never met from all over the country, one of which i will be sharing a bedroom with.  And my experience tells me that anyone who says anything other than "New roommates, let's make the most of this!" is usually a shitty roommate. "

If you weren't feeling even a little anxious about having a roommate for the first time then you were probably a huge dickhole. The fact you're getting 5 new ones and not retaining any is further evidence.  See I can make shit up based on one post too! "

Thanks,  at least someone else can see how much of an unreasonable judgmental douche   that guy is being. "

" Dude, you just have to pray to Cthulhu that you get an awesome roommate. "

 I recommend not being passive agressive to your roommate, as that almost always leads to a big angry confrontation.