How to Deal with a Bad College Roommate

How to Deal with a Bad College Roommate
08/26/2010
Guest post by Henry McCambridge.
University Parent

College is a time of learning and new experiences, and one experience many first-year college students come across is managing life with a bad roommate. Cramped living conditions, lack of privacy, and the demands of school are expected to bring stress to college students living together, but no student wants to put up constant noise while trying to study or a room full of their roommate's friends at two in the morning on a Wednesday, but it happens. Bad roommates are just a fact of life for some college students, but there are a few things dorm dwellers can do to ease the tension in the room they share. Here are some tips for improving your life with a bad college roommate.

Set ground rules.
There are two things college students need to do on a routine basis: sleep and study. While students cannot control roommate's behavior entirely, they can set some basic ground rules ensuring peace when it comes to homework or bedtime. Begin by choosing a two hour block during each weekday where the room is reserved for studying, meaning no television or loud music, and a "lights out" time during the week. Homework time can also be used as a nap-time, which most college students enjoy. Make sure to respect the ground rules that are set and the conversation might open up to other ways the roommates can look out for each other.

Keep the communication lines open.
The biggest roommate conflicts happen when something small causes emotions to boil over because a bigger problem has been ignored or avoided. When a roommate severely crosses the line, it must be discussed in an effective way. Arguing may not be the best solution, but by discussing the problem, the roommate becomes aware of their behavior and both sides can offer solutions. College roommates need to pick their battles, but using the silent treatment will only further the problem.

Get involved.
The less time students spend in their "shoeboxes," a less than flattering name for a dorm room, the better. Most colleges and universities offer hundreds of different student organizations and social clubs to give students an alternative to sitting on a futon all day. Getting involved helps students make new friends and lets them see the brighter side of being in college.

Seek help from the Resident Advisor
Resident Advisors, or RAs, serve as student mentors and are the go-to people when conflicts between roommates arise. An RA can act as a neutral mediator between the roommates and have specific training in helping students find some common ground. Getting help from an outside opinion could be just what the roommates need.

I was lucky with my roommate experience at college as were most of my fellow students; but then again Ontario colleges aren't usually synonymous with delinquent students. However, I have some childhood friends who studied abroad and told me some horrific stories about their experiences in various college dorms. Hopefully the majority of readers will be as lucky as I was with their college roommate experience; but certainly if a student's living situation is dangerous or threatening, they should immediately notify their college's office of residence life before the situation becomes out of hand.

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