Living with a roommate is probably one of the most rewarding experiences of your University life. Whether you find a new hobby, become good friends, learn a new skill together et cetera, living with a roommate is a lot of fun. However, living with an incompatible roommate can become quite challenging. You both may not gel well; you both may have different beliefs, ideas et cetera which may hamper your peace. Therefore, having a roommate who understands you and whom you understand is crucial.

You may choose to live with friends. However, it is not necessary that your friends will make the perfect housemate as well. Therefore, if you are looking for people who are like-minded to share your apartment with, where should you start?

Whether this is your first time living away from home or if you are in the second year of your university career and planning to move out of campus accommodation, here are a few options that will help you find the perfect roommate for your shared student accommodation.

Register with online sites that help you get in touch with potential roommates:

If you choose to look into the apartments for rent in Augusta from an online site, you can call them regarding finding a roommate for you. It is always easier if you have your roommate picked from before. This makes the shifting process and settling down much easier. You and your roommate will also act as support systems for each other while you two adjust to living in your new surroundings. On such sites, you can get in touch with other people who are also looking to share a room and find out the most compatible roommate do for your shared student apartment.

If you go on a hunt for a roommate, you need to consider a few things.

What do you want from your roommate?

The kind of roommate you would want will depend on your own behavior and personality. You may want a roommate who is also your best friend, while others may prefer someone who is private and maintains distance.

Roommates have to spend a lot of time together. So, it is understandable if the two roommates choose not to hang out together outside the confinement of the room. If you are a person who is going to spend most of his or her time indulging in studies, you need a roommate who is quiet, does not bring friends over for partying all the time and respects your boundaries. If you land up with a roommate who is a party goer, constantly has friends over in your shared student accommodation, it can cause a lot of distractions and can hamper your coursework, and throw you into severe stress.

Set the boundaries

You can specify these criteria when you are posting your roommate requirements so that only people who can adhere to your boundaries contact you about the room. Some students may have strict academic schedules they want to adhere to, while others may just want to experience college life, the pubs, the parties, et cetera. Whichever way you want to spend your college years, you should be very clear about that and mention it in your roommate criteria section.

Which are the best ways to find roommates?

Start your search with social media.

Social media is referred to as social for a reason. Social media platforms like Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. have not only helped a lot of students find their perfect apartment it has also helped students in finding the perfect roommates who would be perfect as roommates. You can join Facebook groups or post requests regarding what kind of roommate you want. Interested students will get in touch with you.

Check the online forums.

Forums like your university’s website or any other forum which caters to student accommodation can prove to be an extremely valuable tool when you are on the lookout for a new housemate or roommate. You can create a forum on Facebook as well, or you can jump into an existing thread and start chatting with other students of your own college or other colleges who are looking for mates.

Put out feelers.

There is nothing that replaces word-of-mouth when you are looking for a good roommate. Talk to your friends who are sensible. Make sure that your sensible friends talk to their sensible friends. This way, let the word spread that you are on the lookout for roommates.

One thing to remember here is that your roommate does not have to be your closest friend or your best friend. It is easier to keep things less complicated if you do not live with a person who is your best friend. This way, the boundaries can be maintained, and there is a higher chance that your roommate will be clean, courteous, and give you your space.

Talk to your university personnel.

You must bear in mind that you went or are going to that country to study at that specific university. It is the responsibility of your university to help you get settled. Therefore, it is a wise idea to go and ask for their advice. Almost all universities understand that students feel overwhelmed in their first year away from home, especially if they are international students. If you are facing trouble looking for housemates for the next year of your course, you can discuss this with your university personnel. A lot of universities organize housing fairs or freshers fairs where you can get to meet the new students and pick out roommates for yourself.

Remember to maintain respectable boundaries between your roommate, respect each other’s privacy, decisions and habits.