Moving in with a roommate can be one of the best parts of the college experience, but it also comes with a learning curve. The good news? Most challenges can be avoided simply by communicating early, listening openly and understanding each other’s living habits.
Here are some conversation starters to help roommates get on the same page and build a comfortable, respectful living environment from day one. These aren’t meant to help students find a “perfect match”—they’re meant to help them understand each other, find balance and create a space where everyone feels at home.
Daily Routines and Schedules
- Daily Planning: Do you like to plan ahead or go with the flow?
- Sleeping Habits: Are you an early bird or a night owl? What time do you usually wake up? Do you prefer complete silence or having the TV on when trying to sleep? Do you need total darkness, or can you sleep with some light?
- Study Habits: Do you study every free moment you have or only occasionally?
- Preferred Study Environment: Do you prefer complete silence or some background noise when studying?
Lifestyle and Personality
- Privacy Preferences: Are you an open book, or do you prefer to keep things to yourself?
- Travel Plans: Do you plan to go home/leave campus every weekend or hardly at all?
- Work Schedule: Do you plan to work or focus full-time on school?
- Indoor/Outdoor Preferences: Are you an indoor person or outdoor person?
- Teamwork Style: Are you a team player or prefer to work alone?
- Approach to Rules: Are you a rule follower or rule breaker?
- Gaming Habits: Are you an avid gamer or do you rarely play video games?
Living Habits
- Level of Cleanliness: Are you a clean freak, or do you not care if your room is a little messy?
- Music Habits: Do you wear earbuds and keep to yourself when you listen to music or do you like to play music out loud?
- Laundry Habits: Do you clean laundry often or only when necessary?
Roommate Preferences and Expectations
- Roommate Relationship: Are you hoping for a roommate-turned-best-friend or someone you can simply coexist with?
- Career Interests: Do you want a roommate in the same major as you, or do you care more about the individual themselves?
- Handling Conflict: Do you call a family member or face conflict head-on?
- Sharing Food: Are you okay if your roommate eats your food or do you prefer they buy their own?
- Sharing other Belongings: Are you willing to share other belongings if a roommate asks you firsts or do you prefer they use their own things?
- Overnight Guests: Are you okay with having overnight guests? If yes, how often?
Background, Values and Comfort Levels
- Siblings: Are you an only child or one of many?
- Room Sharing: Have you ever shared a room before?
- Openness to Others: Are you comfortable living with someone of a different background or not very comfortable?
- Interest in Other Cultures: Do you enjoy learning about people of different beliefs or cultures, or do you not find it very interesting?
- Spiritual/Religious Beliefs: Do you prefer a roommate with similar spiritual/religious beliefs, or is that not something you consider important?
- Interest in Current Events: Are you generally not interested in current events, or do you like to have an informed opinion about the world around you?
Social Life and Campus Involvement
- Campus Involvement (Activities, clubs, etc): Do you plan to participate in clubs and campus activities, or is that not a priority for you?
- Greek life: Are you interested in joining a fraternity or sorority, or is Greek Life not for you?
- Sporting Events: Do you plan to go to every sporting event you can or just attend occasionally?