Incoming freshmen at Syracuse University have two options in the roommate selection process: mutually choose a roommate or have Housing, Meal Plan and I.D. Card Services randomly assign one.

According to Housing, Meal Plan and I.D. Card Services, 30 percent of incoming freshmen choose to pre-select their roommate. The other 70 percent, the majority of incoming freshmen, opt to have their roommate randomly chosen for them.

While other peer institutions, such as Northeastern University, Georgetown University and George Washington University, have roommate questionnaires for freshmen to complete, SU freshmen do not fill out an in-depth questionnaire before receiving a roommate assignment.

SU does not have any type of roommate survey because “students evolve during their first year at SU,” said Eileen Simmons, director of Housing, Meal Plan and I.D. Card Services, in an email.

“We want them to use the first semester to get to know someone different and we believe this is a valuable and worthwhile experience,” she said.

Some of those who pre-select their roommate instead of having one randomly assigned depend on social media websites, such as Facebook, to meet potential roommates. This was one of the intended purposes of the class Facebook group in the first place, since the only other option is random selection, Simmons said.

Other social media sites, like RoomSurf, help students find roommates by creating a profile and taking a roommate survey. Students from the same school who use RoomSurf are matched based on compatibility percentage.

For some increased specificity during the roommate selection process, freshmen can choose to live in a Learning Community, which are grouped in part based on similar interests. While this will not guarantee that roommates are completely compatible, students who have things in common, like being interested in computer science, for example, can be roommates without filling out a survey.

About one-third of the incoming freshman class chose to live in a Learning Community this year, according to Housing, Meal Plan and I.D. Card Services. However, roommates are still randomly assigned within Learning Communities, Simmons said.

Published on August 26, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu