After Tom Sommers accepted a spot at Amherst College in May, he didn’t search for a roommate via Facebook or browse profiles of other students on a roommate-finding website.
He waited for the college to match him with his freshman roommate, using answers from a simple questionnaire. The low-tech, old-school approach is exactly what Sommers wanted.
Comments
In my opinion, letting colleges choose roommates is the best decision, especially for freshman. I do however like that everyone gets the choice to request a roommate. Social networking makes it easy to meet people that will be attending the same school as you, but only allows you to know limited information about others. Requesting a roommate also puts more pressure on making the rooming situation work out, opposed to being put in a room with a stranger. Most importantly assigned roommates allow students to meet people with different interests that could possibly open new doors; and isn't that what college is all about?
For incoming freshmen when I went to college, it was the luck of the draw. There were no questionnaires. Roommates were assigned by chance. If you were completely incompatible, you could request a room change after classes began. My initial roommate was a disaster, for reasons I won't detail, but I was able to change. I never took that chance again.