Blind Roommate Experiences

There are many benefits to rooming with someone you barely know, surprisingly.  For Nikhil Kulkarni, a Michigan State University sophomore, he knew nothing about his roommate, Kevin Ritsema, but now they are best friends.

“I didn’t know anyone when I was accepted to MSU, and I was skeptical about the person they set me up with because I didn’t know anything about him, but after I got to know him a little bit, we really hit it off and now we’re best friends.”

Ritsema said the same thing about Kulkarni.  Not knowing anyone he specifically wanted to room with, even from his home town, was tough, but he and Kulkarni made it work. 

Amir Baghdadchi, director of communications at University of Michigan said 30 percent of students come in with someone from home. 

“We see a lot of different personality traits when that happens,” said Baghdadchi.  “Sometimes we have more success with pairing students that have similar traits, such as ‘how late to do you stay up, sleep in, go out to party?’ and ‘are you a smoker, drinker?’ Most of the time those do the trick right away.”

Many colleges, including U of M and MSU, have a large international student population.  According to Mary Lou Heberlein, MSU has a 15.3 percent international student population ranging from hundreds of countries around the world.

“These students have a choice of rooming, whether they want to room with someone who is from their home country or if they choose to room with someone from the United States, the choice is up to them,” said Heberlein. 

Blind Roommate Facts

Part of the college experience is meeting your new roommate who may or may not be your new best friend for the next four years. 

At Michigan State University, 60 percent of freshmen go in blind, according to Mary Lou Heberlein, Michigan State University’s Residential Housing Services coordinator.  Every college has a different process in choosing who is going to live with whom.  At MSU, the first key role that comes into play is the students’ major, if they have the same or similar majors in the same college, which also decides on what dorm would be closer to their college.  

At University of South Carolina, their process includes a survey-based questionnaire at the time of applying to the college. According to Nick Alfieri, U of SC’s director of communications, they compare answers of students with similar personality traits such as sleeping, partying, and study habits. 

Similar to U of SC, University of Michigan has a process including a “getting to know you” period, where the roommates are required to ask each other questions based on personality traits. 

To avoid having a bad “blind roommate” experience, many students refer to Facebook and other social media platforms to find a roommate with similar interests.

U of SC is partnered with a social media-based roommate matching service called RoomSync, where students can join and answer questions in a survey-like fashion that partners them up with someone with similar traits and interests.  Alfieri said they have had a lot of success with that partnership. 

MBS Quotes

From an African-American president to an Asian treasurer to an Indian external vice president, MBS has a very diverse executive board. 

Gayatri Chincholkar, MBS community service chair said, “I feel like having such a diverse E-Board really helps bring in different cultures but maybe we’re just doing a good job of marketing the club this year and that’s why we’re having such a great turnout.”

Dr. Theodore Ransaw, professor of valuing cultural diversity at MSU said, “promoting acceptance will go a long way, whether that is a club or individually on the street.  America is changing and it’s good to know that clubs like this understand that.”

MBS Secretary, Navya Devarsetty said, “the diversity of the group is growing rapidly and keeps growing.”

MBS Facts

Michigan State University hosts hundreds of different organizations and clubs on campus.  One club that is especially popular is Multicultural Business Students, otherwise known as MBS.  MBS is an undergraduate professional student organization at MSU that represents a diverse group of students in the Eli Broad College of Business and related majors.  MBS is one of the largest clubs on campus, spanning from 150 to 200 students.  MBS appeals to not only business majors, but every major as well.  MBS offers a lot of different help to those that are part of the program.  With advisors to help you with your career path, tutoring to help you through your core classes, to resume critiquing, career fairs and mock interviews. 

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Sanjay Kallumkal designates Tuesday nights to laundry and homework.  Having a test on Wednesday, Kallumkal decides to kill two birds with one stone and study for his test while washing his clothes.  Kallumkall has a difficult time staying focused while doing his homework.  His favorite past time is checking social media and all other apps on his iPhone5.  Receiving text messages from his friends gives him the excuse to pick up his phone and go through all of his apps.  Checking Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, Kallumkal denies the fact that he has a distraction problem to his family, friends, and himself.  Even while doing his laundry, he takes all the time in the world moving his clothes from the washer to the dryer.  Will he ever get his studying done?

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Tuesday nights always consist of Sanjay Kallumkal doing his laundry and completing his last minute homework.  Sanjay always has a problem with procrastination, especially if he has a quiz or exam the next day, which he usually does on Wednesdays.  Taking his sweet time to get to his homework, he always finds the coolest apps or the newest things on social media while preparing to study.  It is always a struggle to push Kallumkal to put down the phone and pick up the textbook.  Even after he looks at the textbook for about five minutes, Kallumkal always finds a way to pick up his phone again and go on his social media accounts.  Since Kallumkal is well known around campus at Michigan State University, he is always getting texts and notifications from people he knows, distracting him even more and forcing him not to complete the necessary studying he needs.