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.