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ForgottenKnight · 07-04-2003, 12:19 AM

1. Get a couch. People will love your room for it.

2. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF! One of the biggest problems I've had with roommates is them not cleaning when it's their turn, and not cleaning up after themselves. They tend to think that their roommates are their moms and will clean up after them if they don't do it. Be cool and give them time to do it though. You will not have the same schedule as your roommate(s), so you may not know if they've had time to do something that day or not. Give them a few days or a week to do it before you complain about them not doing it, especially if it's an exam week.

3. Immediatley upon moving into the dorms, if not beforehand, sit down with your roommate(s) and set rules. Set a cleaning schedule of who will do what each week or two weeks or whatever. Always be sure you do your share of the work. Set the rules which your roommates and yourself will follow. An example is not to come in wasted at 3am waking up your roommate(s) more than once a week or something (one of my buddies had a problem with his roommate doing that every night). Have everyone sign it and give a copy to each roommate. You might want to give a copy of this to your RA too. That way they have a copy and can see what your rules are when they dispute an argument between you and your roommate(s).

4. ALWAYS be RESPECTFUL of your roommate(s)'s stuff! You don't want your stuff bothered or broken, so don't bother theirs unless you have permission. Set it in your rules that you have to have permission to use the other person's things unless it's something like the TV and couch. There was a guy down the hall from me my first year that kept breaking his roommate's cpus, bicycles, etc and then saying he didn't remember doing it due to being drunk. It got him kicked out of the dorm, but not after he caused a few thousand dollars worth of damage.

5. Be repectful of your roommate(s)! ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE TRYING TO STUDY! If they're studying and they ask you to turn down the music or to put on headphones, DO IT! And turning it down one single notch won't cut it! The best bet is to wear headphones when you want to listen to music when your roommates are studying. STUDYING has PRIORITY over EVERYTHING! You're paying to go STUDY in College, not just to have fun. Make sure you're respectful to them when they study.

6. Make sure your friends respect and follow the same rules you do when they're in your room. If they act like it's only the one guy's dorm, remind them that you live there too, and since they're guest, you can kick them out at any time. Don't wait until they've had their way for most of a semester or so before you do that either. One problem I had with one of my three roommates was that his friends would do whatever they wanted in our dormroom without any respect to the other two of us. They acted like it was just that one roommate's dorm, and since he didn't mind, it meant that they had the final say in our dormroom. It had gone on for so long with us just ignoring them that when we finally did need to kick them out, we almost had to call the police to get them to leave.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE LIVING THERE SO DON'T ACT LIKE IT! (and don't let your roommate(s) act like it either!)

07-04-2003, 12:19 AM	#63 (permalink)
ForgottenKnight Jesus Freak Location: Following the light...	1. Get a couch. People will love your room for it. 2. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF! One of the biggest problems I've had with roommates is them not cleaning when it's their turn, and not cleaning up after themselves. They tend to think that their roommates are their moms and will clean up after them if they don't do it. Be cool and give them time to do it though. You will not have the same schedule as your roommate(s), so you may not know if they've had time to do something that day or not. Give them a few days or a week to do it before you complain about them not doing it, especially if it's an exam week. 3. Immediatley upon moving into the dorms, if not beforehand, sit down with your roommate(s) and set rules. Set a cleaning schedule of who will do what each week or two weeks or whatever. Always be sure you do your share of the work. Set the rules which your roommates and yourself will follow. An example is not to come in wasted at 3am waking up your roommate(s) more than once a week or something (one of my buddies had a problem with his roommate doing that every night). Have everyone sign it and give a copy to each roommate. You might want to give a copy of this to your RA too. That way they have a copy and can see what your rules are when they dispute an argument between you and your roommate(s). 4. ALWAYS be RESPECTFUL of your roommate(s)'s stuff! You don't want your stuff bothered or broken, so don't bother theirs unless you have permission. Set it in your rules that you have to have permission to use the other person's things unless it's something like the TV and couch. There was a guy down the hall from me my first year that kept breaking his roommate's cpus, bicycles, etc and then saying he didn't remember doing it due to being drunk. It got him kicked out of the dorm, but not after he caused a few thousand dollars worth of damage. 5. Be repectful of your roommate(s)! ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE TRYING TO STUDY! If they're studying and they ask you to turn down the music or to put on headphones, DO IT! And turning it down one single notch won't cut it! The best bet is to wear headphones when you want to listen to music when your roommates are studying. STUDYING has PRIORITY over EVERYTHING! You're paying to go STUDY in College, not just to have fun. Make sure you're respectful to them when they study. 6. Make sure your friends respect and follow the same rules you do when they're in your room. If they act like it's only the one guy's dorm, remind them that you live there too, and since they're guest, you can kick them out at any time. Don't wait until they've had their way for most of a semester or so before you do that either. One problem I had with one of my three roommates was that his friends would do whatever they wanted in our dormroom without any respect to the other two of us. They acted like it was just that one roommate's dorm, and since he didn't mind, it meant that they had the final say in our dormroom. It had gone on for so long with us just ignoring them that when we finally did need to kick them out, we almost had to call the police to get them to leave. REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE LIVING THERE SO DON'T ACT LIKE IT! (and don't let your roommate(s) act like it either!) __________________ "People say I'm strange, does that make me a stranger?"