Stepping out of the comfort of home and living with roommates may trigger anxiety in many college students. Several apprehensions may arise in their minds. The first question that may crop up in their minds is how to get along with the roommates. No matter how hard it sounds, sometimes sharing a living space with someone or some people in college may result in a rewarding experience throughout your college journey.

In this article, you will find the best tips for living with a roommate in college. These roommate tips will surely help you to turn your fear into excitement.

11 Tips for Living with a Roommate

1. Communicate clearly

Communication is the key to successful living with roommates. There may be many differences between the living styles, preferences, habits, schedules, and many things. You can only save yourself from conflicts if you have clear communications with each other. Knowing and respecting each other’s preferences will lead to a pleasant experience for both of you.

2. Invest time and energy to know your roommate

You are going to be living with your roommate for a long time. So, you need to know and understand the person with whom you are sharing a space. Spend time to know if you find anything interesting or common in your roommate. Knowing a person may help you to appreciate a person more as you tend to get to know some aspects of his personality. If you have more than one roommate, make sure to spend some time every week to get to know them.

3. Be considerate and kind when needed

You need to always understand and accept the fact that your roommate is a different individual with different traits. So, be kind and considerate whenever needed. Remember, being rigid can help you have your way but may not make your stay enjoyable. But being flexible and considerate will not only make your living easy but will win you some friends, in the long run.

4. Talk things out in case of indifferences

There may be situations when your roommate may do something that will annoy you. It can also happen that your roommate is not even aware of your feelings. Address these things in a very calm manner to avoid conflicts. Many times, conflicts arise due to suppressed anger or resentment. Do not wait for the flame to rise. Make efforts to bury the hatchet by talking things out early.

5. Learn to adjust and let go

Life is not a bed of roses. So, there may be times when things may go wrong in a way that there is absolutely no solution available. Learn to take a deep breath and let go. Getting yourself adjusted in situations like this will help you prepare for bigger challenges in the future. So, take all of these as parts of learning experiences and move on.

6. Learn to give some space to others

No one likes it when other people invade their privacy. Make sure to give your roommates some space. So, try to give the room to your roommates for a few hours to themselves. Who knows they might like you for that and also do the same for you?

7. Make a roommate agreement

Living with roommates is not an easy task. Differences of opinions, preferences, and schedules may trigger conflicts with each other. It is best to sit together and set some rules and guidelines that everyone needs to follow. You can even add everyone’s responsibilities or chores to this agreement. This roommate agreement must be made in the best interest and convenience of all the roommates sharing common space with one another. Thus, everyone will abide by the rules and there will not be any conflict of interests.

8. Don’t forget to accept and change your bad habits

You must remember that you as a human being are made of good and bad. So, there may be some bad habits in you that might annoy others. Be bold and honest enough to accept them and change them to make a peaceful living for yourself and others.

9. Wear headphones

One of the vital roommate tips for you is to wear a headphone when listening to music or watching something online. Since you will be living with roommates in a small space, you must allow others to enjoy their music or shows.

10. Discuss with the roommates before inviting people over

When you are living with your roommates, you live in a property shared by you all. So, it becomes a temporary home for all. So, just the way you ask your family members at home before inviting someone else, you must discuss it with your roommates when you are inviting anyone. It is possible that your roommate might want to study when you plan this. So, bringing people over at that time might be irritating or upsetting for your roommate.

11. Never use any of your roommate’s belongings without asking for permission

Not everyone is comfortable when people borrow things without asking or take food from their plate without permission. So, no matter how good your bonding is with your roommates, never use their stuff without permission. Always ask for permission if you need to use their things. Thus, it will help in building a bridge of trust and respect between you and your roommates.

Last but not the least, living with roommates without conflicts may sound too good to be true to some of you. But these roommate tips can help you get started with building a strong foundation. One more important thing to remember here’s to never ignore anything suspicious. Whenever you sense or find that you might be in trouble, report it immediately to the concerned person. Also, never allow anyone to hurt your self-esteem and harm you mentally or physically. After all, we all deserve respect from each other.