Contact Your Roommate(s)

I'd just like to take a moment to talk about how important it is to contact your future roommate(s) before you go to school.

Unless you somehow manage to get a single room (which is rare for a freshman to get - later on, if your school has them for students, you can try to get a single, but they are in high demand) you will have at least one roommate at college. This is a person that you will be living with for the next 9 months, so it is a good idea to get acquainted with him/her before going to school.

Not only do you want to just say hello so that when you arrive on move-in day you aren't going to be bumping into a complete stranger, but also because you need to talk about what each of you will be bringing. Space is limited in a dorm room, so you don't want two of every appliance in the room. Also, many schools limit the number of each type of appliance you can have (1 fridge, 1 microwave, etc).

This is a mistake I made my first year at college. I waited until the week before it was time to move to school to contact my roommate, and guess what, he was on vacation. We ended up with a couple duplicate appliances, unfortunately, thanks to this mistake.

I've learned from my mistake, though, and now I make sure to get in touch with my roommate(s) long before move-in day. This year, for example, I will be living with 5 of guys in a suite on campus. These are all good friends of mine, but we still had to discuss what we would be bringing to the room. It's been an ongoing discussion for the last month or so.

So, basically, just get in touch with your future roommate as soon as possible. It makes everything easier in the long run.