Residence Halls

TIPS FOR SELECTING A ROOMMATE

When you live on campus at Oregon State, you're surrounded by fellow Beavs who can support you and encourage your success. Here are some tips to help you understand and navigate the roommate matching process.

1. Build out your roommate profile.

For new students applying for housing in the spring of 2024 for fall term 2024 move-in, Oregon State is using an online roommate matching process that's integrated into our housing application. Filling out the online questionnaires in parts one and two of the housing application will help you find potential roommates in the system if you want to choose your own roommate, or will help our staff match you if you do not choose your own roommate.

• Know that your gender identity will show to other students in the system unless you have checked the appropriate box in part one of the application indicating you would prefer your gender identity to be private.
• You can return to parts one and two of the housing application and make changes to your answers at any time until the roommate matching process closes.
• To be eligible for Roommate Matching, both parts 1 and 2 of the housing application must be completed by May 31. Please review our Important Application Dates timeline to make sure you have met all the required deadlines. 
• For incoming fall 2024 first-year students, roommate matching is from June 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024.

2. Search for a roommate.

Once you've completed your profile information in the housing application, you can search for potential roommates. You can connect with students the system identifies as a potential match, or search on your own.

• Make sure potential roommates are eligible for the same communities you are; for example, Honors students who want to live in West Hall or Sackett Hall will need to match with other Honors students.
• When setting up your roommate profile, you will decide on the screen name you want to use within the system. If you already have a potential roommate in mind, you can search for that student using their screen name.
• Even if you and your potential roommate know one another already, you'll use the online matching system to confirm you want to be roommates. All matches must be mutual.

If you have any questions as you go through this process, please contact us.

3. Push yourself outside your comfort zone.

We understand the process of looking for a roommate can be challenging, and even a little uncomfortable. We encourage you to embrace the process as an exciting step in your journey to college life. A few tips:

• Actively engage in conversations with multiple potential roommates to see who could be the best fit for you.
• Once you have found a roommate, let others you have been talking with know you have found someone else.
• Consider living with someone you don't already know. While you do have the option of matching with a friend from home, be aware that becoming roommates sometimes creates conflict within friendships. We encourage you to try building a relationship with someone new.

4. Be patient with the process.

The roommate matching process remains open for multiple weeks, and every day more new Beavs complete their online questionnaires and join the pool of potential roommates. If you don't find a good fit the first time you search, check back in a week and search again. Take your time to find someone who is a good match for you.

5. Talk to potential roommates about where you want to live.

And please be aware that while we do our best to assign students to the halls and room types they are most interested in, we are not able to honor every request.

As you meet potential roommates, take time to consider your personal priorities, then talk things over! If you want to be in Cauthorn Hall, and your potential roommate wants to be in Bloss Hall, that will eventually be a problem. Consider things like:

• Is living in a particular hall the most important thing to you? If so, would you prioritize your desire to live in that hall over a good roommate match if the person didn't also want to live there?
• If you're interested in an economy triple room for cost reasons, and you have a great match with someone who really wants a double, is that potential roommate willing to compromise or should you part ways?
• What Living-Learning Communities or Special Interest Communities you are interested in?

Ultimately, make sure you and your roommate(s) are interested in the same communities and that the answers in your respective housing applications reflect those choices.

6. Verify your roommate.

You've found the perfect match. Great! You need to verify your roommate or roommates by forming a roommate group in the housing application to ensure you are connected in the assignments process.

• Review our important application dates timeline and make sure you verify a roommate by the deadline. If you do not verify a roommate in the housing application, our staff will assign you a roommate.