Sure, you're a little nervous about living with a new roommate. Just about everybody is. But, thousands of students across the country do it every year, with great success.
An important thing to realize is that it's probably best not to expect a new roommate to be your best friend. That might happen, but not without some luck and a lot of hard work. Instead, expect a roommate that respects you, your priorities and your property. If a great friendship evolves, all the better! And, remember, getting to know people who are a little different than you is a huge plus about going to college!
Panther Picks is a system designed to help you (and your roommate) pick someone with whom you can live comfortably in the year ahead. Just complete the profile about yourself. You can do this once you have completed your housing and dining contract.
Once you make a contact - whether you or a potential roommate initiates it - be sure to be friendly as you ask and answer lots of questions in the getting acquainted process.
Here are some tips about taking advantage of Panther Picks to sort through your options:
- Be as good at listening as you are at talking when you're exchanging ideas and information.
- Talk about some basics: names and nicknames; hometowns and families; reason for coming to UNI; current involvements at school and beyond; things looking forward to about college; favorite entertainment/ recreation.
- Ask about some other areas that could be important in determining who you would prefer as a roommate:
- Study (With music or TV? In room or somewhere else on campus? What time of day?)
- Room (How clean? How orderly?)
- Sharing Possessions (Which ones? What limits?)
- Rest (Amount of sleep preferred? Up early? Up late? Snoring? Alarm or radio wake-up? Snooze button?)
- Health (Workout routine? Eating habits? Handling stress?)
- Guests (How often? Romantic relationships? Out-of-town visitors?)
- Alcohol and Drugs (Likely use? Attitudes/values?)
- Communication (Quiet or talkative? Confront or avoid when there are problems?)
- Roommate Qualities (Priorities for living with someone? Expectations?)
How Panther Picks Works
First, you must complete a housing and dining contract to participate in Panther Picks. There will be a link on the confirmation page that will take you to the Panther Picks system. If you have already completed your contract and didn't choose to complete the personal profile, you can go to the Department of Residence Online Contracting page and use the View Contract link. There will be a link to Panther Picks.
A personal profile is created upon completion of the survey. You may search for other profiles with similar responses or you may search on the answers to just one question(s). The Panther Picks system will rank potential roommates in order of how closely their answers matched. The use of anonymous usernames ensures that the privacy of all parties will be maintained until each individual agrees to reveal their name and contact information. Your hometown, major and classification will be displayed in the search results unless you have a directory hold on this information. If you have questions about University privacy policies, please see this site.
Once a list of potential roommates has been generated using the search options, you have the ability to send a greeting message via email. The recipient of the e-mail contact then has the option to respond with their own contact information.
When you have found someone you feel would be a good roommate match and you both agree to be roommates; both of you MUST log back in to your online housing contracts and indicate that you want to be roommates. You will do this by including their full name and birthdate in the roommate request section. Please make sure that your residence hall choices are the same. Roommate requests must be entered prior to May 1. Click this link to select the appropriate contract to log in to (New/Transfer; Recontracting; ROTH). If you choose not to use Panther Picks, you will be notified of your roommate and room assignment in May.