Senior Mallory Turner imagines her dorm and prepares for her June orientation, but there is still one detail she cannot visualize: her future roommate.

“I am attending Oakland University in the fall,” Turner said.  “My friend is undecided right now, but if she chooses to go there, I am going to room with her. If not, then I am going to be assigned a roommate.”

Other students are using forums and social media to find and contact possible future roommates attending their universities.  Colleges create pages for students to search one another and surveys to complete that match students based on shared behaviors, interests and values.

“I joined U of M’s class of 2018 forum to try to meet a roommate,” senior Sarah Hamilton said.  “I met some genuinely strange people.  I also found one very promising girl, but my housing is due in a few days so I think I’m just gonna go in and see what happens, but the forum I used was useful.”

Committed college athletes such as senior Ellie Pohlod are taking a slightly different approach.

“I am going in blind,” Pohlod said. “I might have the option to room with two girls that have also committed to Marywood’s cross country team though. I’m running cross country and track there.”

Senior Mitch Campbell, though, is not leaving his roommate choice up to chance.

“I’m going to Michigan State next fall,” Campbell said.  “I’m rooming with friends I already know from Fenton – Daniel Xiong and Thomas Pilarski.