How do you screen your housemate before living with a stranger?

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Gauss44

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My biggest concern is ending up on a lease with someone who has a serious hidden problem like a drug issue. I am thinking that I should order a background check on potential housemates and aim for a housemate who is also a pre-med or at least some kind of professional or pre-professional like an RN, lawyer, etc. I am also very clear that I would like a quiet housemate.

How do you screen your potential housemates?
 
Never thought about doing a background check lol... If you are capable of getting into medical school, and tell me you don't have a drug problem, chances are I will take your word for it. Maybe I am far too trusting.
 
Gauss44 said:
My biggest concern is ending up on a lease with someone who has a serious hidden problem like a drug issue. I am thinking that I should order a background check on potential housemates and aim for a housemate who is also a pre-med or at least some kind of professional or pre-professional like an RN, lawyer, etc. I am also very clear that I would like a quiet housemate.

How do you screen your potential housemates?
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Room with friends or people you know already.
 
Talk to the person, ask about lifestyle questions (how neat and tidy are you, do you like to have people over for parties, do you like a quiet house, etc). Otherwise referrals from friends are good. I don't really recommend living with good friends.
 
Everyone is a stranger .. Even your future mate ...
 
I don't know what kind of people you guys are, but living with roommates was one of the more formative experiences of college for me.

I lived in a house of 6 for 3 years, they're now life-long friends.

Ya'll just need to learn about compromise and communication.
 
A background check likely won't tell you if someone is a bad roommate. In my experience though my best roommates have always been the random ones, my worst have when I planned to live with friends. Best way to look them up is via social media cause that'll tell you a lot more than a background check.
 
Gauss44 said:
My biggest concern is ending up on a lease with someone who has a serious hidden problem like a drug issue. I am thinking that I should order a background check on potential housemates and aim for a housemate who is also a pre-med or at least some kind of professional or pre-professional like an RN, lawyer, etc. I am also very clear that I would like a quiet housemate.

How do you screen your potential housemates?
Click to expand...
You will always find something you don't like in your roommate. It's part of growing up, it's never going to be perfectly quiet when you study or take exams so you might as well get used to it
 
I would say the most two important things by far are 1) figuring out whether your roommate likes to party and have friends over 2) matching your level of cleanliness. Passive aggressive notes about dishes in the sink will KILL roommate relationships.
 
heebeejeebies said:
I don't know what kind of people you guys are, but living with roommates was one of the more formative experiences of college for me.

I lived in a house of 6 for 3 years, they're now life-long friends.

Ya'll just need to learn about compromise and communication.
Click to expand...

How large was that house?
 
Hospitalized said:
How large was that house?
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Pretty big house. It's common at my university though. Currently live with 5, it's nice having people around to hang out, vent, watch a movie etc.

But all you have to do is close your bedroom door and you have your alone time.
 
I'm in my 30's, and have had my fair share of living with roommates when I was younger. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's not. As an independent adult, I would never want to go back to living with roommates. Once you live alone, you'll never want to go back.

I could save a lot of money by having a roommate while I attend medical school, but paying the extra money to be on my own is worth it. OP, if you can swing it, don't do roommates.
 
JulioJones said:
A background check likely won't tell you if someone is a bad roommate. In my experience though my best roommates have always been the random ones, my worst have when I planned to live with friends. Best way to look them up is via social media cause that'll tell you a lot more than a background check.
Click to expand...

RT to the part about living with friends. I lived with 2 people I'd known well for 2 years and only after living with them did we all realize that we just do not get along. I couldn't have known beforehand. It's luck of the draw with any roommates, whether they are friends or not. Also they both would have turned up with perfect background checks... you don't have to break the law to be a complete dingus lol. But anyway, I'd meet prospective roommates first, and gauge how much they value manners and being considerate, that's the most important quality in a roommate IMO.
 
I've had sooo many roommates throughout college, grad school, and my first (low paying) job. A few were randomly assigned by my school or people I found online when I moved. People will be very straightforward about drinking/smoking and drug use but the most important thing I found is to find someone who matches your temperament. I'm more introverted and I got along great with all my roommates who were similar. They were fun to have around and spend time with and when I needed to study, I knew I wouldn't have to bang on their door to ask them to turn music down or ask that their 13 friends take the party out on the patio. When I lived with more extroverted roommates, stuff like that usually happened and then the tension started to fester. They were all great people that I could've been friends with, but living together under high pressure situations like med school or grad school just makes temperament clashes even more pronounced.
 
Right from the start, set up your conditions and rules or whatever. The first time I met one of my roommates, he listed out all of these conditions and told me about this crazy story with an old roommate who did x, y, z. Well, we actually got on really well, and he later told me he made up that story about the psycho roommate. He only told me that story to make it seem like he'd gone through hell and that he was a no-nonsense kind of person (his mom's advice). It worked. So maybe consider...exaggerating things a bit lol. Someone who just wants a place to live in and isn't interested in causing trouble won't try to make you bend or conditions/rules.

Also...try to get to know the person a little better, just through conversation. Within a minute of interacting with our third roommate, the friend I mentioned earlier and I knew that this new guy would be trouble. Not problematic in terms of legal issues or whatever, but problematic because of huge personality differences.
 
MrLogan13 said:
I could save a lot of money by having a roommate while I attend medical school, but paying the extra money to be on my own is worth it. OP, if you can swing it, don't do roommates.
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You can still save money and live on your own if commuting to school is an option. It's well worth the savings and a great excuse to turn down invites from classmates to do stuff.
 
If you live with other grad students then you can rely that they were already screened by their respective schools
 
Spector1 said:
just cough up the money to rent your own place if you are picky about who you live with. Otherwise, there isnt much you can do.
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MrLogan13 said:
You don't. Live on your own. The extra money is worth the peace of mind, trust me.
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IlDestriero said:
I would live alone unless there was absolutely no other options. It's just so much easier.
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Agree with all. Living alone is far better than living with strangers for obvious (non-financial) reasons. If you have to live with someone to save money, at least try to find a friend or a classmate to live with, but honestly it's not worth it.
 
solitarius said:
You can still save money and live on your own if commuting to school is an option. It's well worth the savings and a great excuse to turn down invites from classmates to do stuff.
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I do it all the time. lol "I have to go before traffic starts." haha
 
i found my first room mate ever on the internet when i was 18. **** got really weird when he started doing meth so i moved out. then i saw him on the news, hes serving 25 years for kidnapping, rape, and sodomy.
 
genericpremedstudent said:
i found my first room mate ever on the internet when i was 18. **** got really weird when he started doing meth so i moved out. then i saw him on the news, hes serving 25 years for kidnapping, rape, and sodomy.
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holy s**tsnacks!!!
 
hypericum said:
I would say the most two important things by far are 1) figuring out whether your roommate likes to party and have friends over 2) matching your level of cleanliness. Passive aggressive notes about dishes in the sink will KILL roommate relationships.
Click to expand...

Guilty.
 
genericpremedstudent said:
i found my first room mate ever on the internet when i was 18. **** got really weird when he started doing meth so i moved out. then i saw him on the news, hes serving 25 years for kidnapping, rape, and sodomy.
Click to expand...
You don't like meth?
 
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