This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You’re listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU on the Web at wichita.edu.

Larson: “Yeah, it’s nice when roommates, when they meet somebody on campus, whether it’s through a tour, through its orientation, through a specialty program, honors program, something like that when they can meet somebody, and then we’ll match them up. And we’ll easily accommodate that. We want them to pick their roommate if they can.”

Larson says it’s not unusual to have a high success rate of matching students as roommates.

Larson: “When we try to match people, we know that we’re going to get about 80 to 90 percent success rate just from basic questions. And I think a lot of it is going in with the right attitude of these students knowing they’re going to have a roommate, knowing it’s going to be new, knowing it’s going to be some transition. And we’re happy with that success rate and sometimes it doesn’t work, and when it doesn’t work, we want to make good changes.”

According to Larson, there’s a higher level of success in finding compatible roommates when he gets prospective roommates talking and communicating.

Larson: “When we’re matching roommates, we really want to be sure that they’re talking and communicating. And part of that is through open-ended questions. Part of it is not the yes or no stuff. Tell me something you like to do. Tell me about some of your personal interests. Get them talking and that’s the way we get success. Once you get them talking and communicating, we know we’re going to have a higher level of success.”

Of course, no system is perfect, and a match that looks good in theory doesn’t always work out so well in reality.

Larson: “We like to look at it as the honeymoon stage. Sometimes these roommates are not going to work and within two to three, maybe four weeks we know if it’s not going to work. Then we want to sit down and have a conversation with them and get them out of there. But sometimes it just doesn’t work. No matter what questions you ask, it’s just not going to work.”

Larson says that helping students find a good roommate is a huge piece of their transition into college.

Larson: “Well, with roommates we find out that sometimes it’s not a good fit. And when it’s not a good fit, you know, sometimes it’s a personality conflict. Sometimes it’s interests, and it just doesn’t work. From a housing department, we want to sit down with them at that point and make sure they’re going to have a good match because it’s a huge piece of their transition into college.”

And Larson says there are some reasons why new roommates sometimes struggle to get along.

Larson: “Well, most students, before they come here, they have their own room, they have their own bathroom, and then all of a sudden now they come to college. They’re in a residence hall room. They’re sharing space with someone who’s an arm’s length away from them, and they’re sharing personal belongings. They’re sharing a bathroom. It’s tough for them sometimes. I think we understand that it’s tough for them and we want them to acclimate themselves by having open-ended questions and working with our staff.”

In most situations though, the roommates not only get along, but they become good friends, as Larson explains.

Larson: “I will say that most of the time your first roommate is somebody who will actually, you’ll know for a long time and become good friends (with). I remember back in college who my roommate was. I think it’s tough because you go into it not realizing what this relationship is going to be, but once you live with somebody and you go through those personal, you know, sharing bathrooms and sharing personal space, you get this connection with them, and it’s neat.”

It’s no surprise that communication is key. Some students are neat. Others are messy. Some are early birds, others are late night owls. But students who are willing to compromise and communicate stand a good chance of making things work.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.