Roommates In Grad School: Who Should You Live With?

By Francine Fluetsch on July 7, 2016

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

If you’re getting ready to enter the big bad world of grad school, this article is for you. After the admissions have been dished out and all of the academic related preparations have been dealt with, there is an important aspect that you need to tend to: who are you going to live with in grad school? If you don’t know anyone at your new school, you might be freaking out just a little bit —  I know I was — but it doesn’t have to be too much of a stress, promise!

Here are some options that you can weigh out, since I’m guessing you don’t want any more bad roommate situations like you may have had during your undergrad career.

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Your siblings:

Sure you might bicker, but living with siblings can actually be a really great option. You’re comfortable with one another, so bringing up grievances won’t be an issue, and you’ll always have a carpool buddy for family barbecues and such. Rooming with your sibling also makes the money aspects of living with someone much easier. Sharing food won’t be an issue, and you won’t feel bad about marking certain things in the fridge as yours since you’ve done it growing up with one another.

Also, a lot of siblings tend to grow closer as they get older, so even if you used to fight when you were younger, don’t rule out living together. You can have some fun nights staying up late and talking, getting to spend more time together, and you won’t have to deal with living with a stranger again.

Honestly, living with my sister was my top choice, but she doesn’t want to move to Orange County with me so I had to think up another solution.

Friend of a friend:

Even if you don’t personally know anyone who is going to be attending your school, I bet you that you at least know someone, maybe from your undergrad school or your hometown, who is good friends with someone going to your new grad school (the world is sometimes cool like that) so don’t be afraid to use these connections.

I know what you may be thinking — “Wouldn’t that be awkward? They would still be a stranger” — which is technically true, but your friend is vouching for them, so this is a better bet than being paired with a random person by the school.

As a grad student, you probably want to be living with other grad students, or at least with senior undergrads so they are more mature, and your connection can help verify their maturity level and living habits. This will be less of a gamble for you, and might be a great way to start meeting people.

Grad student housing pairings:

There is always the option of living in your school’s grad student housing with other grad students. This is a sure way to live with people who are on the same path as you and probably in similar age groups, but these housing contracts tend to be a bit on the pricey side and you are taking a gamble by being paired with a random roommate.

That being said, all these grad students have probably already lived out their crazy days in their undergrad career, and also had to go through the same grueling and competitive admissions process that you did to get into grad school, so chances are, you’ll get a decent roomie.

Living in a community of grad students would be a great way to make friends, and you’d be on campus, which can be very convenient.

Facebook groups for roommates:

There is most likely a Facebook group for grad student roommates linked with your school, so going on there can be a great option as well. Students can write a bit about themselves and what they are looking for, so you can browse through the posts and see if you would match with anyone, or create your own post. Right now is the perfect time to do this, because school is starting up in August and everyone is thinking about housing right about now, so I’m sure there will be tons of posts to look through.

If this page is run by an admin at your school, they may also post about roommate mixers actually happening on campus, so you’d be able to meet potential roomies in person!

Living with a random family:

Wait, what? I know that sounds weird, but there are actually a lot of families in college areas that rent out a spare room to college students, and they usually prefer grad students. This option is cool because families usually rent the room out for cheap, they most likely have it so you’ll get your own bathroom, and all utilities are usually included. To make sure this is safe, contact your school’s off-campus housing and see if they have any listings for you to look through.

I’ve been looking through the ones that are posted on Chapman’s website and have found so many promising places that I’d want to live in. Cheap rent and roommates that won’t bother you? Sounds pretty good to me.

As you can see, you have a lot of options when it comes to finding people to live with in grad school.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

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