Whether or not you chose your roommate, there are going to be things you like and things you definitely don’t like about them. The way you and your roommate get along can play a big factor in how your year goes.

Your roommate can affect your stress level, social life, sleep schedule and even your eating habits. I’m a freshman this year and have come to know that choosing someone to live with is more than just choosing someone who is nice.

I’m going to start off by saying I love my roommate. She is a fun, sweet girl and I love being friends with her, but she isn’t as organized as I am so sometimes it is hard to live with her because of my incessant need to clean.

We met over Facebook this past summer and really hit it off. Our personalities seemed to go well together, so we decided to be roommates.

We fight every now and then over little things such as the cleanliness of our room, but overall I got pretty lucky with my pick. Others, however, have not been so lucky.

I’ve heard so many stories of roommates fighting and hating each other. Everyone is different and has different sleeping patterns and study habits that sometimes it is hard to live with someone who isn’t the same as you are.

A recent study shows that roommates can now even affect each other’s GPA.

“I find that peers have an impact on grade point average and on decisions to join social groups such as fraternities,” said Dartmouth college researcher Bruce Sacerdote.

After joining social groups, studying may seem a little less important than having fun. In fact, my roommate and I let each other blow off studying and school work in order to go out and socialize and party. Especially as freshmen, we want to get the full college experience.

Going into sophomore, junior, and senior years it is easier to choose a roommate. By then you will have made friends and will have seen how other people live. The candidates for a roommate also decrease from all the freshmen you meet because of your university’s Facebook page to the friends you have met in your first year.

The first year of college can be rough, but if you have to go through it living with someone you can’t stand, it’s going to be even worse. When picking a roommate, be careful whom you chose or you may end up regretting it.