With college just around the corner, BSM seniors begin their search for a first-year roommate with the help of Facebook.

Facebook has changed the game when it comes to looking for a roommate. Each college has their own Facebook group called “College name, class of 2024.” In these groups, future freshmen post around six photos and a paragraph outlining their life along with a few hobbies and interests. “Facebook groups are a great place to make friends with people going to the same college as you,” senior Frida Fortier said. 

The Facebook groups provide a centralized location of future students attending that college. Although most of the posts are predominantly from the girls, boys still use the groups to find roommates. “I have joined the groups for each college I am looking at, but there aren’t that many guys posting so I haven’t posted either,” senior Matthew Nachbor said. 

Before Facebook, incoming freshmen either roomed with someone they knew or applied for a random roommate. “I went to high school with one of my roommates and we were friends so we decided to room. They had a shortage of rooms my freshman year, so we were paired with a random kid in our two person dorm room,” English teacher Mr. Ryan Hogan said. 

Many critics of the new system believe choosing roommates based on pictures puts a lot of pressure on people to focus their posts on their looks. “It’s almost like a dating app where we judge people based on their looks to see if we’d want to room with them. There’s not really a point when you can just go make different friends,” senior Mason McHugh said. 

Some people find rooming with a high school friend to be a bad idea, but they also agree that if they knew someone going to the same college as them they would consider rooming with them. “I wouldn’t want to room with a close friend, but maybe an acquaintance,” Fortier said.

On the other hand, senior Matthew Nachbor thinks about it in a little simpler way. “If they were tidy, I’d consider rooming with a good friend,” Nachbor said.

Students have many preferences when it comes to roommates. Some common themes are nice, neat, clean, similar to them, and fun. “I am looking for someone who doesn’t annoy me and who is clean and tidy,” senior Stevie Birch said. 

Senior Toby Curtiss’s attitude also reflects these themes. “[I] preferably [want to room with]… someone who is like-minded, has a similar work ethic, and hopefully smells good,” Curtiss said.