For first-year students at any college or university, the idea of living in a cramped space for eight months with a complete stranger is stressful, even terrifying. Some students, however, have found a way to avoid the struggle of finding the perfect roommate — or worse: leaving it to chance with random housing. 

 

‘I wasn’t comfortable with random assignments because I wanted to have a roommate who I could talk to about whatever and be comfortable around,’ said Christina Fieni, a freshman magazine journalism and anthropology major. ‘With a random roommate, the chances of meeting someone I have a lot in common with seemed too slim to handle.’

 

For thousands of incoming students who fear not knowing their future roommate, the creation of URoomSurf.com in February has been the answer to their prayers and an end to the dread of finding the right person on their own.

 

‘We developed URoomSurf.com after seeing students tediously trying to match themselves to compatible roommates by filling out long surveys and posting them on sites like Facebook,’ said Dan Thibodeau, cofounder of the website. ‘We saw an opportunity to create an easy and effective system that did this for students automatically.’

 

With more than 84,000 registered users, 724 of which are Syracuse University students, URoomSurf has seen its share of success. 

 

‘We have gotten great feedback from students, mostly telling us how much the site has helped them and how relieved they are to know they found someone they can share a room with in their first year in college,’Thibodeau said.

 

The website is not for everyone. Some students are simply unable to find someone they would want to live with for a year. 

 

‘I signed up for URoomSurf, but I didn’t find a roommate on it, so I just did random,’ said Brooke Elman, an undeclared freshman in the College of Human Ecology.

 

Regardless, SU students registered for URoomSurf to see if they could find the perfect person with whom they could share their freshman year. 

 

‘College is a brand new experience, and students will be exposed to all sorts of new things and people,’Thibodeau said. ‘Most students just want to know that in their dorm room, they can feel comfortable.’

 

Functioning as an online dating website for roommates, URoomSurf is an accessible website. Students choose a school, create a profile, and take a survey about personal characteristics and roommate preferences. The website then reviews the answers and chooses compatible matches of the same gender. In each user’s profile, students can share a brief self-description, hometown, intended major, interests and the activities in which they are involved.

 

Though the fees are a bit disgruntling, most students take the process seriously and are willing to upgrade to some extent, Thibodeau said. ‘To know they will get along with the person they are sharing a tiny room with is definitely worth a few pennies a day,’ he said. 

 

The first year of college will continue to be a stressful and overwhelming time. Trying to create the most comfortable living situation will still be difficult. But URoomSurf has found a way to assist students with an age-old problem through the power of the Internet. 

 

‘I did find an amazing roommate,’ said Fieni, who used the website to pick a roommate. ‘We live in Day Hall and make a constant running joke out of the stairs of death.’ 

 

URoomSurf is not only helping members find compatible roommates, but also helping them create lasting friendships. 

 

‘I’m very happy with my roommate choice. With the website, we were able to talk months in advance and really get to know each other,’ Fieni said. ‘So when we both finally moved in, it was like seeing a familiar face that you could tell anything to.’

 

dmodiama@syr.edu