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Roommates

How They Are Assigned

Incoming first-year students choose their own housing assignment during the Room Selection processes. After that, the Housing & Residence Life staff manages room assignments based on several criteria:

  • Mutual roommate requests
  • Smoking or non-smoking preference (Please note that smoking is not allowed in any University housing facility)
  • Preferred sleeping hours
  • Semesters away from high school

Continuing students are able to self-assign and request preferred roommates through the online assignment process at my.tcu.edu. Room assignments in Fraternity and Sorority halls are made by the individual chapters.

Tips for Getting Along with Your Roommate

The majority of roommate pairs on campus are very successful. The following tips will be helpful in ensuring a good roommate relationship.

  1. Sit down with your roommate at the beginning of the semester and talk about your backgrounds, preferences and habits, emotional styles and moods, and personal values. This can be particularly helpful for those of you who choose to room with friends you have known before coming to TCU. Regardless of how well you may think you know your “best friend,” you may be surprised to find out some things you did not know before living together.
  2. Establish Ground Rules. After discussing your values and preferences, establish some ground rules by which you will live together. Some common topics upon which to reach mutual agreement include room cleanliness, borrowing each other’s belongings, study time, sleeping hours, visitation times, room security, etc. Write your agreements together in the beginning and it will help in resolving problems that may develop later.
  3. Ask for Help. If a conflict should develop at any point during the year, do not hesitate to go to your RA. If additional advice is required, you may approach your AHD or HD. Fraternity and Sorority residents may contact their RA or HD. Many times, students wait until minor irritations become major conflicts. Your hall staff is experienced in dealing with problems and can usually aid in resolution of problems between roommates. Working out differences with your roommate can provide a greater understanding of yourself as well as the other individual.