Howdy. So, first of all, the rooming process is something that’s highly personalized and considered for each student. Before you arrive at Bennington, you fill out a housing application to Student Life where you’re asked questions about things like: when you go to bed, when you wake up, how messy you are, what you like to do for fun, etc. etc. ad infinitum. The idea is for Student Life to get the best sense of your personality that they can from the application.

From there, the Dean of Students reads each application and pairs each student up with a roommate (in relatively rare cases, students can be placed in triples or quads; but speaking as someone who has lived in both, I’ve never really lacked for floorspace in either situation). From that initial pairing, the Dean takes the roommates and places them in houses that fit their lifestyles as best as possible.

Another component to the roommate thing is that every semester you and your roommate will write a Roommate Agreement with one another, as facilitated by your House Chairs. The agreement offers a really good chance for you and your roommate to have an open dialogue about what your values are, how you’ll solve disagreements, and what your policies are on guests, noise, and mess. Having that direct line of communication, in my experience, has always been a really valuable resource in ensuring a harmonious living situation.

-Evan ‘13