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How to Cope with a Roommate Who Loves to Party

Group of young friends eating pizza in home interior

For some students, ending up with a roommate who loves to party is great news: you’ll never be bored, and it will be easy to maintain an active social life. However, if you’re more interested in studying hard and getting enough sleep, you may need to take action to ensure you’re still able to live comfortably and achieve high grades. Here’s what to do if your roommate seems to enjoy partying much more than you do.

Set Some Ground Rules

Ideally, you’ll agree to rules right when you move in, but your roommate may cross boundaries that you didn’t expect. In this case, you’ll need to sit down and have another conversation. Some things to discuss may include keeping to the terms of the lease and finishing parties by a certain time. It’s crucial that you both find the new rules acceptable to prevent resentment that will only make your living situation more uncomfortable.

Keep the Conversation Cordial

When you need to talk to your roommate about parties, it’s important to be cordial. Jumping straight to complaints, getting angry, or being judgemental will mean the conversation is far less likely to go your way.

Agree to a Party Schedule

If your roommate is inviting friends over to your apartment throughout the week, a reasonable compromise could be to allocate particular days as party days. This could be one night a week or a couple times a month.

Try to Enjoy Yourself

If possible, look at parties in a new light. They could be a good opportunity to socialize and meet new people. Even if you’re not a big fan of parties, you may find that you enjoy attending them at least occasionally.

Block the Noise

In some cases, you may be unable to attend your roommate’s party because you need to study for a test or get enough sleep for an early class or another commitment. The noise from the party may stop you from being able to concentrate or fall asleep. The solution is to block the noise with either earplugs or a white noise machine. Either of these are good investments anyway, as they can be useful for more than just when your roommate is having a party.

Ask Your Roommate to Do a Fair Share of Cleaning

Another reason you may dislike your roommate’s partying habits is because of the mess that remains the next day. This may increase chores for you, such as if it’s your turn to clean some of the areas impacted by the party. Explain to your roommate that you’re happy to continue with your share of the cleaning but that it should be the host’s responsibility to tidy up any mess caused by a party.

The best thing of all to do is find a roommate whose lifestyle matches your own. This may mean moving out of your current accommodation and searching for a room for rent. Waterloo students can take advantage of the roommate matching service at MyRez. Before you move into our student housing, we’ll ask you to fill out a profile card that specifies your social habits, and we’ll use this to find you roommates with similar preferences. Contact us now to secure a spot in a suite with roommates you enjoy living with.

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