Housing 2013: Testing Friendships

Towards the end of term, the task of finding a student house is the top priority of Exeter students. Year after year, mayhem ensues as a result of trying to decide who the best people to live with are. The same dilemmas, the same problems, the same indecision occurs whilst making these important choices. House mates can be said to make or break a friendship and decisions surrounding your future room-mates are definitely tough- especially when you are drowning in a mountain of deadlines. There is the constant debate which plagues most; who makes the cut? Who will my future housemates be? What if things don’t work out?

You want your friendships to last throughout you degree and hopefully into later life so this is a very important decision to make – it may seem trivial but trust us- you need to think seriously about potential housemates. As one friend remarked ‘you actually just need to be really selfish and think about what you want rather than what you think everyone else wants’. This advice could not be more true ladies. If you are not happy in your house than your house will not be a happy house.Thinking about the semantics of living together is precisely what you need to do. Mundane questions about basic hygiene, tidiness and duties may not be the most exciting of qualities in a house mate but before you rush off in a blur of hyper enthusiasm these issues should probably be addressed before signing your lease. And then on top of all these issues, do you go for same sex or mixed. This is totally up to how well you know your friends; if you are happy for the toilet seat to be left up or find make-up sprawled absolutely everywhere then the housing world is your oyster. Evaluate what you want in your housemates and stick with it. HCX would perhaps recommend not choosing to live with your current boyfriend of the time as this can get pretty sticky if unfortunately things do not work out!

Remember just because you are friends with someone, does not mean you will necessarily mesh well living together so keep this in mind when making decisions. Make sure you are open and honest throughout and hopefully your friendship will remain unscathed! Don’t be offended if anyone would prefer not to live with you as they could just be hoping to preserve your friendship! The great thing about Exeter is that it has pretty concentrated student area, meaning even if you don’t live together you will still be able to see your friends all the time!

If you are still feeling confused about who to choose, HerCampus Exeter has summarized a quick list of last minute advice for selecting your future housemates:

1. Try to live with people you know you will be able to tolerate for a whole year.
2. Try to live with people who have similar views on budgets, paying bills, cleaning and hygiene standards, socialising, guests staying, broadband and TV packages.
3. Try not to live with your boyfriend or girlfriend- it may seem romantic but if it goes wrong it is totally awkward!
4. Between 4-6 people is a good number, any lower and you will likely get annoyed with each other, any higher and you will struggle to find a property you can all agree on.
5. Think about what type of people would fit in with your personality. Try and think about your actual self rather than your ideal self.

Overall this is quite an important decision, however don’t over think or stress too much about it as things will settle into place! If the gang of Fresh Meat can survive living together, you can survive an unfortunate house mate choice. If not, there is always next year! For more advice about finding the most perfect student house, follows our handy guide!

Photo Credits: www.tvthrong.co.uk,  www.hotspurandargyle.co.uk