Hearing the words “forced triple” brings both good and bad thoughts to you. If you’re a freshman, forced triple means you’re on Upper, not Newton (which can be good or bad depending on whom you talk to). When you’re a sophomore, it means you’re on Lower in your 6 or 9-man, and the housing lottery didn’t fail you completely. But it also means somehow fitting three people into a traditional double with only two closets. Sure, having a forced triple can mean some nice things, but more often than not the reality of living in one isn’t always so nice. So here are some tips for surviving the housing death sentence.
1. Confine your mess
This is simple enough: keep your stuff in your designated area. Your roommates will thank you. In my forced triple, I am definitely the messiest roommate, but I try really hard to keep my mess to my area. Sure, that means it looks like a bomb went off on my desk and there is more dirty laundry outside of my laundry hamper then in it, but it isn’t all over the room. Your roommates will be grateful (and if they aren’t, then talk to them about what can happen to decrease tensions caused by your messiness).
2. Communicate with your roommates
Since there are three of you in the room, there is a good chance that there are going to be some conflicting schedules. For example, roommate A goes to bed really early, but roommate B likes to study in her bed late at night, and roommate C enjoys studying with groups. Just talk about what the expectations are going to be for the room. It is much better to get everything out during the first week instead of not talking and then having a major blowup a month in. Your roommates will be understanding and will work with you to come up with a schedule, or something similar.
3. Make compromises
Do not expect your roommates to completely bow down to you and your schedule. So what if you need to study for your midterm the next day and your roommate wants to get some sleep? Leave the room. You are going to be in a confined space with these two other people for an entire year, so it is extremely important to try and avoid stupid arguments like this one. Trust me, a stupid side comment can spark a lot of problems down the line, so just try to avoid them when you can.
4. Don’t freak out about hangers
That might sound stupid, so let me explain: since there are two closets and three people, someone is going to have to share a piece of both closets. And when that happens, hangers might “disappear.” It’s different when there are two people in the room because each person has their own closet, so hangers will more than likely stay in the closet. But when someone is sharing two different closets, hangers that originally belonged to roommate A will be used by roommate B, and then when she is hanging up her laundry she might use roommate A’s hanger in roommate B and C’s closet. Do not lose it! If your roommates are open with it, just share hangers until the end of the year. If your roommates aren’t open to that, try to keep your stuff organized so something like this doesn’t happen.
5. Have fun!
Forced triples will take a while to get used to. It’s going to take some time to figure out your roommates and how they operate, and the fact that there is less room than needed can get annoying. But you have two people in your room that you can share everything with. You will spend so much time with these two people that you will know when to ask them how their midterm went, and when to quietly leave the room so they can vent to their parents about how they are failing school. You will have inside jokes and a million laughs, and there is nothing better than getting ready to go out because you have two people that are just as excited as you (and often will volunteer to do your makeup or hair. Don’t decline!)
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