As the next school year looms closer and housing applications are being sent in, students are beginning to stress over the possibility of being incompatible with their randomly selected roommates.
Residential Life’s solution is RoommateClick.
RoommateClick is a new online service offered by ResLife that matches students to compatible roommates.
RoommateClick questions students about their living habits, like the times they go to bed and wake up, how they study and their interests, according to Steve Waller, director of ResLife.
Third-party software company Lifetopia provides the service, which is currently available online for students who live on and off campus, Waller said.
“Only about 5,000 students live on campus, so that means there’s potentially 23,000 students out there off campus looking for a roommate,” Waller said. “You just have to fill out a simple profile, answer some questions and your identity is masked.”
Because students must log in to RoommateClick with their PAWS account, student security is maintained because no one outside of the LSU community can create an account, according to Waller. Only the student can reveal who he or she is, and matched students communicate directly through the website.
There are mixed reviews on the effectiveness of RoommateClick, Waller said.
“The effectiveness depends on who fills out the survey and how honest they are … It might not be as effective if someone’s mom fills it out for them,” Waller said.
The Freshman Leadership Council and the Residence Hall Association suggested the initiative two years ago. Waller said ResLife decided to put RoommateClick on a two-year pilot program. It took a year to develop the contract and get the program online.
Tulane University and the University of Southeast Missouri have used RoommateClick for the past few years, so it is not a brand-new service, Waller said.
“You won’t get matched with someone opposite of you. It might even be someone you can hang out with,” said Cody Juneau, wildlife ecology freshman.
Elisabeth Ducoing, animal science freshman, said she had a friend from New Hampshire who was paired with an incompatible roommate, and it hurt her relationship with the University.
“I think [RoommateClick is] a good idea since it would really help out of state students to make friends,” Ducoing said.
 
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Contact Meredith Will at [email protected]