You’ve been accepted at Grove City College and have made your deposit. Now it is time to find a roommate and our Offices of Residence Life and Student Life have provided some great resources to help you in the process. My hope is to lay out what they have for you and how to effectively use the tools they’ve provided for you.
Student Ambassador Hannah Bowersox (right) and roommate Tirzah.
The first step to finding a roommate at Grove City College is to use the Freshmen Roommate Finder Survey that can be found on myGCC under the “New Student” tab. I like to call this the eHarmony™ for roommates. Why? Because you answer a series of questions about yourself, your living styles, and rooming preferences. You are then provided a list of names of your fellow incoming freshmen who have answered similarly to you. From there you are encouraged to contact each other and communicate in order to determine if you want to room together. The end of the survey has a few lines for your roommate selections. If you both list each other then the system pairs you together. You will be assigned from the list of similar answers if you choose to leave the lines blank. For additional instructions, I would check your email and look for a message that was sent earlier in the month of May. The Roommate Finder Survey will be open and active until Monday, June 27. Note: everyone must use the Roommate Finder Survey to select a roommate. This applies even if you meet someone outside of the survey. You simply input the name of the individual you have agreed to room with on the roommate selection lines and they will do the same on their end.
Student Ambassador Zack Unkenholz (right) and roommate Josh.
Student Ambassador Daisy Bowersox (left) and roommate Emily.
There is, however, another way to find a roommate. On three separate dates during the month of June, the Office of Student Life and Learning will be hosting Summer Preview Days. These dates include numerous activities such as meeting with your Academic Advisor, learning about the computer you will receive in the fall, receiving your first semester’s schedule, and, of course, social time with your classmates and current students. For details, visit the Summer Preview Day page. Yet, if you have not yet selected a roommate you can use this time to meet someone to live with. It can also be a chance to meet with people face-to-face if you have been chatting after being matched on the survey. My younger sister, Emily (Class of 2015), met one of her roommates on the survey and the other at Summer Preview Day. They are all still close friends.
My sister’s story brings me to another point to mention. Women, roughly 50% of freshmen rooms in Mary Anderson Pew North Residence Hall (MAP North, or just North) are natural triples, so anticipate having two roommates. The remainder will vary between natural quads and doubles. Keep that in mind when you are taking the survey or meeting people at Summer Preview Day. Men, almost all of the rooms in Hicks and Memorial Residence Halls are natural doubles, so you should expect to have only one roommate. There are a few natural triples and quads but the ratio is significantly smaller than in the women’s residence halls.
Student Ambassador Emily Owen (right) and roommate Cianna.
Student Ambassador Emily Owen (far right) with roommates Cianna, Becky, and Bailey.
Remember the best way to find a roommate is to be yourself and start communicating with others in the incoming class. If you have no preference on who you want to be matched with, you can let the Residence Life Staff place you with someone. Again, everyone must use the Roommate Finder Survey.
If you have any questions you can either ask us in the comments below, email us at Admissions@gcc.edu or email Student Life and Learning at StudentHousing@gcc.edu.