After taking her chances with a random roommate assignment for her college dorm, Claire Grosman, senior, didn’t find the connection she was hoping for.

“When I got my roommate assignment, I reached out to her on social media and we just didn’t connect,” Grosman said.

When she applied for housing at the University of Missouri, Grosman originally elected to live in a Freshman Interest Group (FIG), a special dorm for students of the same major or job field. After she received her assignment, though, she realized the FIG wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

What she realized was she wanted to find roommates and friends who weren’t in the same field as her, rather than confining herself to people with similar interests to hers.

She relinquished her assignment on Wednesday, and has instead taken the social media route to finding a roommate. Her college, like many colleges, has a freshman class Instagram account where students can post profiles of themselves hoping to connect with other freshmen.

“Once I posted on the Miz’ ‘27 account, a girl reached out to me and we instantly clicked,” Grosman said. “We’re both going to reapply and request to room with each other.”

For Grosman, and the 80% of students attending 2 or 4-year colleges, according to the College and Career Center, finding a roommate is a pressing issue.

Rohan Jain, senior, had planned to room at the University of Missouri, with three of his good friends from MHS. They wanted a four-person suite style room, which includes four separate bedrooms and one shared bathroom.

“We ended up doing two double rooms,” Jain said. “The style we wanted was really popular, so we knew it’d be pretty hard to get.”

Although the change wasn’t anticipated, and he now only gets to room with one of his friends instead of three, he still looks forward to college and the freedom it entails.

“They’re all my friends and I know it’ll be fun,” Jain said.

Once high school friends, seniors Anna Volk and Marisa Hale, found out they were both going to the same college, the University of Arkansas, they also started thinking about rooming together.

“When I found out she had decided on Arkansas, I was very excited,” Volk said.

They’ve brainstormed room decorations, hall locations and types of rooms. They both felt rooming together relieved a lot of stress for them going into college in a new city, where they’ll know far less people.

“I was really set on having a random roommate. I wanted to meet new people,” Hale said. “But after I thought more about it, I wanted to have someone I knew there with me to make the transition easier.”

Hale said because she and Volk hadn’t been best friends for years, merely in the same circles, she thought they wouldn’t have issues fighting or not getting along. They could use this time to become closer and grow their friendship.

“Once we started hanging out more, I realized we’d actually be a really good match for each other,” Hale said.