Roomie rat race

A fresh batch of seniors is preparing to graduate, leaving their underclassmen friends to pray great roommates grow on trees.

Jacob Kelley, student at Southern Union, lives close to Auburn's campus and has gone through multiple roommate searches.

"The thing is, you have to be patient," Kelley said. "No matter how organized you are, when you are waiting on other people it will never go as fast as you want it."

Tacked up on bulletin boards with flyers for tutors and drummer wanted ads are flyers for roommates including tear-off phone number strips.

Molly Ann McCown, senior in hotel management, said she felt the flyer was a long shot, but got plenty of responses.

"The people who called weren't always what I was expecting," McCown said. "Some of them were very old and others had crazy requests; they didn't make the cut."

McCown said she had people ask to bring snakes and even a monkey to live in her apartment.

"I'm all for pets, but it has to be a more traditional pet," McCown said. "I didn't really want to come home to snakes in my bed or a monkey swinging from the ceiling fan."

Instead of posting flyers around campus, Kelley chose to list his extra room on Facebook and Craigslist.

"You still get all the Auburn people checking your stuff out without having to make some flyer nobody will see," Kelley said. "It's better for me because I can do it all from my couch. Plus, I don't really like giving out my phone number like that."

While Facebook and Craigslist are both free to use, McCown had some reservations about using the services .

"I felt I would get more crazies or something through Craigslist," McCown said. "It's always risky, especially for people who post their address and still live there. That's just asking for trouble."

Once someone has listed for a new roommate and received calls, it is important to be up-front about the expectations each have for the living arrangement.

Ali Walker, a graduated student in elementary education in 2008, said being soft about your standards can come back to haunt you later.

"Most people know to ask about how tidy the other person is," Walker said. "Don't forget to ask how often they have guests over, if they work more during the day or night and their partying habits."

Kelley said sticking true to what is best for you is the most important thing during the search.

"Just because you're a guy and a hot girl responds or something like that is no reason to let someone move in with you," Kelley said.

"This is someone you will see multiple times a day so it's really important they fit well with you."