Most students are on a limited budget. If you decide to room alone, you will have to pay all of the living costs yourself and this will limit your social choices and activities. If you have a roommate to share costs such as rent, electricity and household utensils, your financial burdens will be much less. Then you can spend more money on your social life and thus enrich your college experience.
At college, students have different course schedules and often have different study habits. So when you are at class or in the library, your roommate will be in the room for at least a part of that time and vice versa. You may not always go out socially at the same times or on the same days, so there will be someone there more often than if you room alone. It is more difficult for a potential robber to get to know two routines so that she can break in undisturbed than to know one.
Your roommate can become your best friend, not just at college but also for life. Remember that most students don’t know anyone when they first arrive and having someone to share with can at least give you some initial contact. Remember that it is often your first time away from parents and siblings. If you and your roommate work hard at getting along, you will both gain many advantages from having someone to talk to, to share things with, and to be like a small substitute family.
Some roommates will be following the same or similar courses of study. This is particularly likely if the rooms are on campus and the college or university has a policy of putting students from the same majors in the same accommodation areas. According to a study by Todd R. Stinebrickner and Ralph Stinebrickner, even if not following the same courses, peers can have positive mutual benefits with regard to study habits and not dropping out after the first year.