If you thought the days of chores were over when you escaped the tyrannical rule of the parents, you are in for a big disappointment. Dormitories can be crowded places, and living in close quarters with someone you know very little about can mean disaster when it comes to cleanliness and order. No one wants to continually step over pizza boxes and plow a path to the bathroom every day. So it's important to discuss cleaning and organizing with your dorm roommate early on. Divide the basic chores such as dusting, washing dishes, sweeping, removing trash and organizing personal items. Agree upon a place for dirty, and clean, laundry to be and where food and other common items should be kept.
Scheduling can be tricky in college. No one has the same precise class schedule, so get a weekly calendar to hang on the wall and sit down with your roommate and fill out the times when each of you will be away from the room. Also discuss reasonable times when there should be quiet in the room for sleeping or studying. This will help both of you plan on when you can complete homework or study without being disturbed and when you may need to go to other places like the library. Remember to compromise so it is fair to both of you.
You have to eat, and often a meal at the cafeteria or campus grill is not an option. Odds are you'll have a refrigerator in the room and will need to have some kind of grocery supply. Talk to your roommate about what you like to eat and the things you plan to keep in the room. If you have common items, reduce your cost by taking turns buying those items. Also designate an agreed upon amount of space in the cupboard and refrigerator for each of you.
Communication is obviously the key to a successful roommate situation. Establishing rules with one another early on is the most important factor to increase the chance you'll enjoy living together. Talk about rules concerning the hours when it is OK to make excessive noise in the room, what to do if one of you has a romantic encounter in the dorm and any other topic either of you feels is appropriate. You'll also want to state that rules are always up for debate and can be changed if something is making someone unhappy.