With the expanding world online resources, “going potluck” is not a student’s only choice for finding a college roommate.

Uroomsurf.com is a website that helps college students find a compatible college roommate by using a survey system. According to Uroomsurf.com, potential roommates are put together based on percentage of their matching answers.

Leah Heefner, a freshman kinesiology major, said she found her current roommate on Uroomsurf.com.

“I honestly just wanted to see what it was,” she said. “I wasn’t going with the intention of finding a roommate.”

Heefner and her roommate, Rebeccah Gould, were matched on the site as 98 percent compatible, she said. So far they have gotten along well.

Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life Heather Miller said the program could offer positive results.

“Any resource that a student can use that makes them feel empowered that they found somebody on their own, I think, is great,” she said.

Heefner said she used the site and all of its services for free when it was in its developmental stages.

According to Uroomsurf.com, the site began to charge a fee for members to upgrade their accounts and use the site’s services when it fully launched in April.

While some students credit their successful match to the site, Director of Housing and Residence Life Craig Allen said he wants to make sure students do not feel the need to use aides such as Uroomsurf.com.

Allen said Housing and Residence Life gives students survey questions that are used to match them based on the information collected.

“It’s potluck as far as students not knowing who they are going to room with, but it’s not random,” Allen said.

Freshman chemistry major Callie Brown said she chose to find a roommate on her own. Brown said the matching system that goes into potluck is not as thorough as it could be and the survey questions the university bases its roommate assignment off of should be more in-depth.

“Connecting with somebody takes a little more than questions based on habits,” she said.
Miller said, “The whole point is to have a great college experience, but if you’re stressed out about your roommate then that takes away from it.”

Allen said the Office of Housing and Residence Life staff discussed tweaking some of the questions that are asked in the roommate assignment survey. Even with services like Uroomsurf.com, only a third of freshman are coming in with a preferred roommate.
“There is no giant unmet need for a service like Uroomsurf.com on the TCU campus,” he said.