After long months of stressing and waiting, college admission season is finally coming to a close.
By April 1st, almost all colleges will have returned their decisions to hopeful high schoolers, welcoming in a new era of excitement as students begin to commit and finalize their future plans.
And with this commitment comes a new search – the search for a college roommate.
If you’ve watched any college-related movie, like Pitch Perfect or The Social Network, then you’ll know that there are thousands of horror stories about miserable freshman year roommate experiences. Luckily for current seniors, however, there are now countless Instagram pages for college freshmen to introduce themselves and search for their roommates based on photos and a quick bio, almost like a mini-dating app service. And while this method of searching might not be perfect, it allows for a higher chance of roommate satisfaction, as well as just an introduction to future friends, than the random pairing done by colleges.
Keeping this important decision in mind, I’ve decided to take a deep dive into some of these college bio pages to give a few tips and tricks for seniors when searching for their roommate and when posting their own potential bios.
So, without further ado, here’s the Do’s and Don’ts of college bio pages:
Do write an interesting and unique bio!
These bio pages are meant to allow for future freshmen to find people who share specific interests with them. And so it is crucial that you write a bio that truly reflects you as a person. Reflecting back on her experiences searching for a roommate, Marissa Carbajal ’24 agrees with the need for uniqueness wholeheartedly: “I don’t want to read about how you ‘love to go out but can also enjoy a night in’ – that tells me nothing. I’m looking for people who enjoy watching the MLS, crochet, or who talk nonstop about dogs.”
Rather than be surface level about yourself due to fear of judgment, take the time to let your true self shine, and know that you will find people who like you for you.
Don’t post bad photos!
In addition to the bio portion, college bio pages allow you to post up to ten photos introducing yourself to your fellow classmates. These photos provide an opportunity for others to see you – both your face, your interests, and some of your personality.
So, do not post low quality photos of yourself, or photos that are not appropriate for introducing yourself to your class. You don’t want a scandalous bikini pic or a distastefully blurry photo to be your classmates’ (or your college administrators who run the bio pages) first impression of you as a student.
Senior Keira Lambert adds: “It’s still a college, and while it’s good to express yourself, you still want to keep it appropriate. Also, post good pictures! No blurry or bad photos of anyone.”
And, in terms of bad quality photos and bad looking photos, Lea Monroy ’24 shares a personal red flag on college bio pages: “When they don’t show their face in the photos, or are covering their face with their hand, or just show their side profile and you can barely see them.”
Although looking “aesthetic” seems nice, it’s better to show yourself fully than attempt to seem cool and mysterious with a back-of-head photo.
Do post yourself being a high schooler!
Although this might seem like a given, the temptation to embody the “aesthetic” or “perfect” bio post seems to motivate seniors to make themselves look older and more sophisticated than they are, like a celebrity posting an update to their fans rather than an introduction. We want to see the photo of you playing trombone for your school marching band, or the photo of you snowboarding at your favorite vacation spot, because it gives more context about who you are and what you like to do.
Senior Madison Lising agrees, saying: “A major college bio green flag is when they post a prom or dance photo that show their style, face, and that they’ve had a similar high school experience.”
Although it might be nerve-wracking to give personal insight on your life to your future class of strangers, being genuine and showing your life as a high schooler makes you seem much more human and relatable to your classmates.
In addition to these bigger Do’s and Don’ts, here’s a few smaller, more self-explanatory tips for your college bio posts:
Don’t post pictures of just your friends!
It’s perfectly fine to post pictures with friends, but be sure to include at least one single shot of yourself in your bio so others can easily identify you.
Do specify what you’re looking for in a roommate if you have specific needs!
Since the main purpose of these pages are to introduce incoming students to their fellow roommates, don’t be afraid to specify if you have specific needs for a roommate, or a specific residence hall already picked out, in your bio.
Do post pictures with pets!
Everyone’s a sucker for a cute picture with you and your pet or an adorable animal!
Don’t post on the bio pages unless you are committed to the school!
The amount of bios that I’ve seen opening with “I’m not fully committed to _____ school, but it’s one of my top choices!” has been really surprising. Although it’s tempting to put yourself out there with a post, I strongly recommend that you wait to post on a college’s bio page until you are fully committed to that college to avoid any potential complications with roommates or admin unable to remove your post if you commit somewhere else.
And that’s pretty much it for college bio pages! As long as you keep these basic Do’s and Don’ts in mind, you should be on track for a perfect, self-reflective post that’ll attract lots of future friends.
Good luck roommate hunting, Royals, and congrats on getting into college!