Living with someone you don’t know can be challenging – and a great learning experience.

It takes a daring student to decide to room with a stranger instead of a friend — and the results of the decision vary.

Students might end up with a new best friend, or they could find themselves filing for a room change.

Mary Kathryn Oliver, a sophomore from Athens, has always loved meeting new people, so she was looking forward to sharing a room with a randomly chosen roommate her freshman year at the University, but things didn’t work out as expected.

“We lived together for a few weeks, and then she decided to move out without telling me,” Oliver said. “She started living at her friend’s apartment, but kept all of her stuff at my dorm.”

Despite her experience last year, Oliver now lives at River Club Apartments with students she didn’t know prior to moving in.

“You get to learn about different things you’re not used to, so you grow as a person,” Oliver said. “Also, because you’re not best friends, you get your space.”

Leah Thompson, general manager for River Club Apartments, said residents are encouraged to live with new people. Instead of using a computer program, the River Club management staff reviews each resident profile card individually to ensure roommates are compatible. But residents cannot rely solely on this system.

“We highly encourage new roommates to sit down and set ground rules,” Thompson said. “If each roommate establishes what he or she is expecting out of the new living arrangement, the transition will be much smoother for all parties involved.”

Shay Little, administrative director for University Housing, said research shows students are happier when they have more control over the roommate assignment process.

“Students today rely too heavily on social networking tools to find out if they’ll like their roommate, and they don’t actually interact with them personally,” Little said. “We know from our research that it’s really all about communicating with each other.”