Who Gets The Big Room?

When you were younger you hated your brothers and sisters because you always had to fight over who got the big room, the new room or the better half of the room. Now that you’re in college and living in a student apartment, your reality isn’t much better.

Most apartments, whether it’s big or small, will have one room that is larger than the rest. And that means you’ll have a few things to decide that can’t be determined by rock-paper-scissors. Check out these plausible solutions for “the big room” and decide for yourself how you’ll handle your living arrangements.

The roommate with the big room will pay the cable and internet bill.

If cable and internet is fairly high priced in your area and especially if it is not included in the monthly rent for your student apartment, then you may want to consider the option of letting your roommate have the bigger room.

The roommate with the big room will pay 15% more rent.

If taking on the cable or internet bill is not your style or your roommate threatens to find a different apartment, suggest that the roommate with the bigger room simply pay more rent since that roommate will be occupying more of the livable space.

The roommate with the big room will do 10% more chores.

Some roommates will fight you tooth and nail when you ask for greater monetary compensation in return for giving them the bigger bedroom. They may even argue that they “have more stuff” so “it’s only natural” or “only fair” that they get the bigger room. If this happens, suggest that the recompense be more chores. If your roommate is vying for the big room and hates chores, make sure you’re suggesting an amount you can live with should they give it up to you.

The roommate with the big room will pay the utilities.

Again, monetary recompense may not sit well with you or your roommate as you bid against each other for the big room, but it’s always a nice offer when you’re trying to get what you want.

You’ll flip a coin. If all else fails, you can always flip a coin.

That way, you each have an equal chance of winning the big room in the student apartment. Beware this game of chance, though, as it may lead to “best 2 out of 3, 7 out of 8” and hurt feelings.

You’ll switch off each semester.

If you decide to split all of the chores and expenses evenly and agree that you’ll switch off each semester or every six months, be sure you get that in writing with your roommate and that you keep track of damages and cleanliness on each switch.
Naturally, if you already live there and they’re moving in later, you can consider taking the bigger room with no recompense for them.