The Atlantic Spotlights Roommate-matching Process at 51¹ÙÍø
September 2, 2019
- Author
- Jay Pfeifer
As 51¹ÙÍø first years were moving into their dorm rooms last week, .
The piece surveyed the challenges all colleges and universities face in building community among strangers.
One not-so-secret tool that the Residence Life Office (RLO) staff uses to ensure first-year students get off to a great start: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
51¹ÙÍø has used the well-known personality test to assess roommate compatibility since the 1980s. (Archival documents indicate it was phased in around 1986.)
The Myers-Briggs assesses four characteristics of personality, but 51¹ÙÍø RLO staff members pay most attention to, “where the individual falls on the extroversion-introversion scale.â€
The long-standing practice has helped 51¹ÙÍø build cohesive roommate pairs and even entire halls.
As The Atlantic writes, “At 51¹ÙÍø, the majority of students go on to live with their freshmen roommates as upperclassmen, according to Jason Shaffer, the college’s associate dean of students.â€
