During your first or second year of college you will undoubtedly be living in student housing – in a small cramped room with a roommate you will be forced to get to know. However, it isn’t all bad: you can learn a lot from your roommate, you get to decorate your room according to your own personal taste and you will have a lot more freedom than if you were living at your parent’s house. Yet, there might be some issues that you should know about before you move in.

Here are 5 common dorm life issues:

1. One of the biggest dorm life issues is cleanliness. Most of the time it is an issue of clutter, but sometimes it can be an issue of germs too. You might have a roommate that just can’t organize their side of the room and it is inching closer and closer to yours. There might be dirty socks and underwear not put in a hamper – either yours or your roommates. You might also have plates and cups covered in old food. Because a dorm room is so small it is easy for it to get messy and unorganized, so it is important to take measures every day to keep it clean.
2. You might also have a roommate you don’t get along with. This can be incredibly frustrating, because you will have to live within ten feet of this person for up to a year or more. There are a number of ways to rectify this situation, like having a set of rules or guidelines. If it gets so bad that there is no solution for peace in sight, you can always discuss the problem with the dorm resident assistance and/or request a room change and more often than not they will find someone else that fits.
3. Another common issue is privacy. When you are sharing a room with someone in a hall with dozens of other students, you will no doubt run into a situation where someone accidently walks into your room, or your roommate walks in, without knocking. College can be a time of a lot of exploration so this can end up being a bigger issue than you think. However, there are a number of preventative measures you can take to let people know you want some private time, like putting something on the door handle or developing a schedule system with your roommate.
4. There is also the issue of a dorm room being too unbearably hot or cold. In the summer time, colleges might run the AC system at full blast, which can end up being incredibly uncomfortable, especially at night when it is too cold to sleep. The same goes in the winter, when the heat is on full blast. A good way to prevent this is to have the college contact HVAC services so they can control the temperature in the room.
5. Lastly, mold can be another big issue. Because many dorm rooms are small with not a lot of ventilation, mold spores can start to grow and cause some nasty health problems. If you notice mold around the vents or in the dorm showers, let the dorm RA know so that the administration can correct the problem.