For most people, the first year on a college campus is the first time they've ever lived with a group of strangers. It can be fun and exciting for students to meet new people their own age and to live without rules requiring them to go to bed early or to clean their rooms. For many students, dorm life is an amazing experience — but for others, it can be their worst nightmare.

Roommate horror stories are funny to hear and make for good conversation, but no one wants to live through them. There are roommates who simply don't have consideration for the people that live around them; there are also those who go out of their way to make life hell for others. Whether the offenses are intended or not, some roommates can make cohabitation miserable.

In her freshman year, Rebecca was assigned to room with someone who had the same major that she did. Despite this common bond, Rebecca disliked her roommate, and believes many people felt the same way.

"[When I would tell people] I got stuck living with her they would consistently say, 'You are such a saint for putting up with that girl,'" she says. "Amongst her worst qualities were her loud habits, [which included] consistent talking when awake or open-mouthed snoring when asleep."

Rebecca says her roommate barely realized she lived with someone.

"She insisted on using the floor of our tiny bedroom as her studio and she would usually work there after a shower, naked. Yes, naked. She [would] shed her towel often and work out her projects on our carpet."

High volume and overexposure aren't the only incompatibility issues roommates face. Mike was a member of ROTC his first year and had a very grueling conditioning schedule. His roommates would constantly wake him up at odd hours, disrupting his sleep. Mike says his roommates used scare tactics to get him to wake up.

"Well, there was the one time at 1 in the morning when I had to get up at 5 am and go running and they woke me up by sticking a plastic bag over my head. That was kind of scary."

Even when the wake-up calls were less violent, they were still jarring and inconsiderate.

"Sometimes [they] were just loud, in general. For example, one roommate every morning would get up at precisely 11 am to several ruckus minutes of Blink 182. He would do that whether you were sleeping or studying." Mike says.

One of Mike's roommates not only liked to pull jokes on him, but disturbed the other dorm residents, too.

"He'd push the elevator buttons and stand right in front of the elevator with a big stick and he'd smack the side of the elevator and yell at the top of his lungs when people started to get out on the wrong floor."

A basic lack of consideration like this also affects another roommate hot topic: chores. Even the simplest tasks go undone when one roommate has disregard for another. Carol shared a bathroom with a guy who had a habit of removing her laundry from the running dryer and who would let his guests leave trash all over the bathroom.

"The guy would forget to flush the toilet or he just wouldn't. I would tell him and remind him, but he just wouldn't do it." Carol says.

Elizabeth lives with two really messy girls, one of whom was particularly messy in the kitchen.

"I hide my dishes because she uses my stuff and doesn't clean it. She lets the dishes get moldy and chips them. I took her bowls out of the sink and put them in a Giant Eagle bag because there was mold all over them," she says.

Elizabeth recalls her roommate's dirty habits.

"I've seen her take her clothes out of the laundry basket and hang them all back up without washing any of it first."

Noel lived with a pack-rat and compulsive shopper who would overflow her space with online purchases.

"She would ... leave the empty boxes and their contents all over the room, her side and mine. There came a point where there were just piles of things around and on her bed. I never walked in our room with the light off for fear of stubbing my toe or tripping and landing flat on my face."

Jennifer's roommate won't even let her into the room. She locks her out almost every weekend night while she entertains various guys.

"Basically, the first three to four weeks, every weekend it was a different guy every night. One weekend, three different guys every night. She locks me out of my room without telling me first. I don't have a chance to get my stuff out. She told me later that one night she had a guy in her bed while I was sleeping in the bed next to hers. It's just disgusting."

Adria Greene, Coordinator for Assignment Operations in Housing Services, is responsible for room reassignments within Housing Services. Greene says most room change requests are made because of irreconcilable interpersonal conflicts.

"People suggest that we have a 20-page long survey to assign roommates. That's just not realistic," Greene says.

Greene has had over 30 reassignment requests this semester, which is low compared to over 100 room reassignments made last year. She says that some requesters only want to get out of the situation under the contingency that they be reassigned to a single, but more often, people are willing to take what they can get.

"When students request to change rooms, they generally just want to get out of the situation. About 70 percent just want to get out of the conflict and move anywhere," she says.

It's easy to blame housing services for a bad roommate assignment, but roommate horror stories happen off-campus, too.

Some students voluntarily live with friends or close acquaintances and still end up in bad situations. Willy lived off-campus and had the disadvantage of having the only bedroom without a bathroom attached to it.

"There came a point when everyone had a girlfriend and everyone's door was closed. I had to either go to the bathroom outside or in the kitchen sink. I had to move out so I could have a common bathroom that wasn't attached to anyone's bedroom."

Greene can't speak for off-campus students, but she encourages students in dorms to speak with their Resident Assistants, Community Advisors, and Housefellows before making room changes. Mediation can also be scheduled through local housing staff.