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Uni Issues: What to Do If You Hate Your Flatmates

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28 November 2016

By Bronwen

It is impossible to be put into a flat or house with 5-10 total strangers and expect to become best friends with every single person. In most cases, you’ll at least be able to tolerate all of your flatmates and maybe you’ll really get on with a small handful of them. However, it’s more common than you think to dislike every single person in your flat. Maybe they’ve singled you out; maybe you’ve all had a fight; maybe you just don’t like their personalities. When this happens, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that your negative living situation doesn’t impact on your studies, well-being or general uni experience.

1- Be rational. Think about the situation and how long term it is. If it looks as though it’s gonna be awkward for the rest of the year, take further action then.

2- Ask to be moved. Most unis have no shortage of spare rooms reserved for these very circumstances. Just know that you’re not trapped.

3- Talk it out. This one’s a little difficult if your issue is that you don’t like their personalities. You can’t ask or expect someone to change themselves for you. However, if your problem stems from something that happened or certain behaviour, you could pull one of them to the side and talk to them calmly.

4- Try being more laid back. Certain things bother people more than others. For example, if someone keeps on leaving their dishes out or refuses to help keep the place tidy, that’s not a personal dig at you. Just look after yourself, put the person at an arm’s length and invest more time and energy into other people.

5- Make sure you have a strong circle of friends. That way, if things do come to blows and you can’t stand spending any longer than necessary with your flatmates, you won’t end up totally isolated staying in your room all day.

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