You’re worried about rooming with a stranger but before you get too nervous, stop and ask yourself: What kind of roommate will you be? Face the challenge of a roommate with a smile and an attitude of compromise and you’re bound to have a great time.

1. Food: whether in the cupboards or refrigerator – will your food share space or will it have its own? If your food isn’t going to co-mingle, you’re golden. If, however, your food needs to cohabitate, divide the space, and make certain you only eat what’s yours – no matter how tempting that leftover Chinese food looks.

2. Who’s going to clean the kitchen? Rule of thumb: you dirty it, you wash it. If necessary try to set up a timeframe of when dishes will be cleared up. You may think they need to be washed and put away within five minutes of using them, your roommate might think washing and clearing can be done within 72 hours. Compromise may be in order.

3. Will your room be the place to hang out? Are you both good with that idea? Sit down and have a frank talk about visitors – both daytime and the idea of overnight guests. Set boundaries early on. Have a big test at the end of the week and need extra quiet and study time? Talk about it with your roommate and see what can be worked out. Remember, you both have to compromise to make it work.

4. You can’t even begin to nod off without the soft flickering lights and the sounds of the laugh track on the television. Your roommate needs utter silence and darkness, or vice versa. Headphones and a sleeping mask may be in order if you can’t come to a compromise. Perhaps you could invest in a white noise machine that projects images on the ceiling?

5. Hey, that’s mine! Yes, you may have a roommate who thinks nothing of borrowing your last sheet of paper, or who rummages through your drawers when they can’t find a pair of clean socks. Or maybe you’re the offender of that rule. Operate under the assumption that what’s mine is mine, unless told otherwise. Ownership and boundary issues should be discussed up front.

Sharing a room with a stranger can be fraught with pitfalls but if you catch them soon and talk about them, you have a good beginning toward a great school year.