Do you get to choose your dorm roommate?

You can usually request a single, it costs 30 to 60 percent more, and it sells out first. Here is how assignment actually works.

Room types and rough Seoul pricing per semester:

- Double room: 900,000 to 1,600,000 won, the default and the bulk of the supply.
- Single room: 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 won. Limited numbers, allocated first come first served, and they go early.
- Some dorms offer triples or quads at lower prices.

These usually include utilities and often a meal plan option, which is why dorms remain the cheapest safe housing even at the single-room price.

How roommates are assigned: mostly randomly, within some constraints — same gender, and many schools deliberately mix nationalities so the room does not default to a shared language. Some dorms use a short questionnaire covering sleep schedule, smoking and tidiness, which does genuinely help. A few allow you to name a specific person if you both request each other, which is useful if you meet someone during orientation.

What to do given you are a light sleeper:

1. Apply for the single as early as possible. This is entirely a timing problem, not a merit one.
2. If a single is not available, complete the roommate questionnaire honestly. Saying you sleep early is the difference between a good match and a bad one.
3. Ask the dorm office whether a mid-semester room change is possible. At most schools it is, if a room is free — knowing that in advance takes the pressure off.
4. Bring earplugs and an eye mask regardless. This is the most common single piece of advice from students who lived in doubles.

And a genuine counterpoint worth weighing: a dorm roommate, especially a Korean one, is one of the fastest routes to both language and friendship, and students who took a double frequently name it as the best thing about their first semester. If the sleep issue is manageable with earplugs, a double for one semester then a single afterwards is a reasonable plan.