Every individual comes to college with a unique concept of cleanliness -- including what is and isn’t clean, who cleans and when cleaning needs to be done. If you come from a family of neat freaks and can’t take your roommate’s clutter, you’ll need to take the lead by offering suggestions for keeping the room organized, before your room begins to look like a cyclone blew through. When talking to your roommate about keeping the place tidy, be sure to actually define terms like “tidy” and even “organized,” since his concept of keeping clothes off the floor may be a far cry from your desire to antibacterialize the doorknob after every use.

As a “housewarming” gift for a notoriously messy mate, wrap up a large decorative storage bin and let your roomie know that you’ll kindly toss stray items into the bin if you find yourself dodging belongings to maneuver around the room. (It beats breaking a leg on the obstacle course between your desk and the bed.) Then, buckle down and wait for the day when your roommate grows sick of bin-digging every time he loses something -- it might just move him to organize himself. 

Rift No. 2: Someone borrows without boundaries