Our son was just recently diagnosed his senior year in high school. He starts Chemical Engineering this fall at the University of Maine. It was recommended he didn't have a roomate to keep distractions down. He wants his friend from home to room with him. He is a year ahead and studies Biology something or other.
Any feedback on the plus and minuses of a roomate.

What is your son like socially?

He is social, likes to play guitar, piano. Likes to lead, but not a strong personality, can be a follower at times. Likes to spend time with friend, homework later sort of thing. As we speak he is making up for lost time with AP english. Excels in most of his AP classes, though Labs, reacher papers etc bring his grades down.
(sound familar)

better yet, whats the friend like?

I don't know about your son, everyone is different, but I would recommend not having a roommate.

I went through a bunch of roommates, and I couldn't live with anyone. I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until this year, and I couldn't understand why I had problems no one else did.

I couldn't study if someone else was there, the noise of them eating, or even breathing would drive me crazy and I had the same problems in the library (pens, shuffling paper noises ect). When I finally did get into a study groove, it seemed like that was always when my roommate would come in and turn on TV or talk on the phone and be like, well, just do it later....only somehow I never managed to. Plus, I constantly had fights about cleanliness (I see no reason to scrub the kitchen and bathroom every week, if it looks clean, it is...right?) although that might be less of a problem for guys...for some reason 'normal' girls seem to be so anal about cleaning.

I have my own apartment now, and it's great. I'd recommend your son try for a single; if he's a social type, he'll still be able to find friends and stuff without a roommate. Or if he is allowed to live off campus maybe try to find a 2 bedroom apartment--that way there would be someone there, but he'd still be able to go and shut out distractions to get stuff done.

Just my experience and 2 cents.

As a current college student who's been on both sides of the GPA scale (started off badly, being kicked out due to a less than 1.0 GPA, now starting over and have a 3.45 after my 3rd year, could have graduated but I'm going for Honours), I have to ask if this'll be in a dorm or a house/apartment. In the former case, your son will have [i]no[i] personal time to be alone. Distractions will be many. He won't get work done. And this has nothing to do with AD/HD, it has to do with college and dorms.

A single dorm room helps, he can shut his door and get some work done. There will still be distracting stuff going on in the hallway, but he should be able to block that much out, especially if he's now getting treatment. In an apartment or a room in a house, same thing. He's got a room of his own and a door, and can have quiet time.

Of course, this is based off my own untreated experiences in college. I've just been diagnosed and am awaiting my final clinical tests with the psychiatrist before getting treatment, so I'm in that uncomfortable "Know what's wrong, can't do a durn thing about it" stage. But, living in an apartment with a friend, I can say a door is a wonderful thing, even without a lock.

Personally, a roommate would be a bad idea for me. I can't go to study groups because I end up just talking with everyone and it becomes like a black-hole because then everyone just ends up talking and no-one gets any studying done. I'm usually the one who starts all the talking too, so I know it's me :-). But hey, maybe your son can juggle distractions and studying better than I can.

hey, i just got through my first year of living at college, and i can tell you, roommates can be both a blessing and a curse. i must say that my roommate was more of the former. he is definitely not ADD, and helped me in spite of mine. he worked well to remind me to go to class and to get my homework done. if i was slacking off, he would poke me with something and yell at me to get back to work. i hated it at the time, but i'm extremely grateful now. sure, he did his own things, such as drinking and such (nursed him through a couple of rough nights), but he was a good guy. don't give up on all roommates, the good ones are a treasure. be wary of video-gamers and movie-watchers: they'll suck ADDers down into a hole they can't deal with. (PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)

Well another thing too, is if cost is a problem........I had started back to college and would go to the campus library. I was like cool when I found out that they had areas that you could go to that were enclosed in glass and pretty much blocked out all noise. These are great for group study or for studying alone. Most university libraries also have the cubicles that block out distractions on the side of you. I found those to be a great help, but I had to make sure that I was not around people who were talking.

Also, if he does not have a room mate, and hallway noise distracts him, there is always the famous white noise trick. I do it at home and at work and that is a fan. It blocks out so much noise and distraction and has been a life saver for me more ways than one.