When college freshmen leave for school, it’s hard for them to forget about everything they’re leaving behind, like their family, home and best friends. Not every student  has to say goodbye to their best friends, because some best friends actually end up going to the same university.

Deciding on college can be hard enough for students, going to college with your best friends is whole other predicament. Many people view going to college with friends as controversial. Some parties argue that if good friends end up going together the students won’t branch out as much and make new friends. Others disregard that argument and go to the same college as their best friends; some even room together.

Last year, Sarah Herbsman ’15 and Larissa Lieberson ’15 both applied to Washington University regular decision and got accepted in early March. Throughout their time at Staples, Lieberson and Herbsman were in the same friend group, had a very close relationship, and hung out frequently. Not only did the two decide to attend the same college, they also decided to room together.  

“We decided to room together because it was kinda late in the game to find a roommate but also because we always have a great time together. It happened one day we both kinda turned to each other and were like let’s be roommates,” Lieberson said.

Contrary to common skepticism, Herbsman and Lieberson have had a wonderful college experience thus far; they have encountered few issues and have expanded socially.

“I definitely believe I made the right decision. Rooming with Larissa has been great because we’re similar in work ethic wise and socially. In high school we had a bunch of the same friends, so I knew we would like to surround ourselves with the same people. We’ve made a lot the same friends at school but never once did we hold each other back,” Herbsman said.

Like Herbsman and Lieberson, Elaine Wehmhoff ’16 and Brittany Hood ’16, very close friends, are both confidently attending Colorado State University next fall. As Facebook might say, when students from the same high school are going to the same college, “Next Four!”

Wehmhoff had been set on the school for its animal studies program, and she was surprised when her best friend decided to come along with her.

Wehmhoff and Hood discussed the slight possibility that they could be going to the same school together before Hood decided, “We decided that we have a really strong and mature friendship so after we laid it out and talked about it logistically, it was all just excitement from there,” Wehmhoff said.

Nor is she afraid about the critique of not expanding socially, Wehmhoff is confident, “Britt and I are excited to meet new people, so as a start to that, we’ll room separately. With that being said, Britt and I are probably going to end up in the same crowd. In my opinion, she’s one of the greatest people on earth so I’m going to want to continue to surround myself with people like her. Like I said, we have similar tastes, so I’m pretty confident we will find our way into each other’s social circles naturally, anyways.”

Not ignoring the potential fateful fear, “I think there’s a chance that friends can become isolated when going to college together if they don’t also branch out, so it’s important to both of us to make our own friends and lead our own lives,” Hood says.

These four students all agree that  going to college with your best friend can be a little dangerous, but are able to  acknowledge and strongly believe that both parties have to be flexible and socially independent for their situations to all work out.