Yeah, I don't know how the roommate-matching thing really works.
I had nothing in common with my dorm roommate... in fact, in was almost like some bullshit "Odd Couple" remake; I'm a slob, he was neat, I was introverted, he was gregarious as hell, we had different tastes in music and movies and everything. About the only thing we both liked was watching Simpsons reruns (times have changed; it would probably be Family Guy now). We were even polar opposites physically; he was a tiny, too-handsome, vaguely effeminate dude, and I'm a fat hulking ugly bastard. And he was a sophomore, while I was a freshman. Fortunately, we were both pretty easy-going. Then he changed rooms and bunked with a friend down the hall, and I had a double room to myself for the whole second semester, which was awesome.
You never know who you'll get along with as a roommate. Years later I shared a house with my best friend and his girlfriend. It should have been awesome, but it really sucked. We could never get a schedule of chores worked out, and his girlfriend would end up bitching at me for not doing things I didn't know I was supposed to do. Meanwhile I was pissed because I was paying half the rent on the expectation of using half the space, but they wanted my shit crammed into my rooms unless it was display-worthy. We all moved out by mutual agreement after the six-month lease was up, and it's a damn good thing it wasn't a yearly lease because we were at each others' throats as it was. We're all friends again now, but I'm never living with another person again if I can help it. As long as I can afford to live alone, I will.
I realised with a jolt this morning that there's a major gap in my Necessary Grown-Up Knowledge (tm).
My Necessary Grown-Up Knowledge (tm) basically has more holes in it than a sponge, but without the ability to soak things up well. I've learned the hard way to find people who know things, and ask them as many questions as they will tolerate. While the question of credit cards and bank accounts has by now probably been answered, what I would suggest for someone who wants information is to go to a bank and sit down with a personal banker to discuss it. Explain your situation, and they will suggest an appropriate solution. Not much money going in, likely to have a very low balance at month's end? Get a checking account with no minimum balance and some overdraft protection if possible. That sort of thing. As for credit cards, I agree that debit/atm cards are much more useful and less dangerous, generally, but it can be nice to have a credit card with, say, about $1000 or so limit in case of emergencies. Also, they're useful for building credit; buy something on the card, not too big, and pay the balance down over time instead of just paying it off when you have the cash (which would seem sensible). Paying down a (
reasonable and
manageable) credit card balance will help you establish a good credit rating starting out.