Trying to survive your freshman year in college? Here’s some advice on roommates from the book “How to Survive Your Freshman Year” (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $12.95), straight from people who’ve done it:

“My roommate and I talked via e-mail before we came to school. We realized we had a lot in common. We both play guitar and we were both bringing acoustic guitars. Then we got here and we realized we both have completely different tastes in music. But we get along really well. We compromise really well. If it’s time to clean the room, we don’t fight about it. One of us volunteers and it gets done.”

—Reid Attaway, James Madison University, Freshman

“Keep an open mind. I talked to my roommate on the phone and I was totally convinced that I wasn’t going to like her. She sounded like a person who was very different from me, but now she’s one of my best friends. I was lucky it worked out that way. People came and hung out in our room and stayed on our futons. It was a great time.

—Lauren, Georgetown University, Sophomore

“Use your ingenuity to get a good roommate. When you are listing what you are like in the application for roommates, be honest. I know a guy who pretended to be a ‘stay in and study’ kind of guy, and he got stuck with a roomie who never left the room and had a sleeping disorder. If he had been honest and said he liked to party this would not have happened. If you get a bad roommate get out of it before it gets worse. The longer you wait, the harder it is.”

—Judson Kroh, Carnegie Mellon University, Junior

“I was told I would have just one roommate my freshman year. Little did I know I’d have a permanent visitor: my roommate’s boyfriend. He was like ‘the guy on the couch’ — he would stay Friday to Wednesday, always on the couch, on my computer, or even on my bed when I came home from class. Although I was open to guests, I had to tell my roommate I was sick of having a dude in my space all the time. It didn’t go down well. Soon she moved down the hall into a single; she set up her very own love nest.”

—Lisa G., New York University, Junior

“The other day, my roommate asked me to leave the room. I asked why. He said, ‘You know.’ He wanted to be alone, if you know what I mean. So I left, for like an hour. That’s one of the things you have to put up with when you have a roommate.”

—C., Columbia University, Junior

Hundreds of Heads Books’ survival guides offer the wisdom of the masses by assembling the experiences and advice of hundreds of people who have gone through life’s biggest challenges and have insight to share.