Hi and congrats on getting accepted! You definitely posted some good questions here, and I'll do my best to answer them.
Roommates are chosen initially for freshman by the resident life office. They do a really good job at trying to make sure you're matched up with someone who is very compatible with you. You'll eventually get a survey in the mail that asks you to fill out some information about yourself, like what time you go to bed, what time you wake up, when do you like to study, what type of music do you listen to, etc. After that, they try to set you up with someone who matches the description you have made of yourself. It's a really good system, and I barely remember anyone having a problem with one another in my freshman year.
You have some really great questions about financial aide and scholarships too. However, I think you would be much better off asking our Admissions department about all of that. Each applicant is assigned their own Admissions Counselor based off of where they live. If you don't know who your counselor is you can call the Admissions Office at 674-3349 and they will transfer you to whoever you need to talk to. This way, you can get detailed information about any form of aide/scholarship you might need.
The cost of books varies by year. Freshman year is relatively inexpensive compared to other years when you will get deeper into your major. However, when I say cheaper, I don't mean under $100. Any school you go to charges about the same amount for books and other materials, yet there's a few ways you can save yourself money when you go here. First, don't wait until the last minute to get your books. If you go to the bookstore early they have plenty of used books available at a much lower cost than new ones. Also, we have a link in our website where you can view books that other students have and are selling for a good price. This way, you can find what you need, call up the student who is selling the book, and purchase it from them at a very low cost.
Each dorm room has a line for a telephone. It's no extra cost to you to use the line either. You do have to bring your own phone to plug into the jack though, as the school does not offer a phone for every room. You can definitely get away with not having a land phone though, and if you use your cell phone you will be fine. Either way though, the option is available for you.
I would say that almost everyone I know has their own computer with them on campus. The majority of students here bring laptops, yet you will find a few people with desktops as well. You can get away with not bringing one, and there are plenty of computers you can publically access on campus, yet it is always nice to be able to do your work in your own dorm room.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope this all helped you!
Erin Rossick (rossicke@misericordia.edu)