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Need advice for what to say to my current roommate...

Posted by ceregon Feb 24 '11, 11:14

The kid is a serious underachiever. Scored in the top 99th percentile on the SAT, had a 2.7 in his first 2 years, but did get a 3.4 in the last term. He has changed his major a couple of times and now says he wants to be a programmer.

He drank too much the night before a party that was going to be attended by a lot of game programmers and start up addicts and could have gotten some good leads on jobs or internships. He decided he was too hungover to go a couple hours before the party. My friends in this group joke that he's too much of a lightweight to work as a coder.

He was invited to a dinner party with me that was hosted by my friend who is Google's director of engineering and the HR manager in charge of interns was going to be there. AFAIK my friend put this together for the kid's benefit (he has helped my students before and helped one of my students get an internship and then a full time job at Google). The kid decided he didn't want to go the night before.

I got him into a closed beta for the new MMO Rift that my friend is the project manager for. After the beta he would have been invited to a paid focus group where several key company managers would have observed him. She also has three intern spots open for the summer. He didn't complete the signup process because he decided he'd watch all the back seasons of Bones over the holiday break.

He's on a partial scholarship to SCU and I know that his mom went back to work to cover the extra expenses. I have to assume the parents already know he's an underachiever.

I want to tell him I'm not going to go out of my way to help him anymore. He really needs a wake up call because if he graduates with less than a 3.0 he will not get a job in tech, especially if he's lazy and can't be bothered to work.

What do you say to a person like that? The rent money is nice but I'd honestly rather have a broke kid paying half that who works hard and wants to accomplish something.

Responses:

"You're clearly doing what you love so we'll leave you alone now." -- nm - con_carne Feb 24, 11:35
[deleted] 1
- You say that like it's a bad thing? -- nm - znufrii Feb 24, 11:36
yeah. time to stop helping him. if he complains, tell him to suck it up and put on his big boy pants. Life isn't free and you've done more than - sycor Feb 24, 11:22
Can you... uhm... kill him? - Mop Feb 24, 11:21
Holy fuck. Can I send you my little brother? - Dr.Vermin Feb 24, 11:21 1
- Is he a student? I don't really have an age limit. Isaiah lived here for 3 years and was 31 when he transferred. -- nm - ceregon Feb 24, 11:27
Just stop trying to help. If he ever complains about his place in life you can say something like "well, you didn't seem serious about the offers - Andie Feb 24, 11:19 14
- I would tell him you're not doing it anymore rather than just stop trying. Some kids like this are just clueless. I'm a big believer in clear notice - pmb Feb 24, 11:43
- I think the worst thing that could happen would be for one of ceregon's friends to give him a chance and the kid falls flat on his face. - Mop Feb 24, 11:22 1
  - Exactly. My previous roommates have a great track record, so my friends often ask me if I have somebody that needs an internship. - ceregon Feb 24, 11:24
- He's not paying the rent. Parents are (checks are very timely). He's only an OK roommate. -- nm - ceregon Feb 24, 11:22 10
  - you have done all you can do - move on to the next project room mate -- nm - Epiphany Feb 24, 11:22 6
    - New hobby. -- nm - Amy Feb 24, 11:24
    - yes. a hot chick next time please -- nm - dogbert Feb 24, 11:24
    - but, that's not fair. the kid didn't sign a lease and a life-coaching agreement. he is paying to live there. - Andie Feb 24, 11:24 3
      - CY would rat him out to his parents. ha ha. -- nm - amanda "training day" jones Feb 24, 11:24 2
        
        And zeitgeist would probably think he doesn't care because he's planning on a suicide bombing soon -- nm - Guigue Feb 24, 11:33
        
        this is going to be the most I laugh all day - dogbert Feb 24, 11:26
  - regardless of who is paying, the rent is being paid as promised. -- nm - Andie Feb 24, 11:22
  - then death it is. -- nm - Diva Feb 24, 11:22 1
    - agreed. I see no other way -- nm - dogbert Feb 24, 11:23
It's not your place to say anything. -- nm - decline Feb 24, 11:18
Don't say anything. It's really not your place, but don't help anymore either. -- nm - Inigo Feb 24, 11:16 3
- this and if he is ever late with the rent out he goes on his lazy ass. -- nm - Beaker Feb 24, 11:19 1
  - and definitely don't help anymore. It will start to make you look bad if you champion him and he either doesn't show up or bombs -- nm - Beaker Feb 24, 11:19
- yeah, I agree completely. he's a roommate. it's business. -- nm - amanda "training day" jones Feb 24, 11:18
"Is rent going to be delayed?" Nope. "Great, thanks." -- nm - Will Hunting Feb 24, 11:16 1
- Not cleaning up? Stealing? Nope. Great, thanks. -- nm - Amy Feb 24, 11:20

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Need advice for what to say to my current roommate...

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