Bad First Impression and Poor System of Assigning Roommates

I am giving CEA a 1 star for their disappointing first impression and for their poor system of assigning roommates. I have studied abroad once before, through a different program, where I had no problems with roommate requests. If anything, roommate requests should make CEA’s job easier when it comes to matching roommates. I had requested to be with my friend back in November, and I was with her when she accepted my request. That should be a big enough indicator that we wanted to be together. CEA is claiming that I needed to also accept her request which seems like a whole unnecessary second step. When I called CEA to ask about our roommate assignments, they were able to see that we had requested each other. When I asked why they did not honor our roommate request, they were not able to give me a valid reason. Not only am I not roommates with my friend, but she’s not even in the same building as I am in! I would have been less inclined to complain if she going to at least be placed in the same building as me. CEA should make roommate requests a bigger priority because some people choose to be roommates because of plans to borrow/share clothes, toiletries, electronics or so they can split bills on groceries or taxi cab fees, etc. It is not only inconvenient, but it also adds an unnecessary risk to our safety. Our travel plans include us arriving to airports and train stations late at night and it is unfortunate that we now have to take separate routes to get to our own apartments instead of us just staying together. It is obviously safer to arrive back to your apartment with someone, so if two people knew that they would be with each other the majority of their stay, I don’t understand why CEA would not want to honor their roommate requests. I have worked incredibly hard to save money for this program and it is so disappointing that this program does not try harder in granting roommate requests. I have talked to other people on this program and they too have said their roommate requests were not granted. I will not let this roommate mix up incident ruin my trip, but hopefully CEA proves to be more accommodating, organized, and hospitable for the remaining of the program.