During the daytime apartment scene between Alex and Carter, on the refrigerator are cut out pictures of Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson from one of Quaid's other 2004 films, Flight of the Phoenix (2004).
The studio wanted someone from the cast of "That '70s Show" (1998) for the role of Carter and had originally given it to Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher dropped out due to creative differences, and Topher Grace auditioned and got the part. Grace had auditioned four times for the role, and had to convince producer Paul Weitz that he was right for the role, by highlighting his raising by his father, a businessman with sharp negotiation skills.
When Alex (Scarlett Johansson) is moving in to the NYU dorm, she and Dan (Dennis Quaid) walk past a poster in the dorm hallway. Showing an enormous marijuana leaf, the full text of the poster reads "Marijuana. Because Your Friends Just Aren't Very Funny."
The book that Alex (Scarlett Johansson) read in the café is "Early Short Stories" by Anton Chekhov.
Scenes from the movie were filmed at New York University's freshman dorm, Hayden Hall.
In Ocean's 12, Topher Grace references this movie by telling Brad Pitt's character, "I phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie" while being evicted.
Dennis Quaid's character is named Dan Foreman, sharing a last name with Topher Grace's character Eric Foreman from That 70s Show.