Bancroft Hall

USNA2K12

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
27
Are roommates assigned to each other or are they allowed to choose? Do mids on the same sports teams room together usually? Do they keep the same room mate all 4 years at the Academy?

Sorry. I was just wondering about these things and I haven't seen anything being discussed about it.
 
Well, I'm sure Kamikazi will be along soon to give the best answer, but let me at least give you some historical perspective in the meantime...

Plebe year, your roommates are assigned. You will most likely have zero choice. It comes with having zippo on your shoulderboards. :wink:

In my day, you had SOME leeway during your 3/C, 2/C, and 1/C years, but even then, the roomies were all from the same company. The higher you went in classes (3/C, 2/C, etc.) the more leeway you had, but you were still restricted to within company. Rooms were doled out by rank and lottery.

At that time, there was no provision made for rooming members of sports teams together. I wouldn't count on that being any different now.

Concerning who you keep for 4 years, I am uncertain what the "scramble" policy is these days, but in my day you could conceivably have the same roommate for as many as three years, and in VERY rare circumstances (dictated entirely by blind luck), you COULD conceivably end up going for 4, but that was almost entirely unheard of. The odds were simply too high against it.

My roommate and I (we are still friends, BTW), were roomies for 2.5 years.
 
During Plebe Summer, rooms are given out randomly. Most rooms are 3-mans; there are some nice 2-rooms and 4-room "apartments." I have heard of rumors of a 6-man (with two showers!), but I think there's only two of those in the Hall.

After Plebe Summer, it is mostly up to your company to dole out room assignments for plebes. In my company, we had a choice, but we mostly stuck to our same squads (those were the only people we knew anyways). As plebes, you mostly all room in the same area anyways (typically the less desirable rooms with little or no cell signal; aka "the Plebe Shaft").

As the school year goes on and your close friends change, etc., you can change pick new rooms and roommates for the new school year. You rarely change rooms at the semester mark. Of course, 1/C get first room choices, and it goes down the line from there. Some rooms in a company area will always be known as a firsties room because they are of a desirable design or location.

For females, being so few of them (about eight per class in a company), rooming choices are a lot more limited, so those rooms tend to stay the same.
 
The process in my day was the same as Z's. However, there were fewer women (we had 5, so had to room in some combo of 3 & 2 for four years).

After 3/C year, even the guys typically had the same roommates each year. The devil you know . . . After four years, your roommate is either your friend for life or someone you never want to speak to again.

Cell phone reception was not an issue. :smile:
 
To be honest with you Kamikazi, I didn't even know we were allowed to bring cell phones with us. Haha.
 
Well, we'll take them away from you during Plebe Summer (but give them back to you for your two or three phonecalls home), but you'll get them back at the end of the summer.

There are phone hookups in the room, but you can only dial local numbers. Anything else, you'll need a phone card. Everyone just uses cell phones now but reception is spotty in some parts of the hall (all the concrete, rebar, and the rumored lead shielding in the walls).
 
I don't know if you ever have a free 20 minutes during the day, but if you do, would you be allowed to take a walk outside and talk to your parents on your cell phone during the Academic year if you don't get service in your room?
 
Yep, mine had to go outside all of last year as no reception. This year he has had reception. You are not rated to use the phone during mandatory study time. Also, Mids can not walk and talk on their cell phones. Mine usually called just before heading into the library.
 
Eh, you always could...But no one does...School days are school. You always have something to do.

However, once the school day is done, then yeah, you see people outside on Red Beach talking on their phones. Also a lot at night. But never during the day.

Just because you don't get service in your room doesn't mean that you don't get it at all the Hall. You get some pretty good service by the windows and the outside breezeways and you see lots of people there after working hours, but Plebes aren't allowed to talk on their phones in the p-way. You'll have to go outside probably.

Here's a hint though: If you have a Bluetooth, you can probably stick your phone at some wierd angle by the window in your room and talk fine at your desk. That's how I do it. I would never be able to hold the phone to my ear where I place it, but the Bluetooth makes everything work out. All you need is one bar!
 
Wow. That's a great hint. I'm not usually one to sit around and talk on my phone but I do like to have a nice chat with my Grandmother about once a week because she's old and even though she has 10 grand children, I'm the only one who ever calls her so I would still like to be able to talk to her at least once a week if that's possible.

Thanks for all the info though. I feel like I'm going to be as prepared as possible before I get there.
 
Back
Top