NROTC Dorm Room Mate

Having another ROTC roommate "assigned" can be a double edged sword. If they are both friends or very compatible then it works, but our son had an "assigned" roomie his freshman year and it was not good, they were two different types of people and just sharing ROTC was not enough to make it good for either of them. Our son is engineering and has tons of after hours work, his roomie was Statistics and had nothing after regular class hours and liked to go out or have people over in the evenings.

Maybe a lot depends on the type of dorm. If it is a single room with two beds and two desks and a mutual head, could be problems. If it is individual bedrooms and bathrooms and a common area then it is easier to "slip out" or "in" at various times. Our son elected to move off campus Sophomore year, pick his roommates and live in a house where everyone can come and go and do whatever is reasonable without effecting the others as the bedrooms are on the second floor.

It may also be a matter of the particular school "providing" free room and Board. If that is the case then choices will be limited if you want that perk. IMHO, if you are offered free housing and meals and can live with other ROTC students it helps because you have others to study and work out with handy. Makes it more of an "academy" experience and may help if one has problems with fitness or academics.
 
DS had a follower golfer as a roommate thinking they might be better with schedule and practices, etc.

They were total opposites and the kid (son side of the story) lacked motivation and slept 24x7. Or was doing hw (late at night) while DS was trying to sleep.

DS was usually up at 4:50 for MS4 shuttle (5:45) to the PT grounds. Golf team workouts are at 7.
Usually roomie never showed or was late, so lend itself to more frustration I think.
Coach just recently "cracked down" on no shows to practice.

The young man eventually got his mom to call and have him moved to a different room. Which I was sad to hear cause I hope they would use the reslife command to resolve any conflicts, but oh well. Shame as well. They had become friends over the summer via instagram and snapchat

Both have single rooms now so win win I guess.
 
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We will see what happens. DS has friends who are a year or two ahead of him at both the cross-town affiliate and the host NROTC unit. He may end up living with them. But I think it would be better for him to live on-campus as a freshman. We will do our best to request a compatible roommate.
 
I went with a roommate on my athletic team. He's a health and fitness fanatic too, so early morning workouts at the gym and 8 hours of rest each night. We're roommates again this year.
 
Impulsive said:
Having another ROTC roommate "assigned" can be a double edged sword. If they are both friends or very compatible then it works, but our son had an "assigned" roomie his freshman year and it was not good, they were two different types of people and just sharing ROTC was not enough to make it good for either of them. Our son is engineering and has tons of after hours work, his roomie was Statistics and had nothing after regular class hours and liked to go out or have people over in the evenings.

Maybe a lot depends on the type of dorm. If it is a single room with two beds and two desks and a mutual head, could be problems. If it is individual bedrooms and bathrooms and a common area then it is easier to "slip out" or "in" at various times. Our son elected to move off campus Sophomore year, pick his roommates and live in a house where everyone can come and go and do whatever is reasonable without effecting the others as the bedrooms are on the second floor.

It may also be a matter of the particular school "providing" free room and Board. If that is the case then choices will be limited if you want that perk. IMHO, if you are offered free housing and meals and can live with other ROTC students it helps because you have others to study and work out with handy. Makes it more of an "academy" experience and may help if one has problems with fitness or academics.
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Great post. Just wanted to add for the good of those evaluating programs that also cover room and board, that at some schools the students are provided a double occupancy room and a 14 meal per week plan if they are also bringing ROTC scholarships for that year (4 year for freshmen) or as long as they stay on campus. the amazing perk though imo is when they become upperclassmen they are given a check for their merit scholarships directly, per semester as an alternative to that room and board - So for my DS he lives off campus but gets a check that covers his rent, utilities, annual parking pass, limited meal plan on-campus (like 5 meals a week by choice), and a some money for groceries. It's a pretty amazing setup to actually MAKE a little money from this and cover so many bills. Compare that to the cost of room and board or off campus living etc at schools that don't offer this over 4 years and it adds up.
 
My DD and her roommate get along very well but ends up their schedules are opposite. DD gets up at 0445 and roomie joined a sorority and can get in at 0300 some nights. Bummer that they both have to sneak around the room and be quiet all the time. I would support your DS considering a fellow ROTC roommate.
 
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