VMI Roommate Permanency?

HMQ

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
107
To anyone in the know, I have a question that pertains to whether or not the roommates you are assigned on Matriculation Day are the same you will have throughout; and if not, how things can change. For example, while unlikely, could a Rat be left alone in a room through attrition, and what will happen to him/her.

Looking foward to Cadre Week in six weeks!-
A Soon-To-Be Rat
 
My son was a rat last year - so can tell you our experience - he had a room of 3 other cadets -one left after parents weekend before thanksgiving - in january he returned with 1 cadet added to the room to keep it at 4 cadets. This may have been because of the barrack renovation or this may be what they do. I believe that there are rooms with 3, 4 or 5 cadets in them - so it just depends.
Returning for his 3rd class year, the cadets can put in who they want to room with, but not the specific room- they are awaiting room assignments last I heard.
If you attended STP - the roommates you had then ARE NOT what you will have come August.
Bruno is excellent - alum and has son currently there - I am sure he will give answer soon -
Good luck
larry's mom
 
I'm an alum. I'll speak on how it was in the late 90s...I imagine it hasn't changed much, but who knows?

Cadets are assigned to a room Rat year with 2, 3, or 4 other people. You room with people in your company, and have no say over who they are. Attrition may cause some of the people to leave your room, and it may allow for other people to move in when that happens. As tpg has alluded, this is dependent on the rooming situation in Barracks at the time stuff happens. During my Rat year, I was initially assigned to a room on the third stoop, which is traditionally where sophomores live. I didn't even spend one night there, as I was assigned to a room on the 4th stoop before dinner on the first day (Room #400 in Old Barracks, in case anyone cares). A dude quit on the first day, and there was a spot for me up there.

I was in my 4th stoop room with 4 other cadets initially; however, one quit right after Hell Week ended, and we were down to four total cadets in the room (myself and three others). They did not move another Rat into the room for the rest of the year. I do know of some of my BRs who had roommates added during the year for one reason or another, although it wasn't all that common. It could happen, though.

As an upperclassman, you get to pick your roommates. They do not have to be from the same company, which is the case for Rat year. You live on the stoop assigned to your class. 3rds (soph.) on the third stoop, 2nds (juniors) on the second stoop, firsts (seniors) on the first stoop. Room assignment is handled by class officers, or at least it used to be (the Class Historian was in charge of room assignments in my day).

Hope this helps.
 
Got a few minutes while in the Charles de Gaulle Airport terminal so I'll try and answer this- Larry2013 has it pretty much on the head though..
As a Rat - they will give you your room and your roommates by company and they will try to balance out the room size should you drop a couple. They won't take into account who your STP roommate was.
3rd class year and beyond you get to pick your roommates after your Rat year and bid for the rooms you guys want. Room sizes will vary from 3 to 5. You can change at the end of the year if the room decides that they want to add or drop. Typically you will get rights to the room below you starting 3rd Class year with a few exceptions as some rooms are either over an arch or they want the room for honor court members. It works out pretty well all things being equal- so short answer is - if you have a room mate that is oil to your water- you get to bring in the skimmer at the end of the year and clean up the situation (sorry small BP allusion). My son started rooming with three of his STP buddies at the start of 3c year and will continue this year- they wound up getting one added to the room this year and had a 5 man room 3c year - that guy is moving out and they will be in a 4 man room this coming year.
 
Thanks for the info

Thanks everyone for the info - it helped clear up my questions. Much appreciated!

Soon-to-be-Rat
 
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