Is it usual for a school to make you share a room during interview weekends?

[bob311]

Hi everyone, 

my brother has his first interview weekend this coming weekend and is excited. However last night the school told him he will be sharing his room booked by the school with another student. The next day he has 6 hours of scheduled interviews and is not excited about flying cross country to spend a night with a stranger then have a long day of interviews. 

Is is this normal procedure? Also, if he went out and booked a separate room for the night before so he can get a good nights sleep, will that reflect poorly on him? 

Thanks for the quick assistance. 

Edited February 10, 2016 by bob311

[grump]

This is very common... It's just one night. It's not as if he has to share a bed with another person -- just a room.

That being said, I don't think it would reflect poorly on him to book his own room. As long as he goes to all of the events and doesn't miss anything it should be fine.

[flipflops]

Yes, very common. MIT makes admitted students to share also. 

[TakeruK]

Yes, it's very common, but I think it's unusual for him to only find out about the sharing situation the night before! In all cases, I was told the lodging arrangements from the start. As I wrote about in other places, I also feel very uncomfortable sharing a room with a stranger and in every school I visit, I was able to avoid this. But since they told me weeks before, we had plenty of time to make other arrangements that would work out. 

It should not reflect poorly on him to ask for a single room, but you never know what people will think. I don't know for sure what I would do in his shoes, since although I would be very uncomfortable, I'm not the type of person that would make a fuss at the last minute. But if he wanted to see what his options were, I would advise him to email the department back and explain that he is not comfortable with sharing a room and would be happy to book and pay for his own room. Maybe the school can still get him the discounted rate. 

[zipykido]

That other student probably also has interviews the next day also and would therefore be considerate of your brother. Worst case scenario is that the other person sharing the room has a weird schedule or is a snorer. Simply bring an facemask and possibly headphones to make the process of going to sleep easier. If he's just uncomfortable around strangers then it would probably be possible to have him booked in his own room, possibly out of pocket. Definitely coordinate with whoever is in charge of the rooms, there might be issues with room availability. 

[madbiochemist]

14 hours ago, zipykido said:

That other student probably also has interviews the next day also and would therefore be considerate of your brother. Worst case scenario is that the other person sharing the room has a weird schedule or is a snorer. Simply bring an facemask and possibly headphones to make the process of going to sleep easier. If he's just uncomfortable around strangers then it would probably be possible to have him booked in his own room, possibly out of pocket. Definitely coordinate with whoever is in charge of the rooms, there might be issues with room availability. 

This was definitely my experience staying with a roommate during interviews. We were both so exhausted that we watched like 1 30 minute show together and fell asleep immediately. I didn't really hear of anyone being kept awake by a noisy roommate. If he's really uncomfortable, he can book his own room, but the department won't pay for it. At best they'll pay for the cost of sharing and you'll pay the difference. It shouldn't hurt admissions chances if you stay separate, but they'll probably be annoyed that they had to deal with  a last minute change. These visits are really hard to plan and expensive, so try not to fault the department too much. 

[TakeruK]

9 hours ago, madbiochemist said:

It shouldn't hurt admissions chances if you stay separate, but they'll probably be annoyed that they had to deal with  a last minute change. These visits are really hard to plan and expensive, so try not to fault the department too much. 

Well, in this case, I think the fault is on the department for letting the student know about the actual arrangements so late in the game.

(Also, I think there are some schools that will pay for the whole room, but I agree that you should first start by asking if they would pay for the cost of sharing).

[madbiochemist]

4 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Well, in this case, I think the fault is on the department for letting the student know about the actual arrangements so late in the game.

(Also, I think there are some schools that will pay for the whole room, but I agree that you should first start by asking if they would pay for the cost of sharing).

Yeah, the department should definitely have let them know a few weeks in advance. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying that they might be annoyed even if it's their (the department's) fault. It wouldn't change admission, but I would bring the admin some cookies or a thank you note if I decided to attend there. I go to a school where the admin has a surprising amount of power, so that colors my answer a bit.

[TakeruK]

3 hours ago, madbiochemist said:

Yeah, the department should definitely have let them know a few weeks in advance. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying that they might be annoyed even if it's their (the department's) fault. It wouldn't change admission, but I would bring the admin some cookies or a thank you note if I decided to attend there. I go to a school where the admin has a surprising amount of power, so that colors my answer a bit.

Definitely a good idea!

[bob311]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. He just sucked it up.