<p>at least you got into hopkins</p>
<p>Also, if you are the oldest child in your family, your parents just might not be keyed in on what the college lifestyle is like. In high school, my kids usually went to bed by 11 PM. They really had to in order to be up so early and with their very intensive schedules. But college students, GENERALLY speaking, do not have to get up quite as early as in high school. My college kids have to get up earlier than many college students but it still is not before 7 (exception is for my D on the ski team who has to get up extremely early, like 6, a few days per week in winter). So, in college, they definitely stay up later than in high school. I think on weeknights, they might be up until 1 or so. I'm sure students who have later classes, are up even later. They can sleep later than they did in high school. It is just a different lifestyle than at home and in high school. I think if you are a good student (and you must be to get into JHU), your parents are going to have to trust that that won't go out the door when you get to college. But, you will now be in charge of yourself. Nobody will be telling you when to go to bed, and so forth. Your parents will just have to get used to this, and they will. :D</p>
<p>Staying up late has no correlation to grades dropping. To the contrary, my kids are often up late because they have to do a lot of school work once their schedule which is jam packed all day and evening is done. Bedtime is not the issue when it comes to grades. Partying instead of studying is a different issue all together. Perhaps explain that difference to your parents. Good luck.</p>
<p>We went through this on a different issue. Our S is very easygoing, stays up late, is kinda messy dropping socks etc, nothing unusual in boyland. But what he cared about, a lot, was to be in a nonsmoking environment. So much so that he called up to find out if that health-related factor would be negotiated away on the roommate-match system.
He was so surprised to hear from the college, "we'll try, but some kids say they're nonsmokers when they actually smoke." So why would they lie about it? "Their parents watch them as they fill out the forms."
So, imagine that a few months later. Somebody honestly expected a smoke-free room but gets a smoker, because some nosey parent watched over him as he filled out the form. Isn't that unfair to both roommates! It could certainly lead to arguments later between roommates.
Just another example of why it's best to be HONEST and let the chips fall where they may.
P.S. I just turned "1,000" on your thread; thanks for making me a Senior Member!</p>
<p>Asolutely be honest. My D had a roommate in high school who was an early bird and my D is a night owl. Caused a lot of strife with my D trying to study by laptop and the room mate bumping around at 5 a.m. in the dark trying not to wake her. They changed room mates after a semester.</p>
<p>It is not likely someone who is an early bird will change you from being a night owl. I have never been a 'morning person' and just find cheery people in the morning vastly irritating - though I am old enough and mature enough to be polite and pleasant in the face of such unnatural behaviour ;) I get much more done at night.</p>
<p>Be honest - that is why they ask the questions (though they may be like my Ds school and ignore the answers anyway!!)</p>
<p>Be honest. My kid said he was "medium" on the neat to messy scale, went to bed at 11pm and did not want to live with a smoker. He got a super messy roommate who smoked and stayed up all night and slept all afternoon. S changed rooms at the semester--lucky to get a single.</p>
<p>Don't pretend you'll go to bed earlier if you are a night owl. It doesn't work, I know, I spent the beginning of the first semester trying to make it work. I'm a night owl too who has a rommie who has to be up at 6am for weight lifting for track. It's currently almost 1am, and I'm wide awake while she's dead asleep. I have my headphones plugged into my laptop and the light of my lamp turned to face the wall so it's not shining toward her. It's been hard to not be able to work comfortably at my peak hours, but I'm sure it's never been fun for her to have to try to sleep with my light on. I make every effort to keep the noise to a minimum, I always use headphones and never have the TV on. I also turn the overhead off when she's getting ready to fall asleep. I'm just glad there's only 11 more days of this. </p>
<p>From personal experience, I must tell you that while many people are not naturally morning people, you may have to adjust for early classes. I didn't want or plan to have an 8am last semester, but my learning community(aka a complete waste of time and energy on the U's part) forced me into an 8am English class on Tues and Thurs. Somehow, I was able to stay up until around 1am and only slept through class once. I was truly amazed with myself. I had a 9am this semester, and again, I stay up late and have only slept through class once. But there are many days where it's really close; My reputation has been to walk in at the time class is starting, but I've been doing better to change that by setting my clock ahead. It's certainly not violating any laws to roll out of bed 15 minutes before class starts, skip a shower, and be in class just in time, but it's not the preferred way of doing it. I would love to have time to shower before my first class, but it's hell getting up to do it; the alarm goes off and I hit the snoose button. but you'll have to change sooner or later. </p>
<p>The fact that change is inevitable is why your parents wanted you to have a roomie that goes to sleep earlier. They are not trying to ruin your life, they just want to prepare you. So yeah, eventually, you'll have to lay in bed awake at 11pm or midnight, so you can be up at 7am to be at an internship or something job-like like that later in college and definately right after college when you have to get a real job.</p>
<p>It's so hard for parents to realize (tangibly, through a silly roommate form) that soon they won't be nearby you, to even know when you are in bed. It's a very primal thing. If they react strongly at unusual junctures, they are seeing in concrete ways that you will be in charge of your daily comings and goings. </p>
<p>You must be quite capable, academically, to have gotten accepted to JHU. The work will be hard, but evidently JHU believes you can do it. You already stay up hours later than your parents already, and yet you succeeded. </p>
<p>Figure they might be jumpy and reactive again before the whole summer's done. Still, I hope you can all find moments together, to enjoy the summer, too! Reading some of the more emotional parent threads about kids leaving home, you'll see how wack-o we can get sometime over the smallest things.<br>
It's a tough process to let go of all this parental micromanaging we do. Or, did.</p>
<p>Why are your parents even involved? The questionnaire came to you, right? I am a parent and I can't fathom why any parent even wants to know this kind of detail, nor why a student would share it with the parent.</p>
<p>Late to this thread.</p>
<p>I read S1's housing questionnaire, raised my eyebrows at his self-description as "neat" but made no further comment. I don't even know what the housing questionnaire for S2 looked like. I never saw it.</p>
<p>Honestly, those roommate questionaires at Hopkins probably aren't taken into consideration all that much judging by what my friends have experienced at Hopkins with their roommates.</p>
<p>And at college I've gone to bed at 1 am or earlier only a handful of times.</p>
<p>Be completely honest. My son filled out the form honestly, both he and his roomate went to bed well after 1 AM. One interesting note, my sons room at home is a disaster so he did check "cleans room once a month" (there was no option for "once a year"). However they matched him with a compulsively neat roommate (I think on purpose). They got along better than I thought they would.</p>
<p>be honest!</p>
<p>i go to sleep much, much later in college than in high school. still, it's never a good situation to be staying up late every night (with lights, laptop, whatever) if your early-to-bed roommate is trying to sleep. show some respect! and trust me, that can cause conflict. </p>
<p>funny thing, my friends and i were night owls of the worst kind our freshman year, and now we're all tuckered out by midnight. (but we also became great w/ time management)</p>
<p>Yup be honest. My S filled his own form out and my only comment was "for heavens sake be honest, put down that your room is disgusting, you take 25 minute showers and you stay up until 3 AM and you can't get up early in the morning despite two alarm clocks and alot of yelling." Luckily his first schedule is done and his first class isn't until 10. It will be interesting to see what his roommate is like.</p>
<p>If you do not want their opinion then do not ask for it.</p>
<p>Except when we run into each other on line at wierd hours, I have no idea when my college-attending kids are sleeping. I also don't know when they are eating, studying etc. I am not sure if this makes me a negligent parent or not, but given a moderate degree of 'success' I am simply not invested in monitoring these aspects of their lives. </p>
<p>I am so glad I went to college before there was 'monitoring technology' and the incredible modern ease of 'staying in touch.' It has completely distorted the parent/young adult relationship. IMHO</p>
<p>To the OP--did you also send this query as a letter to "Dear Amy"? Cause a case remarkably similar to yours is in today's paper! Unless "Amy" looks to this forum for inspiration. ;)</p>