Suicidal Roommates/Straight A’s

 Rachelle Jackson


There are many stories that are told to you as you go through high school getting ready for college. Some are known to be truthful and some are known to be false. For example The Legend of the 4.0 myth. If your roommate dies, you will receive straight a’s for that semester. Surprisingly I had never heard of this rumor until now


No one knows exactly where the myth originated from or how it even got started. It has spread across the country from college to college. Many colleges have different versions of this myth. It goes form if your roommate dies you get straight A’s till if a parent or close relative. It has many scenarios too. In one incident a male committed suicide in class why taking an exam. He shoved a pencil up his nose and then bang it on the table. All the students got credit for the exam, however, they did not, nor did his roommate receive straight a’s. Although the myth is proven to be false a movie has been made about the rumor called The Dead Man on Campus.



Works Cited
Aiello John. “The Legend Of the 4.0” Vanderbilt.edu. 14. Sept. 1998.Mon 12. Oct. 2015

“Grade Expectations.” Snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Snopes.com. 11 June. 2011. Mon. 12.Oct. 2015

The Dead Man on Campus. Dir. Alan Cohan. Tom Everett Scott. 1998. Film

“Lead By the Nose” snopes.com/college/exam/pencil.asp. Snopes.com 11
June. 2011 Mon. 19. Oct.2015


Further Research Links

A blog post written by a student letting you the myth has no accuracy
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11urban-legend-suicidal-roommate.html

Describes a professor not knowing anything about the legend of the 4.0 myth but his student claiming it to be true
http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/07/straight-as-if-your-roommate-dies/

This blog post was written to inform you on how there are many different urban legends and how the author thought they suicidal roommate legend was accurate, how him and his roommates joked about later found out there is no truth to the myth
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11/urban-legends-suicidal-roommate.htm