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
 

Straight A’s for the Semester If Your Roommate Dies

Author: William Cain

Cover of Dead Man on Campus
MTV films, 1998

An urban myth, or urban legend, is an inaccurate story that is known by a wide spectrum of the population. “One tell-tale sign of an urban myth is that everyone seems to know someone who knows someone who had the experience in question, but no one has any verifiable proof” (Rockler-Gladen). A popular example of an urban legend, which is thought to have originated at Vanderbilt University, is known as the “Legend of the 4.0.” The legend states that if a student’s roommate dies, then they will receive straight A’s for the academic semester. In 1998, the movie Dead Man on Campus made this a popular tale for college campuses all over the United States.

However, with this urban legend, and the same with countless others, there is more than one version known. If you hear this legend on more than one college campus, the odds that they will be different is high. Some variations include an accidental death and death from a disease such as cancer or AIDS. Other variations include less than a 4.0 average for the semester, death of someone close to the student other than the roommate, like a family member, or the occurrence of the death while the student is in the same room.

In 1997, a graduate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, named Charlie Kovas, recalls of the tragic event when the student, who was on the football team, fell out of his dorm room window to his death below after an agonizing fight with his girlfriend.

"People said, 'Oh, that's awful,' " Kovas said. "Then they said, 'I wonder if his roommate will get straight A's?' We heard that the girlfriend got all A's, and I can tell you with certainty that people believed it" (Vigoda).

The example of the football student falling from his window and a couple others make people believe that the “Legend of the 4.0” actually does exist. One semester when a young man at Alfred University in New York hung himself in the bedrooms, a mother of one of the five other roommates called the school and thought her son was eligible to receive a 4.0 for bereavement.

While it is believed that some schools will offer consideration and time to grieve for students who come in contact with these situations, there is no evidence that supports the “Legend of the 4.0” or that states any university has a policy regarding it. There is no college that is believed to give good grades to students for the death of a roommate or someone close to them. 

Works Cited:

Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. "Urban Legends about College Life." Suite 101. N.p., 2 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/urban-myths-about-college-life-a75863>.

Vigoda, Ralph. "A College Myth Dies Hard/ Dead Roommate = A's? Only in Hollywood." Philly.com. Philedelphia Inquirer, 20 Sept. 1998. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

Dead Man on Campus. 1998. Photograph. Dead Man on Campus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

Links for Further Research:

Vanderbilt.edu – This website gives information that leads to thoughts of the legend being formed at Vanderbilt University.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth263/legend_of_the_4.htm

Akorra.com – This website shows the top 20 urban legends and gives some background information on some of the variations that come about with the “Legend of the 4.0.”

http://akorra.com/2010/03/04/top-20-urban-legends

Snopes.com – Snopes.com is a website that gives information on many urban legends. It highlights a good many variations of the legend.

http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp