Just chiming in with a child that just completed his freshman year. Athletes from the same team are not placed in the same room. You may find a few teammates in the same building. Its really the best of both worlds. I think Bates does a nice job with placement. My son had Smith as his last choice for all the reasons you hear - noisy, 4 crammed in 2 rooms, etc. However, Smith is where he ended up. He was very happy with Smith and made lots of friends there. Its a social place.