When boarding schools inspect the dorms what are they like? How extensive are they? Do they just check to see if your room is clean or do they do an all out go through all of your things/make sure you don’t have any drugs type inspection? How often do they occur?
Thank you!!
Is there something you’d like to tell us, @prepster1234 ? 
No one will look through your things unless there’s cause.
As far as everyday tidiness goes… just make sure your room doesn’t look like a bomb went off and you’ll be fine. Rooms are usually checked off by a dorm parent or proctor… and that usually involves a quick peek from the doorway . Nothing major…
@prepster1234 I’ve never had a dorm room inspection, and I think the administration only conducts one if it has ample reason to suspect something. Though I do think that during the breaks, they may make a few safety checks.
It depends on the school. Ninth grade boys at Mercersburg get a lot of room checks, and many of them fail. After three fails, they have to do a huge cleanout. After doing this, they never want to do it again; thus, the dorm remains relatively presentable. Great system. My son even makes his bed at home now (although the rest of his room is a truly epic fail).
Organized chaos, my friends. It’s a system.
We inspect rooms several times each week at my school. This consists of dorm parent (me) standing in the doorway and chatting with the kids while scanning the room. If the trash can is full (or overflowing) I make them take out their trash. Mostly I’m looking for how the roommates are managing living together. If one is clearly neater than the other, I might direct the conversation that way and look for signs in their responses/body language to see if there might be any underlying strife around keeping the room clean. If I sense anything, I’ll follow up later with the student in a non-dorm setting. Now, if the kids are acting exaggeratedly innocent, giggling like fools are looking around in a squirrelly manner, I prolong my visit until I know what they are up to. Usually all I have to do is say “you are acting like weirdoes tonight” and the kids pretty quickly start telling me what’s going on. I’ve never uncovered drugs or alcohol, but have come across prank plans, surprise birthdays, and most often, another kid hiding in the room. I will make the kids clean if they are living in squalor, but I don’t shame them if there is a stray sock on the rug.
A room search is very different from an inspection. I’ve never been involved with a room search. We’ve never had one on the dorm I live on in the time I’ve been here.
DS had had fire inspections too - looking for safety issues (blocked doors/windows).