College Student Gets Assigned Same Dorm Room Where Her Mom Lived 33 Years Ago: 'We Both Screamed'

The odds of getting the same room at the same school as a parent are about 1 in every 1,100, according to statistics shared with PEOPLE by Miami University

An Ohio college student got a big surprise when he found out she's living in the exact same dorm room her mother lived in 33 years ago.

Sarah Bowling and her mother Laura recently realized that the 18-year-old college freshman had been assigned the same room in Emerson Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, according to Today and a press release from the school.

Laura, 51, originally occupied the room in 1990 when she was a freshman at the same school, Today reported.

The odds of getting the same room at the same school as a parent are about 1 in every 1,100, according to statistics shared with PEOPLE by Miami University.

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When Sarah learned where she was living in July, both ladies were flabbergasted. “I said, 'Are you kidding me?’ This was my exact room,” Laura told Today.

“When my mom told me [where she lived], we both screamed over the phone, and I was in total disbelief,” Sarah said in the school's press release.

Sarah followed in her mother’s footsteps during the application process, and was accepted to Miami University via Early Decision, according to Today. Laura was accepted to the school, where she majored in marketing, in the exact same way.

Laura said memories of her college days hit her “like a tidal wave” when she walked into the room for the first time in years while helping Sarah move in.

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"There was the window with a big ledge where my friends and I sat and the furniture was in the same position, though the desk and bed are longer,” she recalled. “The floors and ceiling are the same."
Sarah, who originally thought the room was “tiny,” is looking forward to enjoying the “cozy” space.

Sarah told the university that it "feels like home" at Miami University. She believes "Miami is where I am supposed to be," and is looking forward to making memories in the same room her mom once called her own.

"If I'm homesick, I'll remember that my mom was once here and she turned out great," she told Today. "These are the best years of my life and I get to share that with my mom."

Related: Texas Mom, Dad and Daughter All Graduate from College at the Same Time: 'Surreal'

John Bailer, a distinguished professor of statistics at Miami University, said there is a greater chance of being audited by the IRS than encountering the Bowlings’ rare experience, the school tells PEOPLE.

Events with similar odds include a baseball player with a .300 batting average has a similar chance of getting hits in six consecutive at-bats or a 90% free throw shooter in basketball hitting 65 consecutive free throws, Bailer says.

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