Dorm Room Necessities About This Page:

[MsKimmy511]

Don't over buy!!! Purex makes an all in one sheet (laundry detergent, fabric softner and dryer sheet) that saves time and space. My DD is allergic to ALOT of things and didn't have any problems with their sensitive formula. If her dorm floor has a kitchenette, buy her oven mitts to carry things back to her room after using the microwave (friends thought it was silly at first, then they would ask to borrow them). And if you're the paraniod mom consider an emergency "go bag" from Red Cross that can cover all sorts of things including power outages.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by Huntermom

In addition to routine cleaning supplies, my kids all requested a broom and dustpan. If your DD will let you and you have room, you can bring a vacuum and mop and bucket for the first day.

DGF has fallen in love with a Swiffer product we found at Wal-Mart or Target a few weeks ago - it's part swiffer mop/duster, part light-duty vacuum. Rechargable battery inside the unit, only weighs a couple pounds, easily emptied and cleaned, doesn't need fresh vacuum bags or anything. Worth looking for, if you're already in the store.

[heatherwillmom]

just returned from the University after taking DD's BF for his freshman orientation & pre-placement exams. We toured the dorms & he spent 2 night there. There were a lot of businesses there to talk to the incoming freshman. Many were apartments that are very close to campus. Many of them do room mate placement too just like the dorms. He found a nice apartment that has 4 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms. They place 4 similiar students together. Each bedroom has a seperate locks so they can have privacy. There is a living room, full kitchen, & washer/dryer. These are furnished apartments. They have a shuttle to the university about every 20 minutes in the mornings & several times in the afternoons. It has a pool, game room, basketball court, & volleyball court. It is actually cheaper than staying at the dorms, not counting how much he can save on using the laundry rooms. I was shocked at the difference in price. I guess we won't be enclosing rolls of quarters in his supplies.

[Huntermom]

I am not a fan of off campus living for undergraduates, especially freshman. One of the things he is giving up is the guidance and often social support that is offered when living in a dorm. Many schools group freshman in dorms that have long open halls to encourage interaction.

I also think many freshman think they can cook for themselves but it really can be a burden if they want to eat healthy options. I've know a few kids who ended up sick because they let their nutrition fall by the wayside. Ramen noodles are not a good source of much besides salt.

[heatherwillmom]

I thought about the food problems too, but I think he has most of that worked out. He has a food plan that he can eat all of his meals on campus if he wants to. They have a food court with several options as well as a cafeteria. He also does a lot of the cooking at home since his parents are divorced & he lived with a working mother. Both he & his brother did a lot of the cooking & cleaning.

[shnewell]

The dorm rooms at Vassar are very small. I don't know which dorm she's in, but I'm assuming she'll have at least one roommate (more if she's in Main). If she's in a typical Vassar dorm room with one roommate, they'll have 2 desks, 2 dressers, 2 beds (can usually be bunked, if desired), and a closet.

She'll definitely want a desk lamp. The overhead lighting is dismal and provides light for her when her roommate is asleep.

The other two things I was so glad to have were a power strip (not nearly enough plugs in those old dorm rooms for all modern day necessities) and a little electric pot/kettle that I could heat water in for tea or hot chocolate. I know Vassar doesn't allow hot plates, but I managed to get away with the electric kettle (it was small -- heated enough water for 1 or 2 cups of beverage).

[HiddenMickey]

I was surprised to talk to a few freshman at my DS's orientation who were going to live off campus. It was not a choice we had as freshman 30 years ago. I wouldn't choose to live off-campus for anything. Even though dorm living quarters are pretty bad, being so close to classes, meals, the library, and a whole host of social opportunities far outweighs the nice amenities of an apartment, imo.

[HiddenMickey]

Dorm Space Saver - Bed Bath & Beyond

I'm planning on getting one of these for DS. I would have loved one in my dorm room.

[shnewell]

Oh, and one more thing -- my roommate and I bought a little cube refrigerator for our room. It didn't hold much, but it was nice to be able to keep some fresh fruit, cold sodas or leftovers in there.

[Huntermom]

Heather, it's great your DD's BF has a meal plan. Both of my sons had friends who decided to save money by living on Ramen noodles. The one at Harvard Law was able to figure out that he would feel better and learn more if he had a few more nutrients so after a couple of months, gave up this frugality.

[JoanneS]

Originally Posted by shnewell

The dorm rooms at Vassar are very small. I don't know which dorm she's in, but I'm assuming she'll have at least one roommate (more if she's in Main). If she's in a typical Vassar dorm room with one roommate, they'll have 2 desks, 2 dressers, 2 beds (can usually be bunked, if desired), and a closet.

She'll definitely want a desk lamp. The overhead lighting is dismal and provides light for her when her roommate is asleep.

The other two things I was so glad to have were a power strip (not nearly enough plugs in those old dorm rooms for all modern day necessities) and a little electric pot/kettle that I could heat water in for tea or hot chocolate. I know Vassar doesn't allow hot plates, but I managed to get away with the electric kettle (it was small -- heated enough water for 1 or 2 cups of beverage).

Thanks for the heads-up! She's in some "healthy living" dorm with one room mate. From what you've desribed, I think we're going to pack very light. We can always send more if she needs it. We need to be there on August 25th so we need to start the packing soon. My newest rule is "if it doesn't fit in my RAV-4, it's not going." We'll see how this works out.....

[Teresa]

Something to heat water with might come in handy. If she's not allowed a coffee maker, can she have something like a Keurig? It would be great to make coffee, tea, hot chocolate, heat water for oatmeal, etc.

DD Kathryn's school does not allow fridges and microwaves, unless it's the approved ones that the school will RENT to us. We're still debating whether she really needs to use up her floor space for one of those.
Today we got a letter in the mail about buying a carpet from the university, which we would then need to pick up and lay ourselves. Hard to do when she hasn't gotten her roommate assignment yet - don't know if the roommate will be doing it, or if we should. I told her we'd just run to Target or WalMart for an area rug after we get her there.
Her university has an arrangement with the local bus service - free city bus to the shopping areas, so anything she forgets, she can get. And the weekend after move-in day the local Target has a "Midnight Madness" sale for students, with prizes, etc., so we won't be worried about that.

I like the "less is more" theory. We're having Kathryn take just a few cold weather items, knowing that she'll be home or we'll be up to visit her before the cold hits.
The dorm laundry facilities take student IDs as payment, so I'm not worried about making sure she has quarters.

We are making sure she has a budget, and an entry page for her bank charges. The biggest problems I've seen kids have lately when they are suddenly on their own is the inability to manage money! It's the little things that hit them hard - a pen or pencil they bought at the book store, a bag of candy at the snack area, a cup of coffee at the coffee shop (at $4 a hit, it adds up quickly). College kids don't quite have the ability, it seems, to realize that these little charges add up quickly and make it difficult to purchase the items they need.
I had more than one classmate last year who was surprised to discover that all of those charges to their student IDs (which is then charged to their student account) had to be paid, and that little coffee and muffin they bought every day added up to hundreds of dollars by the end of the semester!

[Huntermom]

Be careful your kids know what is covered as a meal on their meal cards and what uses "university bucks" or what ever they call the money they put on their ID. The DD of a friend thought all the food court meals she was charging were off her meal plan only to find out she was using her "bucks" and used them all up (a years spending money) in less than a month.

Some meal plans can be really confusing. My boys went with all points options as soon as they were eligible. DD's school had a few different numbers of meals, but the difference between 14 and 21 meals a week was only a hundred dollars.

My kids were also offered various linen packages. Most were not the highest quality and more expensive than sales at the local mall. JC Penny used to have some good values.

[Mgmgal]

If she can't have something that plugs in to heat water be on the look out for a micro kettle, I got mine as a college dorm room gift but i still use it today! It's awesome, it's basically a microwave safe liquid measure with a lid that whistles when your water is boiling, I used it for tea hot coca, oatmeal and many other things, very handy.

[heatherwillmom]

They have several options on their meals plan at MTSU & it will save a lot. He won't need to buy much in the way of groceries except drinks & snacks. He's a big gatoraide drinker so he plans on a trip to Sam's before he leaves for college.