<p>What are some must haves to bring to Cornell when showing up in the fall of 15?</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Classic school supplies (notebooks, binders, pencils, pens, whatever you personally think you’ll need). A laptop. Stuff for your dorm. Warm clothes. I’ve lived in Ithaca my whole life, so I already had all the clothes I needed for winter and never really thought about it, but if you come from a warm climate and have never really been exposed to the cold before, I guess it can be a little shocking. Invest in a good winter coat (buy it early when coats are on sale – don’t wait until winter), gloves, a hat, boots, etc. </p>
<p>Are small fridges, microwaves, Keurig coffee makers allowed in dorm rooms?</p>
<p>Small fridges are! You can only have a microwave if you rent a microfridge (combination microwave and fridge) from Cornell. I don’t think coffee makers are allowed in the rooms themselves, but there are kitchens in all the dorm hallways where there are microwaves, stoves, coffee machines, etc.</p>
<p>Keurig is allowed. My daughter has one. </p>
<p>@2018dad oh okay then I stand corrected!</p>
<p>Which meal plan seems to work best? My D thinks the "Bear “Choice” (up to 10 meals per week) sounds like a good meal plan to start with. She does not eat breakfast often, prefers a cup of coffee to start the day. Cornellians please some input on this one, and thanks.</p>
<p>You get a grace period in which meal plans can be increased/decreased based on what you’re using. Start with the Bear, and it if’s not quite enough just make sure to increase it before the deadline passes to make the change.</p>
<p>The deadline for reducing the meal plan falls a few days after the first day of class. I was under the impression that a student could upgrade his meal plan at any time during the semester but I cannot find that in print.
<a href=“Residential Life | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University”>Residential Life | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University;
<p>It is difficult to judge utilization by the deadline b/c the students are still getting their bearings and figuring out the flow of their days. Perhaps call Dining next month once school has been in session a while and see if I am correct about upgrading at any time.</p>
<p>My son had the ten meals/week plan and never used all ten meals. He made it to breakfast one or two mornings/week, and dinner perhaps five days. Louie’s Lunch truck saw more of his summer earnings than I liked. Cereal in room served as breakfast some mornings. Lunch was almost always a la carte. The only all-you-can-eat dining option on the main academic campus is at The Straight and I have heard the lines are ridiculous during the lunch hours, so some students grab food on the go.</p>
<p>You can upgrade your meal plan at any time during the semester. Bear Choice is what I had and it worked fine. I didn’t use all 10 meal swipes each week because some days I didn’t have time to go to the dining hall. Bear Choice comes with 500 BRBs, which I used frequently. The meal plans that have more meal swipes contain fewer BRBs and I personally think BRBs are more useful than meal swipes. You can use BRBs to get full meals in cafes, snacks in between classes, drinks, etc. Of course, you can add BRBs at any time online ($1 = 1 BRB). Still, I think anything greater than the Bear Choice is most likely going to be a waste of meals and money.</p>
<p>Bear Choice is the way to go… and make sure you bring MANY water bottles. You would be amazed how much water you’ll drink in a day here (especially in the hotter months). Also, I’ve found my iPad to be just as helpful as my laptop, so you may want to invest in a tablet. </p>
<p>I have to agree to @Ranza123 and @CT1417 . For the most part if your kid will not eat breakfast before going to classes the Bear Choice (10 meal swipes per week) is sufficient. My daughter has this plan. She doesn’t eat breakfast everyday and if she feels like it, she has cereals/fruits/milk in her fridge. She uses her BRB during lunch. The leftover meal swipes, she uses it during weekend</p>
<p>Thanks for the input on meals…Bear Choice it is. Should I buy her a small fridge, or is the rental (microfridge) a better option?
How much does it cost to rent the microfridge?
We just gave her a mini Keurig coffee maker as a Christmas present, for her dorm.
Do they allow freshman a choice when selecting dorms? She already has one in mind. I see the single room dorms are a bit more money, I think they may be worth the added cost. The privacy could allow for better studying and sleeping habits. Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated. Thanks Cornellians, it does seem most people enjoy the school and enjoy talking about their experiences. I know she will LOVE Cornell. Although she has excellent grades/SAT’s and EC’s I believe it is her community involvement that made her a Cornellian. The school obviously does not want robots…and with my D they will be getting a young lady that will be much involved, and they sensed that in her application.</p>
<p>I can’t answer all of your questions (D didn’t rent a fridge), but you don’t have a choice on freshman dorms. If she wants Balch or a single, she’ll probably get that…but you get what you get in general (there may be some exceptions). My D ranked a double room 1st choice, but got a single, and she ended up happy she did. The singles are more expensive, but they gave us more financial aid because of it. There are newer dorms that many would prefer, but you really don’t get to choose. It may be different for themed housing. </p>
<p>Students do not have a choice of which dorm they want, but they can choose single, double, triple…Both of my kids chose single and very much appreciated it, especially when it was cold out and they didn’t feel like going to a library to study. They didn’t feel isolated and was able to make friends at their dorms. Cornell has a lot of singles, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get one. </p>
<p>Thanks, my D is thinking a single in Balch would be nice. She is hoping for Balch because it seems to be the closest to the bridge, and since it is not coed she presumes there will be less distractions. I believe for her first year this is a good choice. I do hope the girls of Balch do not get a stigma because of their choice. </p>
<p>My understanding is some get assigned to Balch who did not select an all female preference, so there’s more availability than demand (I don’t recall you can pick a dorm, but you rank living preferences) so she should have good luck with that. I hear some singles in Balch are large and others very tiny. </p>
<p>Balch is the best! That’s where I live. The rooms are huge, you get a sink in your room, it’s quiet, etc. There are thousands of reasons to live there. Yo ucan put Balch as your number one on your room preference sheet and you are almost guaranteed to get it. </p>
<p>That’s great…the room sink is one of the reasons she liked it, the others being the older architecture, it is near the bridge closest to Warren Hall (she’s AEM) etc… I believe being all female will make the adjustment to college easier her first year. It would seem that it should be easier to walk around the hallways dressed down and more casual for these young ladies.
@Ranza123 when she comes up to Cornell for Cornell Days for incoming freshman, would they allow her to stay at Balch? </p>