<p>I've recently decided to come to Smith and I'm already starting to think about what to bring. Do lots of people bike around campus? Is it convenient/worthwhile for me to bring a bike, especially since I can't drive and definitely will not have a car? Will there be a safe and easy place for me to keep it or will it just get stolen?</p>
<p>Also, what should I look for in a school computer? Does Smith have one operating system that it uses for all of its technology or is it compatible with all operating systems? I don't use a computer for much more than making word documents, listening to some music, and watching streaming videos (like youtube and such), so its more important for me to have a portable computer than a heavy duty one that can do all sorts of fancy things I'll never use. Will I ever get school work that requires a computer that can do more than word documents, powerpoint, and excel, (ie, will I ever need a to do use a computer to make and edit videos for school projects)? I was thinking about getting a macbook air, has anyone had any experiences with one of those and how well it holds up in college life?</p>
<p>wow, that was a lot of questions. Any advice would be helpful.</p>
<p>Bikes: Plenty of people do bike and Smith has a lot of bike racks to make this easy, but many students seem to be resentful of bikers. It’s hard to know whether it is safer to bike on the sidewalk or on the road at times. One way, you risk glares from fellow students; the other way, you may risk injury. But anyway, I brought a bike and used it mostly for exercise and running over to the Quad. It won’t be your best friend for getting around without a car, though it will help. Most of what you will want to see in Northampton will be within walking distance, and the places in Hadley/Amherst that you might have reached by car are not an easy bike ride away, so you’ll end up on the PVTA. </p>
<p>There are many reports of Smith bikes being stolen, but if you use basic safety measures, such as a good strong lock, every time you lock up your bike, you drastically decrease those chances. You really should register your bike with Public Safety, which will make it easier to locate if it is stolen. If you’re really concerned, sometimes your house president or head resident will let you keep the bike in your house basement, though it is a pain to get it out of there.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Bikes are handy, but not the end all, be all. </p>
<p>Computers! Smith is compatible with and open to Windows and Mac operating systems. Linux is occasionally used, but far from mainstream. Since you’re more of a light computer user, Linux won’t concern you much. I have not had a class that required me to make anything more advanced than the basic Word document/PowerPoint/Excel, with the exception of my computer science class. Even the needs for that class were quickly resolved with a quick download of free software or a visit to the college’s many computer labs. </p>
<p>The MacBook Air is a cool computer in theory, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It seems pretty flimsy to me. I think you’ll get more for your money if you get a MacBook Pro or a comparable Windows machine.</p>
<p>You don’t need to, since all students can print in the libraries, labs, and some classrooms for a small fee, but I’ve found it to be far more convenient to have my own printer.</p>
<p>You don’t need to bring your own printer, but it can be useful. They charge you for printing things in the library (in my day we got $10 worth of free printing at the start of the year, but at 10 cents a page, that’s not going to go as far as you think), so having your own printer is a savings. Also, you won’t need to go to the library to print out your papers, which is good if you’re working on something until two in the morning. I didn’t have a printer for my first semester, but got one second semester off another student for like $20, it was a good investment. If you’re getting one, I strongly recommend one of those printer/copier/scanner three in one models. They’re not very expensive, and it can be nice to have the extra features. </p>
<p>As for bikes, a lot of people do bike, and there are a lot of bike trails around campus. You don’t need a bike though. The campus is small enough to be easily walkable (the longest distance between two points is about 15-20 minutes, if you’re going from the tip top of the Quad to the ITT). You’ll be close to town and you’ll have the bus for going to the mall or elsewhere. If you do have a bike and you want to bring it though, as phanatic said, you need to remember to lock it up. Smith is an open campus and unlocked bikes can and do get stolen from time to time. </p>
<p>Computers: Smith is compatible with both Mac and Windows. You see a LOT of Macs on campus, but I think that’s more a style thing for many students (I am a lifelong devotee, so for me it was more of a “not getting a virus” and “owning a better computer” thing). I would discourage getting a Macbook Air for several reasons. The first and most problematic: it only has 64 GB of storage. That’s not going to be enough. The Macbook is the same price and it has 250 GB of storage in the basic model. Even with 250 GB, you’re probably going to need an external hard drive at some point. </p>
<p>Also they don’t have CD/DVD drives. You may be taking classes that require you to use CDs (language classes often do) or DVDs (film studies classes) or using other kinds of software programs. The Air also has very few ports, so if you need to connect your computer to a projector for a class project or connect it to some other kind of output you might be SOL. </p>
<p>A Macbook Air is nice looking, but it’s just not the same as having a full power laptop. It’s meant to be a secondary machine really, to people who have a full power desktop or laptop that they don’t want to tote. You’d be much better off getting a simple MacBook (and don’t forget to ask for your educational discount when you buy it!) if you’re going to go that way.</p>
<p>For printers, it depends on what you’re studying. I’ve only been in one class so far that’s required papers, the rest have been my FL and my math classes, which are more problem set/work sheet-y. I didn’t bring a printer and have spent <em>maybe</em> 4 dollars on printing.</p>
<p>My roommate, however, is a history/gov person and used her printer a TON and thought it was super useful to have one around.</p>
<p>At the very least, if you have a roomie, I vote you guys split one. Two is over kill</p>
<p>Yeah, you might as well. If you find you’re not really using it, you can always ship it home after first semester. </p>
<p>If I could recommend you guys bring one thing though it would be: POWER STRIPS. Seriously, there are not enough outlets in one room (particularly if you are sharing with another person) for everyone’s computer, printer, cell phone, refridgerator, TV, DVD player, iPod Speakers, iPod charger, alarm clock, and whatever other electronic doo-dads and gizmos you will have to co-exist happily. Not to mention little things like lamps, hairdryers, straightening irons, regular irons, etc. </p>
<p>Bring power strips, or plan to buy several there.</p>
<p>^YES YES YES power strips. Not only are there not enough outlets in the room, sometimes all the outlets will be under the place where you put your bed to maximize space, making it hard to plug in things without power strips and extension cords.</p>
<p>How about trunks? I realize that every room is different in size, but are there places to store one’s trunk in most houses if it doesn’t fit in the room. And additional lighting- floor and/or desk- recommend to bring?</p>
<p>How many towels would you recommend bringing? Do students need their own towels for the gym or for swimming?</p>
<p>Definitely a desk lamp. I’d hold off on a floor lamp, too much variability among rooms.
Can only speak to D’s house but it’s trunk room had tons of space, guessing that’s somewhat the norm.</p>
<p>A floor lamp is useful, a lot of these rooms don’t have great built-in lighting, and what is there is fluorescent. But I agree that you should probably wait until you get there to see where to put it. A lot of people get those tall floor lamps with the multiple bend arms (they look kind of like flowers), or at least they did in my day. Desk lamp is a must, I had a clip on one. </p>
<p>Trunks I would sort of discourage, just because the fewer large pieces you bring, the better. But if you get bed risers you can probably slide your trunk under your bed, so that may help. If it really doesn’t fit there or in the closet, you can put it in the trunk room, but you won’t be able to get it out again until the end of the semester (they lock the trunk rooms the rest of the time. </p>
<p>Whatever you plan to bring, keep in mind that your daughter is going to be at least on the second floor and possibly on the third or fourth floor of a building that will in 99% of the cases have no elevator and no AC in the dorm rooms. And it’s going to be hot and humid, like it always is in New England in the summer time. So do yourself a favor and either don’t bring or severely limit anything that’s going to be too heavy or difficult to carry. Also, plan to get a fan or bring one with you. A really good box fan that you can put in windows is best, but a standing fan is also good.</p>
<p>I’ve been using two towels. At any given time one will be in the laundry pile and the other in use. I would agree about leaving the trunk. I have one friend who has one, but it’s a hassle; it’s heavy and can’t hold THAT much stuff.</p>
<p>The gym and the pool provide towels for free, so two personal towels is plenty. Also good to have a hand towel. You’ll usually keep whichever towel you’re using in your cubby in the house bathroom, along with the rest of your toiletries, and it’s good to have one in the wash.</p>
<p>RE: trunks. So what would be better? Lightweight luggage or duffel bags or just plain old garbage bags (lol; they “fold” up so easily). We thought a trunk would be good because it’s large enough to replace a couple of suitcases. I remember having one in college and it became a coffee table in my first apt. But the walking up is a good point. Will my daughter find out her room assignment before she gets to Smith, that way we might know ahead of time what floor she’ll be on? (BTW–you all are the best for supplying all this info; it will make packing and schlepping so much easier!!)</p>
<p>She’ll find out her room and floor sometime in July I believe.<br>
I, personally, did the suitcase and bag route. It worked for me well. Tons of girls have trunks or rubbermaids. it’s really what you think will work best. I suggest rubbermaids over anything though. They hold a lot, are cheap, and are durable</p>
<p>USM, because we were coming from long distance, we did triage between bring/ship/buy locally and TheMom neatly put it out on a spreadsheet. (This is one you get for marrying into Management.) I think I posted it somewhere on the board and, if not or if you can’t find it and it would be useful, I could find it somewhere on my hard disk and either e-mail or repost it here.</p>
<p>Definitely vote against the “trunk” per se. Not a fan of the garbage bags, either. The tubs are a pretty good intermediate storage solution, imo.</p>
<p>Earlier today I was googling trunks and saw some very large plastic tubs that looked like a good idea. </p>
<p>TD, if you could re-post or email (PM) your spreadsheet that would be fantastic! If you can’t tell, I’m an organizer/planner and like to be prepared. Of course, I know we’ll be making a few shopping runs once we get to NoHo too!</p>
<p>I would say suitcases or plastic tubs are the best if you’re driving. When she packs up her things to store in the trunk room over the summer, she’ll definitely want some sturdy rubbermaid tubs or something similar. Stackable, lightweight, easy to carry to the trunk room. Also, if you cover them with a cloth or quilt, rubbermaid tubs make excellent little side tables. And they’re hollow inside so they’re a good place for storing stuff you want to keep out of sight (like your bar. But only when you’re 21 an old enough to have to store such things).</p>