<p>Are all beds raised on platforms so things can be stored below? Should we supply a rug for the common room? Curtains for bedrooms? What comes with the room? Beyond clothing, bedding, bathroom, and school supplies, what are the must-haves to bring for the dorm room?</p>
<p>S’s bed had built-in shelves underneath for storage. His room had for each resident a bed, desk, chair, dresser, closet, and bookshelf. The common room with the desks had a sofa/futon.</p>
<p>We didn’t bring a rug or curtains. His roommate brought a TV and S supplied a microwave and mini fridge. Maybe it’s a guy thing but the TV, microwave and mini fridge were more important to them than a rug or curtains!</p>
<p>Had same experience as college_query re S first year. The guys did have a rug in the common room, which one family provided, but no rugs in the bedrooms, which are small. Definitely no as to curtains. There are shades/blinds for the windows. We got S a coatrack from Bed Bath & Beyond each year and it was good for jackets for the roommates, but each year it was trashed and had to be replaced. I suggest getting one, but a sturdy metal office type instead.</p>
<p>^Never thought about a coat rack. Thanks! If you have a second, could you post a link or describe the rack you got? Or think you should have gotten? Not sure if you mean the kind with the pegs or a stand-alone “tree” sort of thing.</p>
<p>Well, the Class of 2017 arrival day is fast approaching. It looks like there is so much happening that day. I’d like to go on a tour of the campus with my wife as this will be her first time visiting the campus. I’d also like to have a nice lunch in Thorne. I’d like to take a picture with my son in front of the polar bear outside the fitness center.</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem like there is a whole lot of time for room setup that day (which I guess probably prevents parents from hovering too much). And to be honest, I’m good with that.</p>
<p>Before you know it, 4PM comes around and we parents are out of there and our children are getting ready for their pre-orientation trip. I really want this day to be as non-stressful as possible, perhaps even enjoyable. Any advice to make it so? My son thanks you in advance!</p>
<p>Stop by Wild Oats Bakery to steel yourself for the day and check out the cakes you can send to your young one for their birthday. Move in goes quick. Carry in the boxes, loft the beds and stick stuff underneath them. Fill up the dressers and desks. It was a madhouse for about 2 1/2 hours in the morning but pretty much done by noon. </p>
<p>Fridge, microwave handy, one of my daughters roommates brought a big TV but it didn’t get watched much. Rugs would be good- its cold in Maine. Lots of boots- Bean boots worn by most all, daughter said the girls put their flip flops and ballet flats away in mid October until mid March. Remember they got 80" of snow last winter. Stuff to put on the walls- pictures and posters, especially pictures of friends and family for those moments when reality clashes with ideal college experience we and our children hope for. We bought cork squares and put them on the wall, or get a bulletin board. There’s a Target about 3 miles away in Topsham and a Best Buy too.</p>
<p>The tour is a good idea if you’ve not been around, check out the orientation display in the student center, find the mail boxes. Go look in a couple of classrooms. The Science orientation was a chance to talk to some profs but its mostly parents asking questions! Thorne has good food- I recommend the chowder! Shere Punjab has good Indian food too if you want to eat in town, but I’d save that for dinner. If you want dinner after the kids are off for their O trips, my favorite is the Frontier Cafe in the old Mill building overlooking the Androscoggin River.</p>
<p>Other stuff: best phone service is Verizon. The Bowdoin parents web portal has links to the webcams around school so you can see how much sun/rain/snow is falling. The bookstore is small but nice. A bike is not necessary but fun to have- since all the first year “bricks” are centrally located.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about a Bowdoin parents web portal! Do other parents of incoming Freshman know about it? How did you find out? Also, my D has not received any information about what to bring to the dorm, specific instructions for move-in day (she has general information), etc. I am beginning to wonder if there are communications she is not getting, or perhaps she is not checking in where she should be. She is checking Bowdoin email. Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>JoBenny, it was a wooden “tree” I got S each year, but they get knocked over and don’t hold up too well. This year I ordered a metal one from Amazon; it came in a few days with Amazon Prime. It was made by Safco and cost just over $50. I hope it is sturdier, but it’s not much more expensive than the others, so I doubt it will become a family heirloom.</p>
<p>Well, Bowdoin Arrival Day for the Class of 2017 begins in less than 36 hours. Ready to leave tomorrow for Brunswick at first light. I just wanted to thank all the Bowdoin parents who have commented on this thread. No doubt that Arrival Day is going to be intense and somewhat stressful, but I have gotten so much helpful information which will help me make it through. And this in turn will hopefully make things easier for my son. He is about to begin an amazing journey at an awesome school, and I am so excited for him. </p>
<p>Good luck to students and parents of the Class of 2017, and Go U Bears!</p>
<p>I think I have deliberately blocked all the fine details of Arrival Day from my mind…I am ready to drive up to Brunswick and deposit a pile of sheets and blankets into a room, but I am trying to just take every moment one at a time…so glad and grateful that my d gets to be a member of the Bowdoin community! I am amazed and grateful that Bowdoin College is taking such good care of my kid…every step of the way through the process. I didn’t expect anything like this, and I am SO thankful. Good luck to everyone with a student at Bowdoin this year, and good luck to all the applicants for the Class of 2018!</p>
<p>Heading up for Family Weekend next Friday. Any advice on things to do/things to skip?</p>
<p>We didn’t make it last year (it was in September and we had just returned home), but we’re going this year! S sings in both the chorus and chamber choir so we plan to watch those performances on Saturday. </p>
<p>I’m drooling over the menu, that’s probably the real reason we’re going!</p>
<p>Hungarian Mushroom Soup! Gonna be a struggle convincing the kid to eat on campus tho’. :(</p>
<p>I was afraid of that, but the menu for the whole weekend looks awesome. Maybe we can get one meal in the dining hall…</p>
<p><a href=“Family Weekend | Bowdoin College”>Family Weekend | Bowdoin College;
<p>OMG! I saw the menus! Definitely eating on campus all three days! :)</p>
<p>When we went up for the our first Family Weekend, S hadn’t ventured into off-campus dining, so we had no problem getting him to eat at Thorne for a couple of meals with us so we could enjoy the terrific food he was able to have every day. Later on, after his upperclass teammates and friends exposed him to off-campus life and dining, H and I had to use our meal tickets on our own and we took S to his favorite restaurants off-campus for dinner. Good choices: Frontier Cafe at Fort Andross for lunch/dinner in Brunswick and Mae’s Cafe and Bakery in Bath for brunch. The kids love Gelato Fiasco in town. Btw, all these places have gift cards and S loved getting them as birthday/Christmas gifts.</p>
<p>I am happy to report that a great time was had by all at Family Weekend. DS is not the type to keep his parents in the loop, so up until this weekend my wife and I didn’t have much information on how things were going - so I was a little worried about how everything would go. He loves it at Bowdoin: great classes, great professors, great food, gets along with his roommates. We arrived on Friday afternoon and he took us on a tour of the campus which also included his favorite places to study. Which was revealing in and of itself in that it showed us he was focused on his studies.</p>
<p>One of the reasons the trip was so successful is that we didn’t spend the entire weekend joined at the hip. I still wanted to give him some space. I managed to get to a school sponsored yoga class early Saturday (just me, couldn’t convince any other family members to go at 7:30AM). Got to attend a lecture titled "What is a gene?"given by Biology Professor Bruce Kohorn which my 9th grade daughter found very interesting. This might have been her first “unofficial” college visit, although please don’t tell her that! DS was still asleep for this lecture, I believe. In the afternoon I enjoyed watching the Bowdoin Soccer team beat Colby 4-1. My 7th grade son enjoyed this. </p>
<p>DS took us to some of his favorite places in town - Gelato Fiasco, Flipside Pizza. He seems so content and well adjusted…</p>
<p>One thing I noticed is that the students at Bowdoin are so nice. They are a quietly intense group of kids. Everyone has worked so hard to get there and they seem to be very comfortable in their own skin. Their is not a whiff of competitiveness in the air. It is just such a special place.</p>
<p>Oh, forgot to add that dinner in Thorne on Friday night was very enjoyable. The place was packed, and the students were so courteous standing in a longer than normal line for dinner. The Roast Sirloin of Beef with Port and Moutarde reduction was excellent, but my favorite dish of the night was the Quinoa Cakes with Ragout of Mushrooms and Bowdoin Organic garden vegetables. And the Seafood Chowder, as always, was to die for. It was my favorite meal of the weekend.</p>
<p>We also had a fantastic time at Bowdoin this weekend!</p>
<p>Food was amazing…I will have to fast for a week!</p>
<p>Students were friendly, smart, and interesting…so many multitalented, multidimensional young people. It’s exciting to think about what they will all accomplish! The jazz musicians who played at brunch today were superb!</p>
<p>It’s hard to explain the “vibe,” but essentially, these are people who are relaxed about how smart and hard working they are. They are obviously excelling academically, but they are also enjoying the experience.</p>
<p>So glad that my d is there! She is having a great time. Now we just need to convince her brother to choose Bowdoin, too!</p>
<p>We arrived home late last night. The Hungarian Mushroom soup on Saturday night was incredible! The blueberry crumb cake at brunch yesterday was yummy, too.</p>
<p>Great to see my son over Thanksgiving break. Does anyone know of an airport shuttle that runs from Portland Airport back to campus tomorrow? My son had a friend bring him to the airport, but did not make any plans for the return trip…</p>