<p>I've tried to search, but the threads I find are all from before the Commons was built! The housing information says that the beds are twin size, but I really don't want to show up for move in with the wrong sheet size and have to take home sheets to return! So...can any of the current students who have lived in the commons (or their parents) tell me what size sheets you need? (The sheets I want to order only come in regular twin)</p>
<p>From Road to Vanderbilt 2013 (<a href=“Vanderbilt University”>Vanderbilt University), 36w x 78l; standard twin sheets will fit most padding</p>
<p>The beds are actually slightly longer than twin, but not twin XL, somewhere awkwardly in between. Twin sheets will work fine unless you have a particularly thick mattress pad which can make the fit a little difficult. Most people probably bring twin but if twin XL is available (or at twin with the longer sides for taller mattresses, whatever that’s called), it might be a little more convenient.</p>
<p>I would recommend the XL. Biggest expense was buying the Twin XL memory foam pad (save those 20% discounts at Bed Bath Beyond)…and the XL sheets are easier to place when you add height to the mattress. You can get away with the standard twin topsheet more easily than the base sheet. For parents from far away, you can reserve these items at the Nashville Target or BBBeyond and pick up Nashville. There is plenty of time to do this even if you are only there 48 hours. But you should get your hotels reserved! 
Move in day is a happy day, many great Vandy upperclassmen and women there to help you.</p>
<p>Faline - I was at my local BedBathandBeyond yesterday and found out how to pre-select merchandise at my local store to have waiting at the store in Nashville. They told me I could do it at any time as long as it is 48 hours ahead of pick up time. Good tip on the XL sheets. I’ve been going back and forth on which ones to buy. Since we plan on getting S a mattress topper, the XL sheets make sense. Now if I could just find gold towels that can be monogramed online and not cost me a fortune.</p>
<p>OK, I have a towel opinion. To be honest, the ability for towels to dry is pretty good in the Commons, at least in the newer buildings where our kid was randomly assigned. However, he prefers the microfiber full sized towels that dry quickly. Hang on knob or anywhere and it is dry so fast. Duke son’s room in dorm was such that their towels never dried! He and roomie ordered large microfiber towels and loved them so much. Vandy son is in a DC apt this summer and left regular towels behind. Kept his oversized microfiber towel. The brand I like is Aquis, although I bet they can be purchased many places. I use one to get my hair bone dry quickly. Sons never missed plush towels as laundry is once a week at best.</p>
<p>You can ship stuff directly from a major store like Bed, Bath & Beyond or Amazon if you don’t mind paying for shipping (or have Amazon Prime). They set up a big tent on the lawn right in the Commons for you to pick up your things. The staff at the tent last year told me there was no limit to the number of boxes you can ship.</p>
<p>(Regular sheets actually did fit just fine, even with a mattress topper.)</p>
<p>LBowie is right…that is the best way to go. The tent slipped my mind but for items you know you can’t carry on a plane or get in your car, and are certain to need…shipping before orientation is best. Rather than driving to BBBeyond. Or having your son or daughter carry boxes from main campus PO to Commons later on.<br>
I would for instance ship the XL memory foam mattress topper and ship a Verilux desk lamp or another full spectrum desk lamp. I would buy one of BBBeyond’s bag of absorbent odor eating rocks for near the laundry bag or shoe area. It seems to me that we never used the box of six inch wood bed lifts at Vandy? In order to put more storage boxes under the dorm bed? can’t remember if ever needed. The Commons really does have better storage than most dorms in America. Commons rooms are less gloomy than rooms in say…old Kissam but they can be poorly lit, esp if you do your desk under your lofted bed. We also always found a use for one Verilux floor lamp that can change heights for a reading chair, even if there was only one place for a shared chair.
The drives to stores happen when you have new ideas after seeing the room. I once sent a sort of ugly vinyl new blow up chair (like seahorse in water, it got bigger once it was unboxed–until arrival was deeply compressed) to my son after classes started by mail. He reported it was very awkward to carry Ugly Vinyl Compressed Chair to the Commons. But we realized his room had a place for one reading corner after he moved in. He passed this beauty on to an underclassman last month.</p>
<p>Son is moving in on the Tuesday before move-in day. I don’t think the pick up location will work well for the things he needs to sleep in the room. I do plan on doing that for a beanbag chair that he wants. Since he is moving in early, my plan is to make a list of what he needs beyond the basics once we are in the room and then going shopping while he’s at band camp. We’ll bring that stuff in during move-in day.</p>
<p>There is a Target off of White Bridge Road that is an easy drive from campus if you want to peruse their offerings in things like memory foam mattress topper…easy in out in a strip mall.<br>
Band is a wonderful place to meet and keep a circle of friends all four years. Our grad lived with 3 members of the band sophomore year in a Mayfield Lodge for 10. The band throws parties and has its own social events.</p>
<p>One thing to think about is the Target off white bridge road gets sold out of LOTS. We are local, but ran there for command strips and a closet organizer (once we saw how small the closets were in the towers) and were so surprised that they were sold out of EVERYTHING. No command strips, no hangers, no closet organizers…it was crazy! There is dollar general on the way, and Opry mills mall (15 minute drive) has a bed bath and beyond. If you continue down charlotte pike (intersects white bridge) there is s HUGE shopping center with a super target, Costco, best buy, Ross, kmart, etc. The one closer to campus gets Belmont, trevecca, Lipscomb students as well! Worth it to drive 5 more minutes down the road! Also great restaurants in the center at
Charlotte Pike : )</p>