My son moved from the luxury west quad hotel… I mean dorm… To the not so luxury… Northwood lll apartments. All of his activities,.most classes, clubs and work study will be on North campus this year and going forward. He loves the idea of being in a university apartment sorta like a step up. He didn’t want air conditioning even after we offered to pay for one unit for the apartment. We didn’t want undue burden on his roommates family. It was like an oven a few days ago at early move in. This weekend it will be blazing hot.
What suggestions do experienced people have on keeping cool in a really hot apartment or dorm room?
Oh, your question takes me back! I grew up in a hot, humid area in the upper midwest and we never had air conditioning in our homes or dorms. My mom was an ACE at keeping the house cool through a complicated routine of opening and closing windows and doors at the right time of day. At night, open everything–all night long if it’s safe to do so. Run box fans in the windows pointing inward. (People traditionally slept on sleeping porches, which is why you see so many little porches on second floors of old houses up there.) Then as soon as the morning air doesn’t feel cool, close everything down. (Do this too late and you are doomed! Mom would rush around closing everything up the second she felt the air shift. On days when the forecast was bad, this would involve screaming to wake us up if needed.) In the late afternoon, when your attempt to manipulate your environment has inevitably failed and it’s getting hot inside again, you open the windows and point the box fan outward. Or have two box fans in two dif windows–one going out and one going in. Lie around with iced towels on your knees and elbows. The same principles work in apartment buildings, so long as you have two windows for your two box fans and keep all interior doors open.
He has 2 fans. I grew up without air conditioning when I was young. When sears came to install the ac… It was heaven.
I would add some blackout curtains on south or west facing windows. The type with the grommet top will slide onto a spring rod and fit inside the window frame. You may only need one panel. I haven’t tried the cooling gel pillows myself but have been told they work.
I have blackout curtains and two fans in my apartment. Michigan isn’t too hot during the semesters anyways (as most semesters occur in fall/winter). So long as there’s heating (and there will be), then he should be fine.
Fans. I grew up 20 miles from
Ann Arbor without AC. He’ll survive. It works best to run the fans in the evening & at night to pull in cooler air from outside, then close the windows and pull the shades before it gets hot outside. We atr popsicles, too. 
And by October, it won’t be an issue.