<p>Ok cc'ers who have already sent their babies off to college, I thought it might be helpful to us newbies to start a thread about dorm necessities or some do's and don'ts. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Excellent idea bisouu! </p>
<p>My biggest piece of advice would be to not overspend. I mean, unless you have a large budget, there is no need to buy so much of the stuff. If your kid likes the personal touch, they can be creative and decorate the room with posters, paintings, fabric. My older daughter brought her own paintings to school and then went to the thrift sale there in October and bought a rug for her room ($10), another blanket ($5), a used frig ($10), a used microwave ($10), both to share down the hall with a few other students. For stuff like long sheets etc., Target has a lot of decent stuff; many people go to Bed Bath and Beyond. It depends on your budget and taste.</p>
<p>Do not buy a frig or anything that you cannot store over the summer and/or be able to easily take home. They don’t need TV’s as they watch stuff on their laptops. A printer is helpful.</p>
<p>Remember you usually can buy stuff there as well. So, to use the example of a printer–you don’t have to pack a printer. You can wait to buy it when you’re there; this makes it easier at least driving up. Certainly easier flying.</p>
<p>It does depend on whether they’re flying. FLying makes it harder although do remember you can ship stuff if you need.</p>
<p>I do have to say that both my D’s like their privacy and were fortunate to be in schools that have ample singles that are reasonably priced. Roommate sagas and some dorm situations can be touchy, so it’s also good to review self-advocacy, not that out kids will listen… </p>
<p>I equate the dorm prep to the nesting process for the college student. It is a process that the student undergoes to prepare themselves for setting up their own space, becoming individuals as they leave home. Some kids truly don’t care about this process and don’t need to hae individuality and others really need to express themseles in how they set up their rooms. Perhaps a comforter or blanket that makes them feel unique whether its just a certain color that they love, or a pattern that makes them smile. If they don’t care to express themselves this way, don’t push it but if they seem to want to find something special, it doens’t have to cost a lot of money as Connections stated, there are many creative and crafty ways that they can decorate and accesorize a room. If they have food concerns they may need to have a fridge in their room. Each college has its own rules about what you can do to walls i.e. usually no hooks in walls, only stick on things that will not ruin the walls. Each college has different size beds: find out if there are twin beds if they are twin long or regular for buying sheets and yet some dorms will have full size beds. Don’t assume, all this info will be on websites of the colleges so search around on the sites for info.</p>
<p>Would you recommend some sort of mattress topper? I have seen memory foam options at Costco I thought might be a good investment</p>
<p>I got my son a mattress topper both for sanitary reasons and comfort. Also for most schools bed bath and beyond is wonderful. We went around with the registry gun in New York and ordered for pick up in Carolina when we got there. It was all ready for us. Was fun and convenient. And if there were things you ended up not needing you just took it out of the order. Unfortunately we couldn’t do the same for my D in London. 
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<p>Definitely yes on the mattress topper but it’s best if it is one that is compact enough to travel. If you are flying I know that you can shop at Bed Bath & Beyond and either preorder everything to be picked up in a a store near the school, or delivered. </p>
<p>An over the bed storage shelf (yes, Bed Bath & Beyond - save those coupons they send!!!). They are GREAT to use for extra storage space, although they were a little tricky to assemble with all the STUFF on move-in day. Girls like LOTS of pictures of high school friends & their new friends like looking at them! We (ok, she & younger sister did it) covered a cheap bulletin board from Wal-Mart with cute fabric and then covered it in photos - lots she just printed from Facebook. Surge protectors/extension cords - check dorm rules for what you can & can’t have. Roommate brought a cute bright colored rug & it really brightened the room. Under bed storage containers - check measurements for what will fit make the most of that space. They love their Keurig too! THIS IS THE FUN PART! Our dorm came with microwave & refrigerator. One other thing - D wanted cute bedding, got lots of matching pillows, and now she won’t be able to use it next year, so that was an expensive 9 months of bedding. Anybody like pink & orange? ;)</p>
<p>Do: hope that your daughter from the west coast ends up with a roommate within driving distance who will bring the bulk of the big stuff that you cannot put on plane and cannot store. Fly on airlines like JetBlue that give you one checked bag free. We moved our daughter to NYU and made it a family trip which (since there are 4 of us) every one checked a bag that was full of her stuff. </p>
<p>Don’t: over buy. Remember that whatever you bring, she has to pay to store over the summer unless you have relatives or friends in the area that will keep her stuff for her. Things like a refrigerator which cost almost as much to rent as it would to buy one can cost nearly as much to store as it does to buy one. (Depending on your storage options. I guess New Jersey not in a city is different from my experience with NYC.) </p>
<p>Must haves: Bed risers. Those 4 things you put under the bed’s legs that make it so you can fit a suitcase or boxes etc. under the bed for storage. </p>
<p>We used collegeboxes.com last year for storage and will again this year. It wasn’t perfect but they pick up from the dorm room and deliver to whatever new dorm or apartment she has the following year. Plus they send you a kit with packing boxes, tape, markers, labels etc. Again, I’ll bet there could be better options over in NJ bisouu that cost less but in NYC, you can’t even park for long in front of the dorm to load and unload so my feeling was let somebody else deal with it. You can also have things shipped to school through the same company but we didn’t do that but I have friends that did and were pleased with the option.</p>
<p>We LOVED the Bed Bath and Beyond program since we are in the Seattle area and D was going to Ithaca. We simply went to our local BBandBeyond, used the magic wand and scanned whatever we wanted, and then they had it all ready at the other end for us. They were very organized—I was really impressed with how easy they made it for families going through this process. So save your coupons, and they don’t even care if the coupon is out of date. All four of us flew to NY with her because we had never been to NY state, so we made it a family trip and that enabled us to have many suitcases! The whole moving her across the country process went way smoother than I had imagined it would. Also: check with your child’s school but there are these one-piece fridge/microwave units called microfridges available for rent. Yeah you can probably buy a fridge and a microwave for less, but the big advantage is that you don’t have to store them for the summer. </p>
<p>We’re so blessed; my D is in the process of deciding between two NYC schools; but Grandma lives smack in the middle of Manhattan, so my D is going to stay with her, she gets to decorate her entire bedroom and they are building her a closet! We’re so blessed to save the housing costs!</p>
<p>Tell me if the is cute or cheesy (I freely admit the idea came from a cheesy source- but still) If anyone saw all the Twilight movies, remember how Bella’s mom makes her a blanket out of tshirts from trips they had taken? I was thinking of doing the same thing with my D’s middle and high school show shirts as something to take to college. (and don’t worry, she has sweatshirts as well as T shirts from many shows, so she’ll still have mementos) Seems like an excellent re purposing, as I am guessing college kids don’t run around in a shirt from the production of “Joseph and the amazing…” they did when they were 12! I especially love her “Urinetown” shirt- the kids names make a toilet! What do you think?</p>
<p>I’ve never done it, but a lot of people here do those t-shirt quilts for kids - great graduation gifts. Of course, we live in the south, and we also monogram everything - lol! I do see pictures of kids in their high school show t-shirts. And as for the risers - check with school on that (ours has a webpage with all dorm info/measurements, etc.) they could have their beds set at regular height, or high, which is what they all seem to do - don’t know measurements, but one of those smaller 3 drawer plastic chests from Target (or BB&B!) will fit under it & they have low dressers that come with dorm furniture that also go under the bed. The shoe storage thing with dividers was a great idea, but way too much trouble. She threw it away (ugh!) and extra shoes are all in a laundry basket. ALSO: on the “cute” but not practical front: someone told us not to do a bedskirt, even though it hides the under bed junk - makes it hard to get to the stuff stored under the bed.</p>
<p>I like the Tshirt quilt idea but my D still wears a lot of her tshirts to dance or exercise in, even the middle school ones, so I think I would ask first!</p>
<p>We didn’t send a lot of stuff, but a hot water pot, some tea, a box of Emergen-C and a case of Power bars seemed to go down well.</p>
<p>My older D’s roommate has a quilt like that and gets lots of compliments. Hers is made from t-shirts from all of their many, many church retreats and camps. Younger D, the actor, still wears a lot of her show and dance competition shirts, like dramamom says, for dance and working out. </p>
<p>Both D’s got Keurigs as graduation gifts and wouldn’t part with them for love or money! Also you don’t have to buy the (cheaply made) sheets from that Residence Hall company (you’ll start getting their ads soon if you haven’t already). Most places sell extra long sheets that will fit the dorm beds.</p>
<p>@toowonderful, Momcares (who posts here sometimes) made two of the most gorgeous quilts I’ve ever seen out of old T shirts for her kids as they went off to college. They were very clever and labors of love. I think she struggled finding the t-shirts from her son’s stash since his were well worn but she managed.</p>
<p>Do it and then show them off to all of us non-crafty types so we can have something to aspire to (or wallow in our lack of talent over.) </p>
<p>A good-size, sturdy trashcan…not something little and cute…is highly recommended. </p>
<p>These are amazing suggestions!! Thanks so much…keep them coming…</p>
<p>Unless she miraculously lands in an air-conditioned dorm, she’ll need a good fan, Bisouu. Also: if she brings her riding gear, she may want to designate a laundry basket or bin for that stuff so she can corral it in her room. My daughter rode at Kenyon and definitely needed a place for all that stuff–helmet, boots, even her saddle–preferably a lidded bin where the aroma can be contained. </p>
<p>I agree with those who advise waiting till you get there before you buy too much. My 3 all went about an 8-hour drive away, easier than flying, but we have made it a move-in ritual to check out the room, move in the suitcases, and then do a run to Target, or whatever’s closest/local, and pick up the things like fans, trash can, storage bin, etc., plus the inevitable forgotten necessities. It’s been a nice transitional activity for us and allows you to indulge in some small goofy or sentimental impulse purchase as a goodbye present. :)</p>