<p>25 m ethernet cables are recommended. The dorms do have wifi, but I think your connection gets reset every 2 hours.</p>
<p>wow thanks for saying that.</p>
<p>25 m? That is huge. 75 feet is more than enough to go around the entire room...</p>
<p>This will be mostly a what not to bring post, but I may throw in some what to bring -- and this is primarily directed at So. Cal. people who have parents drive up in a small, gas saving car (think Prius). Remember, the longer you are up there, the more stuff you collect. Therefore, all the stuff that fit just perfectly in the car to head up to Cal in August, just ain't gonna fit when you leave Cal in May. With the trips to Target, the books you buy, the posters you collect, the additional things you bring back up on your trip(s) home, you will find that another car will be necessary.</p>
<p>Seriously, it took 2 days to help son pack up all his junk, loading up our car to the max twice. The solution was to head to the nearest FedEx/Kinkos, buy boxes and tape, and ship (ground fed ex) the "stuff" that won't be used in the next week or so.</p>
<p>The list of what my son regretted bringing or never used:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>More than 1 jacket and 1 coat. Being from So. Cal., you think you have to stock up on these items or freeze your butt off. You don't.</p></li>
<li><p>Utensils and dishes.</p></li>
<li><p>A bike. First off, he lived in Foothill, which is great to ride a bike down from, but not up. Also, the time it takes to unlock all the locks, ride bike to class, then relock all the locks eats up all the time you save riding vs. walking to class. He tried this once, did the math, and never touched the bike again. And even with the locks, the front wheel was stolen during winter break.</p></li>
<li><p>Stretchy sheets. Stick with the perma-press/cotton variety. The stretchy ones die after one wash, feel crummy on your skin, and if you have straight hair, the electricity in the sheets makes your hair stand on end after a night's sleep.</p></li>
<li><p>More than 2 towels. More than 2 is overkill.</p></li>
<li><p>More than 1 dressy outfit (for guys, that's 1 jacket, decent pair of trousers, button down shirt, tie). Unless you go Greek, you're only going to need to wear something nice about twice the whole year. The first time will be right when you get to Cal and go to the Chancelor's reception. Then if you join any clubs, they usually have a couple parties during the year. That's it.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't overdo the shoes. Some of you are shoe collectors, and those are the biggest space wasters in any closet and any car.</p></li>
<li><p>Toiletries, laundry supplies, food & drink. Berkeley is a city, and has all these supplies. No sense in dragging them 300 miles wasting car space.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'll add to this list as it comes to me.</p>
<p>Remember to bring a good umbrella that won't invert itself with gusts... NorCal has occasional winter storms with strong winds during the rainy season.</p>
<p>And please, SoCal people you don't need to open your umbrellas for drizzle or fog. Use it for actual rain!</p>
<p>So how long of an ethnernet cable do we need?</p>
<p>10 meters should be long enough... my cable had about 3 ft of slack once connected to the jack in Unit 3.</p>
<p>I've seen people on my floor use shorter ones but the cables run diagonally thru the middle of the room so you have to walk over the cables.</p>
<p>nice post UCLA77</p>
<p>^^ That amount of cable seems right. In dorms, you can basically move your furniture around as you and your roommate(s) agree, so it depends on where the jacks are located (usually under the window) and where you're going to move your desk as to the length of cable needed. Most students have their desks by the window or close to the window. Also depends on the size and layout of the room.</p>
<p>On refrigerators & the rent vs. buy debate, yes, it's much cheaper to just buy. BUT, if you buy, you have to lug it to and from your dorm room on your own. And some dorms have no elevator, so it's possible you'll be lugging up and down four flights of steps. Then, getting it from the car to the dorm is a whole other debacle. You'll need to find a dolly or take up car space bringing one. I've seen some decrepit parents looking well worse for the wear helping their child move these things. It's not a pretty sight.</p>
<p>^^ Problem is, the rental company (Micro 101) also has terrible communication with students about how to return the refrigerators/microwave units. Some students never received emails telling them the pickup locations during finals week. One poor girl had to taker hers from Unit 3 to Foothill (took a good 40 minutes) because she missed the local pickup time for Unit 3.</p>
<p>Was the person not checking their email or did they just not receive the email? I got loads of emails from GSIs and teachers about finals and bspace info leading up to finals and even during finals, so I was checking my emails constantly.</p>
<p>Another thing you don't need to bring is a student planner if you're in the dorms, because that's part of the "welcome" packet they give you.</p>
<p>Sweet! A free USB drive AND a free planner. Can Berkeley be any cooler?!</p>
<p>the usb's only 512 though :/</p>
<p>Ok...
I really don't get the whole semester system in terms of dorms...
Do we bring clothes and stuff for the entire year? Or do we clear stuff out after semester 1 and then bring it all back for semester 2? Or do we bring enough stuff for semester 1 then take what we wont be needing anymore home, and bring more stuff for semester 2?</p>
<p>AND</p>
<p>How many notebooks, packs of paper do you recommend bringing?</p>
<p>Well I don't know what happens to the oos or internationals, but I do know that at semester break (right after 1st sem finals in Dec), you clear out of the dorms (you, not your stuff) until they open them back up mid-January, right before class starts.</p>
<p>Norcal students seemed to bring what was needed for the first semester, whereas everyone else brought for the whole year. For me, since it cools down a LOT in November, and class isn't out until mid-Dec., you really need the warmer clothing, esp. if you're from Socal.</p>
<p>Buy all your paper stuff once you get to Cal. You may want Cal stuff, if not, target and lots of places to get supplies. I had 1 notebook per class but everyone's different. It was just easier for me separating things, but that's me. You might like the 3 in 1 or whatever.</p>
<p>Thanks Beatchick..that was really helpful!</p>
<p>How about staplers and hole-punches? Are they available in the libraries or other places, or is it a good idea to bring your own?</p>
<p>How popular are binders?</p>
<p>oh and</p>
<p>In your room, do you have a drawer or something you can lock up stuff in?
Because I'm curious about the safety of leaving your laptop/other electronics in your dorm room?</p>
<p>you can lock your dorm? unless youre talking about not trusting your roommates?</p>
<p>That and if your roommate has a lot of friends coming over to your room when you're gone...you can't trust THEM if you don't even know them. </p>
<p>(you can't blame me...I've heard stories...my friend's sister had a lot of her clothes taken by roommates friends)</p>
<p>You basically have to trust people and talk to your roommate about what stuff is ok to borrow and what stuff is off limits. Only the door to the room has a lock, none of the furniture does. I know someone who had a little lock box for her valuables. Best practice on stuff you don't want to lose, by borrowing or stealing, is keep it out of plain view or reach. There's plenty of places to keep stuff away from roommates friends, etc., like in the back of the drawer under the bed behind other stuff, or behind a box on top of the closet, or something like that.</p>
<p>When I'd leave for the weekend, I'd either take my laptop with me, or hide it.</p>
<p>Theft most often occurs because people leave their doors open when there's no one in the room.</p>
<p>In foothill, since they're suites,</p>
<p>do we need shower caddy's or do we leave our stuff in the bathroom?
Are there lockers in the bathroom?</p>
<p>Anyone want to say how it all works?</p>