<p>So do we even need a refrigerator and/or microwave? What does everyone think?</p>
<p>you don't, but i'd recommend a refrigerator at the very least.
freshman year we had a refrig and a microwave (not the crappy microfridge that you can rent through duke) and they were both used ALL the time. it's cheaper to go out to target or something and buy bottles of water or milk or snacks or whatever you like to eat/drink and store it in your room than to pay for it at duke. plus, on the weekends when the marketplace is closed for dinner, we'd order in a lot and sometimes have leftovers which we would also refrigerate. you can make do without a microwave because if you ever need one, there'll be friends of yours who do have them and use theirs (we let people use ours), but a refrigerator is so useful/handy that in my experience, it's like one of those "necessary" college things. i have friends that started off the semester without either, and within two or three weeks, they got a refrigerator.</p>
<p>Thank You bluestar7</p>
<p>bluestar7, could you elaborate on the rental microfridges? Were they just crappy quality? Or what? I just can't imagine lugging a small fridge around and storing it and what not...</p>
<p>personally, i was told that a rental microfridge wasn't worth renting, so we didn't. it's pretty small, not the best of quality, and if you're planning on renting one all four years, it's not really worth it cost wise. our refrigerator and microwave just were a lot bigger, of better quality, cleaner... </p>
<p>then again, a few friends of mine rented microfridges but then they joined fraternities (or sororities) and the seniors or juniors going abroad were selling their old refrigerators for $30. but unless you know upperclassmen trying to unload their old (often pretty good, minus the occasional beer stain) fridges, that luck probably won't happen.</p>
<p>storing it really isn't an issue at all. i was lucky that my roommate lives 2 hours from duke and her dad has an SUV. but all my friends who weren't so lucky put theirs in a storage facility, and moving the fridge there was no more difficult than moving a box filled with random junk you don't need at home over the summer... all went into the same truck they loaned us for free. actually, purchasing your own appliances seems to be (from my experience) a much more popular alternative than renting, as i only know two people who rented one.</p>
<p>Well, I might just take your word for it then.</p>
<p>How tall of a fridge are we talkin? Maybe around 15''-24''?</p>