I’m really paranoid about this. I’m afraid that my guitar will get stolen.
It depends on the school, and perhaps more importantly, you and your roommate. If you are both very good about locking the door, then you should have nothing to worry about. If, however, you have a roommate like I did in undergrad who would not only forget to lock the door, but frequently leave her keys in the door, I’d recommend you leave your guitar at home. It’s really important to be vigilant about locking your dorm door. It might take you just a few minutes to go to the bathroom at the end of the hall and come back, but that’s all it might take for a thief to steal some of your stuff.
Maybe leave it home 1st semester until you can get the lay of the land. You can take it at winter break if you feel comfortable.
Is your guitar worth more than your phone or laptop? If not, then nobody is going to steal your guitar.
S1 worried about that too, or that it might get damaged. So, he picked up an inexpensive travel acoustic guitar. He never did take his better ones to school until he moved out into an apartment, more due to space limitations in the dorm and damage liklihood than it being stolen.
If you’re worried, I suggest that you just play it safe and keep it at home for now. Better safe than sorry
Some music departments offer locked spaces to keep instruments, especially bigger ones that are awkward to carry around. That might be a common space and more of a damage risk however (our closet flooded during a rainstorm. It was only luck that all the string instruments weren’t damaged).
If you and your roommate(s) are vigilant and close/lock the door, it shouldn’t be too big of a risk. I’ve always kept my instruments in my dorm room and never had an issue (and I play woodwinds so they’re small enough to shove into a backpack, unlike a guitar). If you’re particularly paranoid you can buy a locking case for it. Make it a big case and write your name in some ugly color on the side. Then even if (BIG IF) it is stolen you can identify it easily.
Also, many insurance companies offer small plans that cover theft and damage, often specifically for dorm rooms. Whether you get this or not, make note of the make, model, and serial number of the instrument and keep that in a safe place, so you can make a specific report if it is stolen.
You will be fine. Just make sure you lock up when you leave. The only problems that arise is when someone does not follow basic security.
^College students neglect to follow basic security all the time. They leave their dorm rooms unlocked, prop open side and exit doors, let unauthorized or unknown visitors into their residences, bring guests and unknowns, allow people to follow them into buildings they don’t know, etc. Even if you always lock your own door when you leave, your roommate may not.
However, I do think you’ll be fine if you purchase a big footlocker or locking case for your guitar (I’m sure they have these) and just lock it up when you are not using it.
If you are attending a small college, I doubt anyone is going to steal a guitar. I guess a big college would be a differtn story.
Rarely, RARELY does anything ever get stolen from a dorm room. There are security cameras everywhere typically, so stealing something large like a guitar would just be a dumb idea.
Although this is irrelevant, PLEASE do not play the guitar in your dorm. I guarantee that no matter how good you are, no one wants to listen to you while in the dorms. If you want to practice, take it to a practice room at the music building where instruments are welcomed, and basically encouraged.
My son took a very inexpensive guitar to school with him while he was in the dorms and didn’t take one of his better ones until he lived in an apartment. I would worry more about rough-housing and someone falling on a guitar in a crowded dorm room than that it would be stolen.
Someone here suggested that I leave it at home, then bring it during winter break if I’m comfortable; and I might just do that. Thanks!
My roommate brought her $2300 guitar with her to college. She has a locking case for it and we never leave the room unlocked when we’re gone. I really don’t think theft from dorm rooms is all that common, especially if you need an ID to swipe into the building. Most of the theft at my school comes from people leaving laptops and phones unattended when they’re in the bathroom in the library and dining halls.
My daughter brought her concert grand harp to college but it is kept in the school of music not the dorms. When she returned second semester she brought her small folk harp to keep in the dorms and play in the practise rooms in the dorm. Both are fully insured for damage and theft on a separate policy not connected to my homeowners policy.
Agree that I’d be more concerned with damage than theft. If you have valuable instruments get them insured! Our homeowners insurance caps the value of musical instruments at $5K (No where close to the value of the instruments!) and doesn’t cover accidental damage.
I don’t know how much the guitar is worth, but you should insure it if it has monetary (not just sentimental) value. It’s probably against the rules to mention a company by name, but I can tell you that in my state from a particular company you could buy $10,000 of musical instrument coverage with $0 deductible for $60 a year. PM me if you want more info.
Maybe it depends on your definition of “rare” but relative to the likelihood of something getting stolen from your home it’s several orders of magnitude more likely.