<p>Just received the Residence Life and Housing Parent Packet with info about storage, laundry service, loft beds etc. Hoping some current students can give their opinion about some of these extra services and whether they are worth the extra cost or not. Must admit--never even considered the laundry service for my kid--I did my own laundry in college and she does her own laundry now--so the fact that I am even asking about this is a little surprising to me--but no harm in asking, right? The cheapest service is about $300/semester. If you do laundry each week for about the 16 weeks school is in session--it would cost about $18/week. What do you think you spend on laundry during a semester and how often do you wash clothes? Also, is it a total pain or do they have enough washers/dryers that you don't have to laundry at 2 AM? Regarding loft beds--do some of the dorms already have loft beds or must you go thru the bed loft company to get one? I would think having that space under your bed would be very useful in a cramped dorm room. Finally what about the MicroFridge rental--seemed a little pricey to me, but then again having to haul a fridge into and out of dorm room is not very appealing to me. Thanks in advance for thoughts/opinions on these topics.</p>
<p>The only thing I’d consider getting is the microfridge rental, which your daughter can share with her roommate and thus also share the cost. Food left in the community fridges gets stolen all the time, and microwaves are not allowed on the main campus dorms unless they are part of a microfridge.</p>
<p>The laundry service is definitely a luxury and overpriced, and thus only very few students use it. At peak hours (Sunday evenings for example) all the washers and dryers in the laundry room will be occupied, but often only because people don’t come to pick it up as soon as it’s done. In that case I usually just take that person’s clothes out and put it on the table. And the machines do malfunction sometimes and just take your money. But even with those hassles I don’t see anything wrong with having your daughter learn to be more independent. </p>
<p>While the lofted beds do same some space I’m personally not a big fan of them, as they just make it harder to get into and out of bed. And if you’re drunk having the bunk beds is also a big safety hazard. The only hall where they are really necessary is Dobbs (because of the small rooms), and in Dobbs all the beds already come lofted by default.</p>
<p>Luli 24…did you receive this packet in the mail? when? we are in California and did not receive this yet…</p>
<p>Onedayatatime. I did receive in the mail. It is a mid-sized envelope from the housing office and it was addressed “to the family of…”. Included info on various services available laundry service, loft beds, fridge rental, linen sales, care packages.</p>
<p>thanks luli64…When did you receive it?</p>
<p>I received it probably a day or so before the post so maybe around June 26.</p>
<ul>
<li>Skip the laundry service.</li>
<li>Ask the move-in helpers to raise the bed to its highest level so there will be maximum storage under it.</li>
<li>Consider the rental fridge/microwave combo or just buy a small fridge on your own. Note that the rental unit is the only microwave allowed in the dorm room itself.</li>
<li>Minimize wall damage from posters, etcetera.</li>
</ul>
<p>i have a friend who got the laundry service. we all used it.</p>
<p>I would be concerned with laundry service at any school as they tend to dry clothes on high heat, thus shrinkage.</p>
<p>(MaryMac15535’s mom here) We got a similar packet from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the summer before my oldest son started there. With that experience in mind, and considering that most of the colleges my daughter plans to apply to are much farther away, I would definitely go for the microfridge at any school - more expensive than buying a fridge & microwave outright, but the convenience of not having to lug those things back & forth each summer would totally be worth it! The package-deal sales on bed & bath linens would depend on the quality of the included items, and whether the vendor has partnered with the college to offer the option of having the package-deal delivered to the student’s dorm room (ready & waiting come move-in day). I’m no snob to insist on top-of-the-line luxury linens, but I’ve tried cheap microfiber sheets in my kids’ rooms & didn’t like them, so some sort of cotton or cotton-blend would be pretty important. If the college my daughter ends up going to is within a day’s drive from our home, I wouldn’t mind lugging the bedding; however, if she has to fly or take a train to her college, having the bed & bath linens waiting for her at the college would be a BIG help.</p>
<p>Not really sure how this topic came up again after school has already started. But for those reading that might care, these are my thoughts:</p>
<p>–lofting beds, my S did not “loft” the beds really high. We purchased risers from bed bath and beyond. We ended up stacking two risers for each leg of the bed to get it high enough for put some containers under the bed. This made for additional storage, but the beds are still not that high. The bed heights are different in each dorm, in fact they were different even in our dorm from room to room. The risers were great and you could always return them if you do not need them.
–purchased a refrigerator for $100 at Target for the boys to use. My S also ended up using it for a night stand. It was a lot cheaper than renting, so even if he gives it away it was still way cheaper than renting. He did not need a microwave.
–Ok…I admit I did sign up my S for the laundry service. Not sure he has really used it so much. Certainly he could have split it with a friend the way it looks. I did do one load of laundry at the dorm when he moved in. He returned from his pre-orientation trip with weat smelly clothes, so I washed them. I was impressed that it did not take long to wash and dry his clothes. I think one semester was good for the laundry service and he can do his laundry next semester. No way to cost justify the laundry service…it is a luxury for my disorganized son.
–We flew to Emory, so we ordered everything ahead of time at bed, bath and beyond. We stayed at the Emory Hotel and Conference center the night before. They have washing machines and dryers, so I was able to wash all the towels and sheets before moving into the dorm the next day.</p>