<p>Just wondering how people in 4 person suites have managed kitchen space in the past? My roommates and I are all bringing separate dishes… Is there enough space for each person to get a cabinet for dishes? How have people done it in the past? We are sharing items like blender and large cooking utensils, can opener, etc.</p>
<p>You are obviously female. Only girls would bring 4 sets of dishes.</p>
<p>^^^ Not true 
My son and his roommates had thier own dishes cups, glasses, and silverware. Makes it easy because each person was responsible for cleaning up their own dirty dishes. Because of what he eats, son brought 4 bowls, 4 glasses, and four sets of silverware, and only one or two plates. He also brought a measuring cup that I think was for his personal use.</p>
<p>I hope you and your roommates can share the space without too much drama. There really isn’t a lot of storage space, so my dd kept some of her food items in her closet on the shelf. I think each girl had one shelf in the cupboards for their stuff, and they all seemed to leave out snack food for sharing.</p>
<p>As far as dishes go, it’s fine to have your own, but I would recommend having some disposable plates, bowls and utensils. Believe me, you and your roommates are not going to wash your dishes as soon as you’re done eating every single time. You will be busy and tired. My dd had one roommate who liked to bake, but only got around to washing up about once a week. Attempts were made to modify this behavior, unsuccessfully. She is a sweet girl, other than that, and you really could have worse problems. But you may need to have some flexibility in getting along with each other. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Which 4 bedroom suite are you in? Riverside and Lakeside (and maybe Ridgecrest E & W) have a 4 door pantry. Each student techically gets the space behind a door. There is also minimal space elsewhere…look at the kitchen pics. </p>
<p>If each are bringing their own dishes (and I can see why), hopefully they’re bringing styles that fit within themselves or stack quite compactly.</p>
<p>I can see why each needs his own dishes…otherwise, when you go to use a dish, none are clean.</p>
<p>Another reason for each roommate to have their own dishes and do their own dishwashing, is that each roommate will have their own standard of “dishwashing”, with some, like my son, having what I view as a pretty low standard which often requires that the item be rewashed before you feel comfortable using it to eat with/from.</p>
<p>Yes, bring a few of your own dishes, silverware, and glassware. It is also a good idea to have a few disposable items to use. Although my D’s roommate was rarely in the suite, she often chose to use my D’s dishes and then left them in her room for weeks with food in them until they were cruddy. When she returned, she would leave them in the sink for my D to wash. That doesn’t make for really great feelings when there isn’t mutual respect for each other’s belongings and time. My D chose not to fight the battle and lived with it for the year to get along.</p>
<p>My advice is to limit how many plates, glasses, bowls you bring and save space for disposables.</p>
<p>If you want to skip the dishes and glassware completely and use disposable that will work if you don’t plan to eat in your room too often. I can promise you, however, you’ll eat in your room much more than you think. Few students actually go to the dining hall for breakfast because it isn’t as convenient as grabbing something in quick in your room.</p>
<p>My older son used mostly only disposables and we kept them under his bed to ensure that the roomies didn’t raid them when their dishes were (often) dirty…lol</p>
<p>Great idea! :)</p>
<p>I didn’t know about the pantry mom2k! I will look at pics on the page. Thanks for the advice everyone!</p>
<p>This summer, my son lived in Ridgecrest East. He usually lives in Riverside West. There wasn’t much space for the draining board that he uses during the year, so we opted to hit the store for heavy duty disposable cutlery and bowls/plates. I’m hoping he’ll just stick with that for this year, as it turned out very well, especially at move out.</p>
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<p>That leads me to wonder if the kids don’t typically lock their bedroom doors. What would you say is the norm? Is it considered offensive to your roommates?</p>
<p>Good question lattelady! Wondering that too</p>
<p>I wouldn’t think it would be considered offensive to your roommates to lock your bedroom door. I think it would just be good practice to always lock it. I would hope her roommates lock their doors as well. Even if you’re comfortable with roomies coming and going, some may have visitors you’re not familiar with, etc. We have tried to get DD to get in the habit of always locking when she’s going to be out of the room for any length of time. We’ll see how that works out.</p>
<p>I believe my son and his roommates each locked their room whenever they were away from the suite and none of them took offense. Keep in mind that roommate can invite other people into the suite, some of whom they may have just recently met.</p>
<p>In my experience, first year students tend to bring a lot more dishes and cookware than they need. With a dining plan, off campus dining, and snack foods, many students will rarely cook.</p>
<p>Out of personal preference and a desire to be green, I will generally use reusable dishes and silverware. Corelle dishware can be found inexpensively at thrift stores, as can silverware (Oneida and other name brands are great, but most anything will work). In fact, you probably have a lot of extra stuff sitting around your home; I almost brought items that my mom had originally received for her high school graduation. I pack settings for 3-4 people and if I or my roommates have people over, we will borrow the other roommates’ dishes and clean them ASAP. I will say however that disposable dishware and silverware is great when hosting a large group of people.</p>
<p>In short, take your preferences into account and be respectful of shared spaces. </p>
<p>As for locking doors, it is a personal preference. Some people lock their doors before walking the 3 feet to the restroom and others will leave their bedroom door unlocked for the roommates to borrow stuff. UA officially requires that the front door of suites be locked at all possible times, but it is more a good idea to do than enforced policy.</p>
<p>Rest assured that everything will work out, albeit not necessarily as planned.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Yes, I think it is a good idea to lock your doors when you are out of your suite. Remember to ALWAYS lock the door to the suite.:)</p>
<p>My older son wouldn’t always lock his door, but he didn’t have a problem with roomies just going in and taking stuff. That never happened. </p>
<p>It’s different when things are in a kitchen within an easy grab. When there are shared dishes (or even personal dishes) in the kitchen, then there’s a temptation to grab a clean dish rather than wash the ones that the student previously dirtied. </p>
<p>I know that the child of a poster here stopped even using his shared kitchen much because the others weren’t keeping it clean/washing dishes/cleaning out old food in the fridge/etc.</p>
<p>I love the Super Suites, but without some kind of organized cleaning agreement, 4 teens in an apt can make for messes…and in my experience the boys have been the worst. </p>
<p>I really with there were a service a suite could pay for that at least cleaned up the common areas…kitchen, living room, bathrooms on a weekly basis.</p>
<p>First let me say the UA makes every effort to keep our students safe. Student safety is their first priority and it is taken very seriously.</p>
<p>I have hesitated to mention this for fear of causing undo worry to the parents of incoming students, but here goes.</p>
<p>The reason your student needs to lock their bedroom door is because if they don’t they are leaving all of their belongings at the mercy of their suite mates and whether they choose to lock the door to the suite.</p>
<p>Although this is a very safe campus, the reality is that it is not a protective bubble. Last year there was someone for a period of time who was roaming the halls checking for unlocked suites. When he found one, he entered. This is not urban legend. I witnessed it, I read emails and alerts from the UA, I also witnessed UA Police knock on each door in RCS to warn students.</p>
<p>The person who was roaming the halls would check for unlocked doors and enter at different times of the day and night. If he was discovered by one of the room’s occupants he would say he made a mistake and entered the wrong room. I happened to witness this first hand as did several others. Items were taken from some rooms that were not occupied at the time.</p>
<p>Please, urge your students to lock their bedroom door when they are out and ALWAYS lock their suite…even when they are inside. This really shouldn’t be offensive to suite mates if it is discussed and handled from the start.</p>
<p>Leaving your bedroom unlocked means if your suite mate doesn’t lock the door to the suite, your belongings are potentially up for grabs if anyone enters your suite. Better safe than sorry. :)</p>