<p>I know that the food is at Smith is outstanding, but I'm sure students still need late light snacks. I'm trying to decide whether to purchase a refrigerator and other appliances (coffeemaker, hot-pot etc) for my D to take with her. Do most students have these in their rooms? Or is it better to just rely on ordering in?</p>
<p>I see that some houses have "kitchenettes." Are these equipped with refrigerators and microwaves?</p>
<p>Every house has at least one kitchenette, and they have microwaves. Most also have refrigerators (I’d guess that one kitchenette in each house has a refrigerator - if the house also has additional kitchenettes - not all do - the secondary ones would probably not have one), but many students choose to bring their own mini-fridges. Your D might want to check with her roommate before buying one - they probably won’t need two in the same room.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that hotpots are allowed to be used in student rooms, but I’m not that familiar with current housing policy. Most coffee makers should be fine, as long as they turn off automatically (this is definitely in the housing policy). If you do bring your own hotpot or microwave, the only place your D could use it would be in the house kitchenette.</p>
<p>Some houses also have full kitchens for student use, with an oven and stove, but this definitely depends on the house.</p>
<p>Hi Subway mom- I think there are some pretty strict rules for what is allowed. Here is the list from the smith housing website:</p>
<p>Please don’t bring any of the following, which are prohibited because they pose fire hazards:
candles, incense and incense holders</p>
<pre><code>halogen (torch
</code></pre>
<p>Last year my first-year daughter and her roommate worked it out before arriving. Her roommate brought the fridge and my daughter brought a TV/DVD player, mostly to watch movies. Turns out my daughter didn’t really use the fridge except to occasionally store restaurant leftovers. It served as a great TV stand, though! Next year, when she has a single, my daughter won’t bother with a fridge. I think it really depends on what they like to snack on. </p>
<p>She often used the kitchette microwave to heat water for tea and milk for hot cocoa.</p>
<p>I like having a mini fridge because it allows me to save food from the Grab-n-Go for later (I also eat a sit-down meal).</p>
<p>smithiegr, I loved grab and go! Sometimes I went just for the extra food, other times I went for lunch but chose extra items that I would want to eat later. Back when grab and go started they weren’t quite as stringent about the five-item limit, so my friends and I would go, eat lunch there, and grab five or six more items for later before we left.</p>
<p>Ha, Smith food isn’t <em>that</em> great. My friends and I are convinced that they add natural laxatives to all of their recipes. I have trouble readjusting to Smith food after every summer at home. </p>
<p>Anyway, my house has a communal fridge and kitchen, but I’ve had problems with people eating my stuff so I brought my own fridge. I also had no problems with my hot pot (I stuff it in my closet during room inspections, which are always announced). </p>
<p>I would recommend bringing a fridge, a hotpot, a french press if your house has a stove for hot water (or you can just use hot water from the dining halls), and a fan. I also found a desk lamp to be useful.</p>
<p>How about electric teakettles? Are those allowed in the rooms?</p>
<p>Not allowed technically, but I brought mine anyway. Again, no problems.</p>
<p>Thank you, levodopa. : )</p>
<p>Me too, borgin! I sort of flout the 5 item rule…my record so far is 9 items (with two of them being those delicious cranberry turkey sandwiches). Why go to the grocery store when you can go to Grab-n-Go?</p>
<p>The cranberry turkey sandwiches were amazing! I was always telling my mom about how much I loved them.</p>
<p>Good to know about the communal fridges and microwaves!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information! I am definitely thinking that I will want to smuggle in an electric tea kettle (I am addicted to tea!). And the refrigerator sounds like a good idea…does anyone have experience with the microwave/mini-fridge combo that you can rent? There was a flyer for it in the packet about getting ready for school.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the microwave/mini-fridge that can be rented, but back when there was just a refrigerator for rent it was cheaper to buy a fridge. You can store items in the trunk room over the summer (for free).</p>
<p>My old mini-fridge is now sitting in storage in Indiana because my sister took it to college with her last fall.</p>
<p>Cygne, you might consider getting a small coffee maker…just run the water through without coffee and it acts as a water boiler, but it’s legal. No need to hide it whenever people who might care come by.</p>
<p>I had a hot shot for 4 years at Smith. Put water in it, press the button, the water heats up, dispense the water, and you have hot water for tea, oatmeal, etc. It turned off automatically when it finished heating up.</p>
<p>Electric kettles are allowed as long as they have an automatic shut-off function.</p>
<p>I highly highly suggest buying a fridge. It’s so much more convenient + even though there are communal fridges in every house, not every housemate may be respectful and refrain from taking food that isn’t theirs. As another poster said, when you find out your daughter’s roommate(s), which you will tomorrow, actually, the 2 or 3 of them can coordinate who can bring a fridge, among other items, if they want to have one/it will be put to good use. They just have to be under 3.5 cubic ft (mine is 3.3 and was more than enough space for my and my roommate to share). I would suggest NOT renting a fridge from Smith- buying one is less expensive + can be stored in a house trunk room over the summer so that’s not a problem. If you end up agreeing to buy a fridge and are coming from further away, I believe you can order through Best Buy and arrange to pick it up at the location closest to Smith.</p>
<p>We settled on a mini fridge 1.7 cu since she was concerned about energy use but wanted some kind of option plus it will take up less room and be easier to move. There are lots on Craig’s list but a new one was not that much more and hopefully will last 4 years.
She also wants to bring a TV but what kind of cable service is there?</p>