<p>I'm from South Dakota, so my opinion probably doesn't help given that shorts are all good through, say, late December in Durham terms...</p>
<p>umm. Some kids always wear shorts and just don't seem to get cold with only a polartec. My son switches to cords and long pants in November, December, Jan and Feb and wears a fleece with windbloc..he has a pair of gloves but seldom wears them. He has a pair of light hikers to wear in bad weather that are just basically like waterproof tennis shoes. In March, spring starts to arrive in Durham. Full bloom is early-mid April usually for spring. It is downright hot in August and September and May.</p>
<p>Dressers I saw were your basic four drawer midsized generic dressers. Desks were also very generic and ordinary. Agree that I think my son had at least ten new Tshirts from Duke in year one from various events, so don't bring a lot of Tshirts. They are handed out at many many venues or available.</p>
<p>my freshman year dorm only had one closet, but there's a little mentioned rule that if the closet is less than 10sq ft you're entitled to have some wardrobe brought into your room. ours was 9 -- i got the wardrobe. my sophomore year double had two tiny closets, and my junior year single had a walk in closet that was easily 20 sq ft.</p>
<p>Faline2, does your son able to keep his belonging (including his clothing) in his dorm from freshman year until now? I was told that everybody has to move out their personal belonging to the local storage area for the summer. I'm concern of bringing either too little or too much clothing and other necessity items (such as rain boot, scarf, etc.) but the usage of each categories are limited.</p>
<p>If you can go back home regularly (fall break, thxgiving, spring break) and you have the means to bring extra luggage you can probably leave the heavy duty seasonal stuff home and bring them when you need them. As for scarves and rainboots I personally would go with a jacket with a thick collar and an umbrella, easier to stow and the jacket is more functional :)</p>
<p>As for the summer, Duke does not offer storage and you will have to vacate your room and leave it in the condition you moved in at the end of the year. That means you either start lugging stuff home spring break and lug the remaining the stuff back at the end of the year, find a friend who lives in the triangle area who will let you store stuff at his/her house, or find a couple friends and share some storage. Storage will run around $70-100 for 3 months per person around the Duke area.</p>
<p>yoadrian14...
you must clear out your entire room by a certain day and time usually right after the last scheduled exam. If you are from far away, don't worry..so are most Dukies. Look into storage rentals...and consider hiring collegeboxes.com or whatever company Duke has contracted with this year. </p>
<p>Dorms are a big Discard Pile on move out days. Many colleges hold yard sales to raise money for charity as students often have no choice but to abandon their futons, bed linens, alarm clocks etc etc. Although we only live a few hours away, we decided it was cheaper to share a rental unit with two classmates than to drive down two cars to haul home our S's minicouch, frig, and loft. </p>
<p>I was pretty surprised at how many people dumped their lofts, only to buy one again the next fall, but the cost of shipping is prohibitive.<br>
The boys who are sharing a storage unit that I know are all just from far away cities in the USA...very common solution. These boys only bring their laptops and clothes home and some of the clothes get abandoned.<br>
There is a sell back opportunity for textbooks and a big market for used books to save money.
So, yes, you must find off campus storage. Seems to me that it would be nice for a school like Duke to do on campus storage but they don't..the private sector gets that business.</p>
<p>S rented a storage unit with several friends for the summer. They each paid about $60, I believe. This is particularly useful for bulky items such as refrigerator, microwave and the various storage solutions he had in his freshman room (plastic drawer units, etc.).</p>
<p>BTW, S did not have a car at school. Don't worry about that aspect of the situation. I guess one or more of the students who were sharing the unit had a car, or else he borrowed one from one of his friends. </p>
<p>I was more concerned about the logistics of storing stuff than he was, and it turns out that I needn't have been.</p>
<p>Hope that sets your mind at ease.</p>
<p>How many luggages a typical freshmen brought to the campus during a move-in period? Currently, with only minimal clothing, 1 set of towel, school and bath supplies already occupy my large luggage. I also bought a small desk lamp and 7" table fan. I don't know whether I need an extra luggage to carry them over there. I'm trying to minimize the cost by not shipping them. I'm afraid that if I won't be able to find them at Durham when I arrive there if every students do the same thing. Any suggestion? Sorry if the question is slightly off-topic.</p>
<p>Yo Adrian
here are my Mom's tips..my son is a junior at Duke now and we can carry everything in the car. Put one small empty duffel bag flat and collapsed in your suitcase for quick overnights away.
If you are coming from far away..don't bring your bath supplies (you can buy them all at Duke's West or East stores) and don't mail a lamp..buy them online and have them shipped UPS to your room...packages are delivered to your door. Also USPS packages arrive at the Duke main post office, and you get an immediate email to come to the PO to get a package...see? Shipping is also free or not bad at many websites. Cruise Bed Bath and Beyond dotcom, Pier One, Drugstore.com, Zapposdotcom. We love the full spectrum light bulb study lamps at Sharperimage.com but cheaper versions are available at BBand Beyond. Very few men actually study at their desks in their rooms however, sigh. Most of that happens in the lovely libraries..East and West have great study places in libraries. You might pack one good circuit breaker electric outlet to max out your use of electric outlets in the room.
You only need one piece of luggage in your room..in your case I would suggest a rolling duffel bag that collapses and can be stood up in a corner of your closet or shelved collapsed or used to store winter clothes in the many many hot months at Duke. Winter is short and many sweatshirts for sale right on campus or steps away off campus.
Some people keep luggage under their beds..you can also buy lifts for your four bed legs that add another six inches off the floor.
After you get settled, by sophomore year you will likely have friends who will go in together and share expenses of a rental storage unit..even my son found it cheaper to store the frig/microwave, PierOne tiny couch etc in a storage unit with friends who must fly to Duke each fall.</p>
<p>Order a pad for your bed in that temperpedic style..two inches thick..off brand is fine at BB and Beyond or Sams or Cosco..wherever! but it is a good idea. Makes your bed mattress more comfy. Linens must be extra long twin or Calif twin length. You won't need heavy blankets and if you do you can order one later from a zillion places. Fans are also sold online and shipped to you. Lots and lots of empty discarded boxes the first week of school around the dorms.<br>
One thing son noticed was that his towels weren't drying out well in his room so he switched to a big microfiber towel that dries quickly.
Trips to the local BB and Beyond and Target are organized and offered to students with transportaion..just contact your FAC or your RA to sign up..and there is PLENTY in stock..remember we have Chapel Hill right up the road so quantities of dorm supplies are available..there is even a place or two right off East Campus where you can walk for dorm room items.
Flip flops for the shower. Plastic something to carry all your personal supplies to shower in..all of these are online..containerstore.com for instance. You and your roommie can decide about expenses like mini fridges..we rented that and roomie's parent bought a couple other things like an area rug at Target for their room..pretty soon you will be able to email your roommate or just figure it out when you get there. So..most people arrive with one suitcase to keep in their rooms..and perhaps a second backpack or duffel for short trips that is collapsable.</p>
<p>Wow, Faline2. Thanks a bunch. I felt at ease now. Where do you get the lifts for the bed legs? Yeah, I'm planning to bring just one luggage and a backpack for my laptop and books. As far as fan, what size of fan should I look for? I may want to return my table fan and desk lamp. Is a halogen lamp prohibited in the dorm?</p>
<p>those are sold at BBand Beyond, walmart, target..container store..they turn into serious dorm room supply stores very very soon..in fact may already have things up to market to dorm students...Girls invest more than boys in room decor but still there are many practical things at bedbathand beyond...already up and for sale...one trick I saw was buying a fly fishing cloth and instead of flies..putting in drugs like small ibuprofins, small antibiotic cream, small cortizone cream, small sudafeds etc..but on East, these common drugs are given by the East Campus nurse for sniffles..anything more serious means an appointment on West in student health...my son had AC allergies...so I saw window fans in windows..then desk fans..I like the tall thin ones that are silent, small and rotate..rectangle shape to save space..you can adjust the fan to suit you and your roommate preferences later...walmart.com is where we got ours...
you are gonna have a blast...majority of kids are from far away...comfy shoes that won't slip on stone steps on rainy days...windbreaker fleece should do it for winter...</p>
<p>Linens n Things also has dorm bed risers and has them on sale now
<a href="http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2256040&cp&kw=risers&origkw=risers&sr=1%5B/url%5D">http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2256040&cp&kw=risers&origkw=risers&sr=1</a></p>
<p>Bed lifts are available at Bed Bath & Beyond, and probably lots of online places/</p>
<p>Halogen lamps are prohibited.</p>
<p>Have you communicated with your room mate? The fan purchase can wait until you arrive and see the layout of the room and what your room mate has brought so you'll know what you still need.</p>
<p>Are you flying in to RDU? Are you coming from overseas?</p>
<p>Thanks for the info mafool.
Yes, I'm flying into RDU from CA.</p>
<p>"mafool: Are you flying in to RDU? Are you coming from overseas?</p>
<p>yoadriank14: Yes, I"m flying into RDU from CA."</p>
<p>That made my day.</p>
<p>Coming from Orange County, California, Duke was a big shock weather-wise. You keep hearing how people come to Duke for the good weather-- it's good for New Yorkers, people from Chicago, citizens of Maine? But I thought it was really freaking cold. I remember one day in October I was wearing Uggs-- I was pretty much ridiculed by everyone who lived on the East Coast. Waiting in lines for basketball games is FREEZING. Don't wear a dress of Valentine's Day. You might get frostbite. Watching girls rush in minidresses in the middle of the winter makes my toes hurt for them. I mean, during the day it doesn't really get much below the freezing point, but still. It's called the FREEZING POINT for God's sake. Anyway. This is for all the Californians on this board-- when people say Duke has "good weather," don't be thinking about our 80 degrees Christmases or those chilly 50 degree nights by the beach. Nuh uh. Buy a really good woolen coat, a leather jacket, or a down coat. You'll get cold.</p>
<p>Anecdote: Had no idea what kind of coat to buy, having never bought one. Looked around, saw a lot of "North Face." Okay, I'll check it out. 300 *<strong><em>ing dollars? For a FLEECE? Don't buy into the Duke "North Face" craze. There are much more fashionable and AFFORDABLE clothes out there. And you won't look like *</em></strong>ing everyone else.</p>
<p>I agree - don't buy into the Duke "brand" craze. My D received more compliments on her two tone olive "big purse" as it was different from the ones everyone else carried. And she spent a fraction of what they spent! </p>
<p>And pri430 is right - it is cold if you are from the West Coast. Coming from the Northwest my D rarely wore more than a sweatshirt or light fleece and could sometimes get by with flip flops in December. At Duke she was begging me to send her ski clothes by October!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Don't buy into the Duke "North Face" craze.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>One way Duke is like my high school.. :p</p>
<p>if your a guy:</p>
<p>just get some polos on top of what you have and you'll be fine</p>
<p>I didn't think Duke was that cold as to warrant ski clothes and such. I got by with a sweatshirt and jeans for most of the year when it was cold and wore one of those thicker columbia down jackets during the really cold periods. That jacket was probably the single most expensive piece of clothing in my closet...at about $45 max at Kohls. But I guess if you are used to 80 degree Xmases, then Duke might as well be Siberia for you. ;)</p>
<p>If any of you plan on Blue tenting (which I hope all of you will consider/do), you'll want to bring a lot of cold weather gear, but you can wait until Winter break to do this. Seriously, tenting starts when you get back (i.e. January), and no matter how far south you might think North Carolina is, it's still cold in the winters. I'm personally from Minnesota, and being the winter-expert I am ;), didn't bring that many sweatshirts and such. Some of the coldest times I've ever felt are freezing to insanity in my sleeping bag with the wind howling, "Haha," at 2 A.M.</p>