<p>This forum has been a godsend throughout the application process. Now that my Ds apps are in and some acceptances have been received, I have a couple of questions about actually going to college. Hopefully some of the parents who have been there with their S/D's can help. These might be stupid questions, but I really have no idea as this is my one and only child and I went to a commuter school.
1. Since the dorms are so small, where do students store their trunks/suitcases? We visited quite a few schools, saw the dorms, but I never saw a suitcase anywhere.
2. When showering in the shared bathrooms/showers, where do the students hang their wet towels? Do they just leave on a doorknob in their room or something?
3. I know there is usually a common area with a TV, but do most students bring TVs for their rooms, if so, i would assume all schools have cable, is that true? My D is not a big TV person, but I'm sure she would want to have one.</p>
<p>That's it for now, I'm sure I'll have others as we go forward. Thanks to everyone for thier help.</p>
<p>When she decides, there may be a housing website that gives various degrees of information about the actual rooms. DD's dorm has a trunk room, one towel rack in the room (they added a hook) and their room has VoIP, but others have cable.
The rooms will probably vary from dorm to dorm, but you can often get a lot of info on the websites now.</p>
<p>Yes, some schools have photos, floor plan drawings, furniture inventory online. Fairly typical is to store suitcases under bed (using risers if needed). Trunk can be ditto or used as a kind of "table" in the room. Most seem to have towel hooks/rings in the room. But you will have fun - trust me - shopping BB&B, Target etc. as the day draws nearer. These friendly and profit-minded (;) ) folks are happy to provide websites, checklists etc. to inspire you as to what you need. There are numerous threads here on the subject also. I would say many/most students do have TVs. This is something to coordinate with roommate toward the end of summer when that is all settled, along with minifridge or not, who will bring other shared electronics (a biggie for boys), color schemes (of no interest to boys, but possibly to girls), etc.</p>
<p>Courtesy of Hurricane Katrina, my one and only has already attended two schools, so I feel rather expert for only having one semester under the belt. His host school had cable in most dorm rooms, but not in his dorm. The dorm got together and self-assessed a fee to get cable at least in the common room. His Tulane dorm has cable in every room.</p>
<p>I think sons are different! My S keeps whatever computer boxes, duffle bags etc that he has under his bed -- he does use a storage location for his bike. As far as I can tell, the hook for towels is never used, since most of the clothing is on the floor, the bed or the floor of his closet. They do have a TV that his roommate brought, and their room seems to have become the dorm hangout. I don't know how he can find anything, since nothing is organized. But Cangel's right, you'll just have to wait until your daughter has decided on a college, and then check out these issues as they apply to her school.</p>
<p>yankee-I know your D is in at UMiami so I can give you some specifics there. The dorms all have cable and most kids do have tvs in their rooms. Everything they have needs to be stored in the rooms. The good thing is that the closets are a good size. The boys lofted their beds and have a futon under one and the fridge and tv under the other. Their bags are under the futon. It seemed that kids that didn't loft used the risers and stored under the beds. A trunk could make for a good tv stand and duffle bags instead of suitcases are nice because you can squeeze them into tight spaces. There is a towel rack in the room but I don't think it is in a convenient spot. We bought removable hooks for the kids, although they seem to hang towels and bathing suits off the end of the lofts, very aesthetic,:eek: lol. </p>
<p>Jmmom is absolutely right, the folks at BB&B and the like will be more than happy to help you spend any $ you may have left after writing the tuition check.;)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the responses...
I'm just confused about one thing:"the folks at BB&B and the like will be more than happy to help you spend any $ you may have left after writing the tuition check"</p>
<p>You mean there is actually going to be money left after writing the tuition check????? LOL</p>
<p>I had all these questions (and more!) when the actual "let's get ready" phase arrived.</p>
<p>1) We didn't leave all the suitcases with my son -- only the one he needed to bring home for breaks. You can pack in plastic bags or boxes and throw them out, or simply bring the suitcases back home.</p>
<p>2) Every dorm room we saw had towel racks in them.</p>
<p>3) Not every dorm has cable TV. You'll have to check on that. If they have cable your kid will probably want their TV set there. Of course they might want to see what their roommate is bringing.</p>
<p>Other misc. stuff:
I think kids need a laundry basket. </p>
<p>My kid lasted less than a month with a lofted bed (the really high ones - not bunks, just high). He had a chair for under it, but that got put away. So - go easy on furniture.</p>
<p>I bought him a hanging shelf thing for his closet (as he has very few clothes to hang up) and he has used that a lot.</p>
<p>Most dorms need extra-long sheets. They are really hard to find most times of the year -- but as school approaches everyone will have lots of them.</p>
<p>The one thing I wished we had bought bigger is a refrigerator. Instead of the really small ones - I wish we'd gotten the next size up (which is the largest allowed in my kid's dorm).</p>
<p>No halogen lamps. They are a fire hazard.</p>
<p>Don't buy or bring much stuff. (Good luck trying to tell your kid that though.)</p>
<p>You will have fun shopping for dorm stuff with a girl. Look kindly and pitifully upon the moms who are in that department at Target all alone. They are mothers of boys.</p>
<p>We have a daughter 6 hours away. What we used for her to pack in were bags from a local clothing store. (One year is was Wilson Leather.) They were large and had handles on them. When she unpacked, she folded the bags neatly and put them under her mattress. What few boxes she used were stored under the bed.</p>
<p>Note for in the future: She is not coming home for Spring Break, so over Christmas, we had her pack a box with all her summer clothes. When she's ready for them, I can just put the box in the mail.</p>
<p>The best advice I have heard regarding all of this: If you have more stuff than you can pack in a van, you'll never get it in a dorm room</p>
<p>yankeegirl,
Congratulations on your child's acceptances. My S is in a small single and put his bed up on the risers that you can buy pretty cheaply at the aforementioned BB&Beyond. He stores his duffel bags under there and also puts his small refrigerator under there to conserve space. There will probably be hooks on the doors in the dorm room as well as individual hooks/cubbies in the bathrooms. You can buy packages of heavy duty stick-on hooks at BB & B. If your child ends up going to school in a non-rural area, there may very well be a Bed, Bath and Beyond or similar store in a location close enough to the school that you put in your order online and then pick up the stuff at move-in time. This is very commonly done now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You will have fun shopping for dorm stuff with a girl. Look kindly and pitifully upon the moms who are in that department at Target all alone. They are mothers of boys.
<p>This is my most favorite part of the kiddos leaving for school. (Actually it is the ONLY part I like!)</p>
<p>As the time gets closer I am sure there will be numerous threads on this. I know there is a sticky over in the Parents Cafe that has been ongoing, again one of my favs.</p>
<p>This will be my 4th kitten to leave so I am sure I will have plenty to yak about as it gets closer. </p>
<p>I did buy him the cutest quilt last summer, he will be the maddest when he finds out! But it is what gets me through his leaving. If he goes to one of the service academies he will need nothing, NOW then I am going to be really upset!!!!</p>
<p>But, what I want to know is, why did we have to do it all again before the Sophomore year! And are we going to have to do it again next year? Is there a rules that says you have to change your room every year???</p>
<p>Weenie made some good points (post #7). For my D's clothes we used space bags -- yes, the ones you've seen advertised on t.v. and on shopping channels (I actually got ours from QVC). They are a Godsend! The full bags stored virtually flat in the vehicle and took up virtually no space, unlike suitcases or trunks. We were able to pack all those clothes into the spacebags and when I left the campus I brought them back home with me. She also has no suitcases, only a weekend bag.</p>
<ol>
<li>Since the dorms are so small, where do students store their trunks/suitcases? We visited quite a few schools, saw the dorms, but I never saw a suitcase anywhere.</li>
</ol>
<p>D stores her boxes and suitcases on the top shelf of her closet--a huge, double-doored, behemoth that is also floor-to-ceiling.</p>
<ol>
<li>When showering in the shared bathrooms/showers, where do the students hang their wet towels? Do they just leave on a doorknob in their room or something?</li>
</ol>
<p>There are hooks in the closets and in the room.</p>
<ol>
<li>I know there is usually a common area with a TV, but do most students bring TVs for their rooms, if so, i would assume all schools have cable, is that true? My D is not a big TV person, but I'm sure she would want to have one.</li>
</ol>
<p>D also doesn't watch much TV, but she's using her PC as a television. She discovered that she can download shows (like "CSI"!) that have already aired from a server and watch them in the comfort of her room.</p>