<p>(The above thread contains this admonition that I can personally attest to: "Just a reminder -- assume everything in checked luggage that plugs into the wall and costs more than $50 will be stolen by a TSA employee, who will then route your bag onto a foreign flight to cover it up. It's happened to me on two flights in the last two years, on two different airlines.")</p>
<p>There was a thread that I saw a week or two ago that included some enjoyable rants about how much "stuff" kids take with them. That rant might be buried within one of the above posts. If you check out post #210 from the thread immediately above this paragraph -- where some mom lists 84.8 bajillion items to bring -- you'll agree that some people go way overboard.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any recommendations on refrigerators? What size are kids permitted to have in their rooms? Do most kids have them or are they not necessary? It really will add to the packing. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>In my dorm refrigerators aren't allowed because they are fire hazards (I'm not really sure how). But kids have electric coolers which are okay, but they're pretty loud. My dorm has a big fridge in the common room so I don't find it necessary to have one in my room, but whatever you put in the fridge...might be stolen....^^;;</p>
<p>I still don't know how i managed to fit all my stuff into 4 suitcases (well my mom shared one of them with me)... i used the biggest ones that i could and filled it up so much that now it looks like its gonna break any second...and im still doing more shopping in new york...HELP!!!</p>
<p>liv&learn --Policies on refrigerators vary by school so you should contact your child's school. They don't really need one. My son and his roommate had one, and I don't think they used it very often. They would save some leftover food or store a treat from home. Once I found sneakers in the freezer, which I guess was a joke from dormmates. I thought they would use it to keep their drinks cold, but they didn't.</p>
<p>At NMH, they no longer allow refrigerators in student rooms because of the electricity usage....they are a green school. At the state University my daughter attends, the refrigerator can be no larger than 36"high and draw1.5amps of power. This is a fairly good-sized refrigerator with a freezer that you can actually keep stuff in, and our local WalMart had a special purchase of GE's in this size for onlhy $125, in a choice of white, black, or stainless.</p>
<p>Great reference post D'yer. I've gotten too lazy to do those searches lately. Thanks!</p>
<p>Here is what I added to on of those threads about airlines and losing stuff...</p>
<p>
[quote]
For those who may want more protection from damage for your box or suitcase being checked, I've been successful using shrinkwrap (like they use in warehouses or for moving). You can buy it a U-Haul for under $10 for more than you'll ever use in a year. I bought a 8" wide roll (with handle) and carried it in my carry-on (although one screener was wondering if it could be considered a club?). </p>
<p>As good as a lock for telling if someone tampered with your bag.</p>
<p>Also keeps the bag waterproof. I've watched baggage on those carts waiting to be loaded on planes getting soaked in a rainstorm.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That was used for Goaliegirl's hockey equipment in those 2 softsided bags for your reference.</p>
<p>I've packed my belongings in a suitcase before, because we've moved across the country so often. I've learned many a lessons. But I still have a long way to go.</p>
<p>I'm flying in alone (I've done it before a million times) and taking a car to Exeter.</p>
<p>I will not be buying toiletries here. I will go shopping at CVS for essentials, and later Target w/ my roomie.
Linens will be shipped after I arrive -- I will use Exeter's for the first few days.
My bike will be broken down into pieces and then shipped to a local bike shop, who we will pay to assemble it.
No surfboards or sports equipment... (but i'm not a serious athlete).
Books (expensive educational books) will be shipped by media mail.
No shopping for dorm ware or organizers or any of that crap before I arrive.
Laptop brought on board.. no exceptions.
Winter clothes, sweaters, boots will be shipped and bought when necessary.</p>
<p>Now I just need to fit all of my clothes in 2 suitcases, not weighing over 50 lbs each. Eh. Dunno if I can do it.</p>
<p>My roomie wants to bring a popcorn maker! Hahahaha! She has an old-fashioned popcorn maker and is very shaken up at the prospect of leaving is behind in Canada.</p>
<p>Goaliegirl's roommate is a great kid. Never a problem helping out. I think you'll find that foreign students who are accepted at schools have to clear even a higher bar (higher level of competition for fewer spots) not only for academics, but for being a great person.</p>
<p>No, she's not an athlete. She seems like a totally non-competitive kid.. not too academic, etc.. She told me that she doesn't care as much about her grades as she does what she learns, as do her parents. So far, all I know about her is that we have the same taste in music (same... exact), she's not an overachiever, she's politically liberal, loves american TV and movies, and is very nice. We'll see.</p>
<p>Blair, maybe she's a good match for you... you can't have two competitive people in the same room. :) But your tastes sound good in the way that they should be good (music, movies, politics etc). My roommate at camp was totally polar to me in style -- she was more "gothic" and i was more preppy, but we got along like sisters. We actually found out later that we had the same personality by the Myers-Briggs scale - ENFJ. We told each other a lot, and got along great. We were both very liberal. She wrote down on her roommate form, she told me, that she wanted someone "definitely not conservative!" or along those lines. ;)</p>
<p>Blair, is she a rising 11th grader too? I suppose so.</p>
<p>Sorry about that, Olivia. lol. I had my orientation today and the first day is September 4, but we leave on the 5th to go white water rafting in West Virginia for three days, so school doesn't really start until the 10th.</p>
<p>That's really awesome, water rafting. I know one girl who went to boarding school and they also had a go-into-the-forests-and-survive type of orientation, but yours sounds in my opinion, much better! :)</p>