<p>Hi i'm an incoming class of 2015 smithie and I didn't see any threads for general questions we have for current smithies/alums/parents, so I thought I'd start one. </p>
<p>I actually had a couple questions I was hoping you could answer.</p>
<p>Would you recommend bringing most dorm things with you or should I buy everything when I get to Smith (and are there places to buy things like furniture/decorations/bedding)</p>
<p>ALso does anyone know how the housing process works -how we get paired with roommates and things? I know we filled out the form, but how do they go from there -do they randomly pick or do they look into the form a lot?</p>
<p>it depends how you’re getting to Smith. If you’re driving, I think it makes sense to bring a lot of things with you. If you’re flying, I would try to buy things there. There is a small mall near Smith that has a Target, Best Buy, Walmart, a Pier One, and a few other large stores like that. You can take the free bus from campus to the small mall (it’s called the Hampshire Mall), though carrying back a huge amount of stuff on the bus is not ideal, so think about getting cash for a taxi. Or ideally, your parents would fly out with you, rent a car, and be able to drive you to get the things you need. There is also a much larger mall that is a short drive from Smith (but not on the free shuttle bus line) in Holyoke. That has basically every store ever, but again, you’d need a car (unless Smith is doing shuttles to the Holyoke Mall during Orientation weekend. They did this when I attended, but that was several years ago). </p>
<p>There are some things I would recommend waiting to buy until you arrive. For example, I wouldn’t get curtains until you have a sense of what size the windows in your room are. You can buy a lamp at central check in from the energy star booth. Don’t buy any large furniture until you’ve seen your room. But anything that would be cost prohibitive for you to buy again, you should try to bring with you. For example, if you own a nice down comforter, try to bring that rather than buying something on campus (you could shrink it with a spacebag). Even if you do plan to buy most of your stuff when you arrive, be sure to pack a set of sheets and a towel so that you can sleep in your room comfortably and shower before you head out to go shopping. </p>
<p>For housing, they’ll try to match people up based on their stated preferences, but as you know, the form is not very specific, so there is some random chance involved.</p>
<p>From the perspective of the “fly in” group, somewhere on this forum is the packing list we used, broken down by “bring” and “buy local.” There could be a third category, “ship.” As S&P indicates, it’s a matter of economics and logistics and there is no single “right” answer in that individual circumstances vary too much.</p>
<p>The roommate pairings range from excellent to good enough (many) to meh with a few downright awful thrown in to provide yeast for discussion. Shuffling of rooms, roommates, and even changes of House are not uncommon though they do their best. (I’d guess about 2/3 of all Smithies are members of the same House for all four years.)</p>
<p>I know not too many of the kids coming in follow this site any more…you may wish to join the 2015 Facebook page…lots of these things come up and are answered.</p>
<p>jsuk, the 2015 fb group has a “questions for current students” discussion and a “housing” one as well. You should be able to get what u need there!
Best of luck!</p>