<p>Does anyone know if there are drawers or closets in dorms that lock for safekeeping of passports, impt. papers, etc. Or is it best to buy a small safe and bring it along. </p>
<p>Also do dorms have a common room with a TV, or if S wants a TV does he have to bring one? </p>
<p>Also, is there a room with a common refrigerator and any cooking facilities in the fresh dorms. Sorry if these seem like ridiculous questions, but we were on so many college tours we cant seem to distinguish one dorm from another in retrospect.</p>
<p>A lot of this hinges on which building he gets in. I do know that the towers have a drawer that does lock. Personally, however, we did get a small fireproof lockable container for things like you mention. We bought it when we got to Miami however, as I was a strong believer in having to move the least amount of "stuff" as possible the 1000 mile trip...</p>
<p>I don't actually remember about the TV's in common areas, (I do know there are TV's over in the UC), but do remember that each room does have cable hook-up. This was one of those items that is best discussed among the roommates prior to arrival. Since space is at a premium, there is only room for one. My son's roommate brought the TV, and son brought other items of similiar nature to donate to the room.</p>
<p>I don't think there are kitchen facilities in the towers, but there is in Mahoney. I'm not sure about Pearson or Eaton, but I don't think they do. Personally, I know that son tells me they have only used the kitchen a couple of times in Mahoney because it is a pain. They do do quite a bit of cooking themsleves in their room by using their microwave. It is amazing what they can learn to cook using it. A big portion of these kids buy the small dorm size refrigerators. This was one of sons donations to the room. You can get anything from a small cube refrig that will hold just a few sodas up to a decent size dorm fridge which has a freezer section. Personally, we opted for the largest (about 4.9 cu feet) because this was a big priority for son and for his roommate. We got this at Sears, and places like Best Buy, Circuit City have them, as well as there is a vendor that sells them on campus orientation weekend. (Although I don't recommend the on campus vendor's for anything other than lofting equipment, you can do much better price and quality-wise off campus.) </p>
<p>Another great security item to have is a computer "lock." It will lock a laptop to something that is permantely attached to the room. Very cheap item, and while not mandatory, it does give a little piece of mind. </p>
<p>Once again though, I'd really recommend your son "talk" to his roommate before taking the time or expense of purchasing items. When my son discussed these things with his roommate they came up with the "Who brings what" plan and it worked great. My son took the refrig and microwave (hand-me down from our remodel), video gaming systems -- roommate took the TV, DVD player, stereo equiment. They had everything they needed to have a nice set-up and they didn't have duplicate stuff stuffed in every corner of their room. Even now after having roomed together 3 years (they got along great!) they and their suitemates have managed to collect a decent amount of stuff they they are sharing among themselves. Which this year has turned into a "Who's taking what" plan, since they all 4 are now moving in seperate directions. :)</p>
<p>You are so welcome. I'm enjoy passing what I learned along and figure since S is soon graduating and I'm sure things will be changing that this will be my last year around here. I'm going to be passing the torch, sort of speak, on to folks like yourself. :)</p>
<p>Here are a couple of links to last summer's moving/orientation/freshman threads which you may find quite helpful...</p>
<p>This past year the common rooms on each floor of the towers were turned into dorm rooms because of the large class size. </p>
<p>We also opted for the larger sized refrig which also served as a tv stand, and found that Best Buy in Dadeland Station had the best local inventory of all that stuff. I definitely second the idea of speaking with the roommate before purchasing anything. S and RM divided all the common items and it worked out quite nicely. The kids loved having their own frig, micro and tv w/dvd. They first contacted each other via email and then IM'd each other all summer. By the time they actually met on campus, they both said they felt like old friends. The match could not have been better. Good luck.</p>
<p>thanks everyone. These pointers are very helpful. I hope that by this time next year, I will be able to pay it forward and help other new comers. Thanks and hope everyone is enjoying their summer.</p>