<p>D will be living in Anderson. Does she need a printer? Are the communal printers reliable/accessible? Do most kids buy or rent a dorm fridge? She doesn’t need the microwave. How good is the wireless? Or, will she need to use the ethernet? Also, please chime in with "don’t forget______’. </p>
<p>thanks for the help.</p>
<p>Definitely bring an ethernet cable. The wireless is fine (coverage wise) but it can be slow. She will get much faster downloads with a cable. And bring a 10-15 ft. cable so you can move around the room. My D and her roommate had a personal printer (in Letts) that they used a lot. It was much more convenient than using a communal printer - especially when you need something at the last minute or late at night. And, they rented a fridge freshman year and fridge/microwave combo sophomore year. They both had weird schedules and eating habits so it made sense. Many kids buy their own fridge, but then you have the storage issue over the summer. Surprisingly, they made everything fit. Letts Hall in freshman year and Roper in sophomore year.</p>
<p>One caveat about the printer: These days most papers are submitted electronically. My D and her roommate used the printer mostly for printing scripts (theater majors) and other personal uses. So, usefulness may depend on your student’s major.</p>
<p>Me and my roomie had a printer, my parents would give me money or send it via mail everytime we needed ink which was nice! We used it pretty often because it was a lot easier getting it from our room then going to the printer which could have a lot of traffic especially before classes started.
They are accessible and usually reliable, and AU gives you printing money
I brought a fridge that I shared with my roomie, but since my parents use it for extra food in my house we brought it instead of renting, but most people on my floor did rent or brought a fridge
the wireless isn’t that great… i would deff bring an ethernet cable! The wireless goes through periods, for a few days it’d be slow but fine and then a few days it would be slow and disconnect like every two seconds so definently buy an enternet. The one that I was going to use before buying my laptop (doesn’t have an ethernet port) ended up being somewhere around 15ft.</p>
<p>I asked a similar question last year and got some helpful answers. </p>
<p>One good tip we got on the dorm tour during Eagle Summit was that the bed can be flipped upside-down. You’ll need a wrench to unscrew the bolts to flip the frame over. This will give you about an extra foot underneath. My daughter brought some large plastic stacking drawers and kept those under the bed for linens and whatnot. Her small suitcase for weekend trips also lived under the bed (there’s a trunk room for larger luggage), as did some other items that wouldn’t have fit without flipping over the bed.</p>
<p>She and her roommate rented a fridge and shared a (very very inexpensive) printer.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1351264-dorm-equipment-move-tips.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1351264-dorm-equipment-move-tips.html</a></p>
<p>My son lived in Anderson his freshman year. Lots of good storage space!</p>
<p>Each of my sons liked having a personal printer. Actually, we got each of them multi-function printers because prices have come down so far. We learned a lesson after my oldest son lent his class notes spiral notebook to a friend who had missed a class to copy some notes, who “lost” the notebook and did not return it for my son to study from before the approaching exam…yes, a cut throat pre-med. This way my son could conveniently copy notes for a friend, etc., without surrendering his notebook. It’s also nice to be able to scan and email conveniently, whether it’s a project for class or the first page of a passport.</p>
<p>My sons also liked the refrigerator/microwave combination–it’s sometimes nice to be able to warm up leftovers from pizza or a dinner out, and sometimes you just don’t want to use the dorm kitchen for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Please please please send an ethernet cable along with your daughter. She will thank you. I was in a triple and there were only two ethernet ports that both of my roommates were using so I had to rely on wireless and the connection had me close to pulling my hair out and tossing my computer out the window on numerous occasions. There’s a good reason why eaglesecure is absolutely loathed across campus so much so that it’s become the object of running jokes among students. I’ve literally had Gogo airplane WiFi that worked 10 times more smoothly than eaglesecure.</p>
<p>My son will be living in Hughes Hall. Are there built in cabinets and if so how large of a TV can be used?</p>
<p>hgbpa16 - yes, built in cabinets in Hughes. Can’t tell you TV sizes though as my DD did not have one. All of the floorplans are on the AU website. </p>
<p>Rented a microwave fridge combo the first year and then made the mistake of buying a fridge the following year (there is a microwave in the kitchen that each floor has). The fridge died before the spring semester ended. When my DD is back from study abroad we will rent again. </p>
<p>My DD did not use her printer that often but it was nice to have. Even better if it scans.</p>
<p>Yes, Hughes has the storage units along one wall. There is a center section with removable shelving that most kids put the refrigerator into (if they have one). That would probably be where the TV would go…so, it’s the width of a dorm refrigerator, if that helps.</p>
<p>Someone could put a tv on his/her dresser, which is a larger surface, but it’s not what I’d choose to do with that surface myself.</p>
<p>Son will be in Letts as incoming freshman. Anyone know about kitchen situation? Are they on each floor? Do they have pots, pans, plates etc.? Appreciate the help as the countdown to move in is on.</p>
<p>A link that may be useful to participants in this thread: [Housing</a> & Dining Programs | Residence Hall Floor Plans](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/floorlayouts.cfm]Housing”>http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/floorlayouts.cfm).</p>
<p>My daughter’s dorm lounge had absolutely nothing in the kitchen at move-in.</p>
<p>Thank you to Sikorsky and DeskPotato. Appreciate the help. Well guess we’ll bring some pots and see what happens - sure he won’t be cooking anyway so not certain why I’m so concerned!</p>
<p>More enthusiastic chefs bring kitchen equipment. My daughter declined, but did take a couple of plates, bowls, cups, and some cutlery–just what was necessary to have a bowl of cereal or whatever she nuked for herself.</p>