Son moved into Jennings yesterday...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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<p>We moved my son into Jennings yesterday for Summer B semester, and it was interesting, to say the least.</p>

<p>They could move in after 12:00 noon, and we got there at 11:45 am. We were able to find a parking space right in front of the dorm, on the curb. There were others available, too. They let us wait inside the lobby until 12:00, and the kids working the orientation/welcome were pretty cranky. Nothing at all like the kids who worked Preview. By 2:00 pm, there were cars everywhere! Cars on the lawn, and cars even blocking the one driveway that runs around the building. By 5:00 pm, it was very quiet and parking spaces opened up again in front and on the side of the building.</p>

<p>** Remember, Beatty Tower is the only dorm with elevators. If you're not in Beatty, pack as if you'll have to haul everything up multiple flights of stairs. </p>

<p>** There is only one phone jack in my son's room, and it is located by the door. His roommate has not showed up yet, so we hooked up son's phone, and will get the gadget that allows you to hook up two phones on one phone jack. I tried to call the room phone with my cell, and got a recording that said the phone had been disconnected. I called the Jennings desk and the Housing office, and no one knew what to do. I tried again today from home, and it worked.</p>

<p>** We rented a refrigerator from Gator Rentals, the rental company that sent us the mailing last month. It is clean inside, but the outside is very dented, dirty, and rusted. Son put it in his closet, so he didn't have to look at it. Would not rent again. </p>

<p>** The mattress pad we bought from the Residence Hall Linens catalogue DOES NOT FIT the mattress over the egg crate pad, even though they guaranteed that it would. We had to tie the straps together with cord to keep it on the bed. </p>

<p>** Dinner in Broward Dining was as delicious as it was at Preview. And the Preview group had just gone home that day, so they weren't just showing off for the parents. It's remarkably good, and the greeter told us that each of us was allowed to take home a piece of fruit.</p>

<p>** Lastly (and I hate to say this), but the dorm room was absolutely filthy. * Much of the paint has been chipped off anything made of wood, like the door frame, closet, baseboards, etc. * An inch of packed dirt running around the baseboards. * You can barely see out the window because of the thick dirt and smears on the windows. And you can't wash the windows because the ancient, torn, screens are inside and they block you from the window, so you can't GET TO the windows to wash them yourself. * Dirt packed into the frame of the closet door. Old dirt. * The window sill made me gag. * The back of the room's door looked like it hadn't been cleaned for 50 years. All kinds of dried fluid marks. Other residents had used the door for a dart board, and there were hundreds of pinholes in the door. And very old and dirty stickers with curse words written on them, stuck on the door. * Dresser, desk, and bedframe looked clean and dusted. * The mattresses are covered in nylon --not plastic, as I had been told. Bed Bugs??</p>

<p>I haven't exaggerated these condition one bit. You'll see for yourself in the Fall. Bring a bucket, soap, a scrub brush, and some Mr. Clean Scrub Pads!! (P.S. The floors in the hallways were sparkling, shiny, clean.)</p>

<p>I hope this helps a little in preparing you for your move-in day. Maybe the other dorms aren't as rundown and dirty as Jennings is. Good luck to all of you!
g8trmom</p>

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<p>Yikes! Jennings sounds pretty bad. That's where I'm rooming starting this fall. Is it livable at all or worse than you'd ever imagined?</p>

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<p>It is definitely livable, Puppydogeyes, and maybe the girls side is cleaner than the boys. Otherwise, just come prepared with cleaning supplies. Those Mr. Clean scrubbing sponges are wonderful, and they take all kinds of grime off very easily, and without too much mess. I couldn't do anything about the grime and dirt that's packed into the baseboards, though. You'd have to have a stiff scrub brush to get that clean, and get down on your hands and knees for an afternoon. For this short, 6-week semester, I just had to ignore it.</p>

<p>I tried to figure out how to remove the screens so I could clean the windows, but they seemed to be nailed into the window frame. The windows and windowsill were atrocious. I want to call the Housing office and tell them, but my son won't let me. Good luck to you!!
g8trmom</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the heads up. I added cleaning supplies to our college packing list along with an allergy resistant mattress cover (the kind that zips completely around the mattress...they sell it at JC Penneys and most linen shops) since my daughter has hayfever and dust allergies. I was originally going to have her rent a fridge but now I think we will just get her one...what's another $100 bucks anyway? Does anyone know how much room (height in inches) is between the floor and the bottom of the bed for underbed storage??? Saw a great site for steel trunks that seem perfect to pack clothes in, store stuff under the bed, lock valuables in and also can double as a table when needed. Check it out: <a href="http://www.trunkoutlet.com/large_steel_trunk_w_wheels_2%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.trunkoutlet.com/large_steel_trunk_w_wheels_2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>With a heavy screwdriver, you can move the beds to whatever height you want, up to your waist. When we got there, one bed was low to the ground, and the other (my son's) was moved up about five notches, and it was about waist-high. Since we moved my son's fridge into the closet, we slid his 3-drawer chest under the bed. It's one of those plastic chests on wheels that you can buy at Target, KMart, or Walmart for about $20.00. We got it on sale last week at KMart for $9.99. It was in the Sunday flyer on sale.</p>

<p>I'm going to pick my son up tomorrow morning so he can be home for the weekend. I'll be in his room, and I'll measure the two beds. Also, his ceiling light, which is a 4-ft. flourescent panel light, is very dim and on it's last legs. He needs more than just the 40-watt desk lamp that we installed yesterday. I'm going to measure the shelf above the desk so we can buy a tall table lamp (with a very narrow base) to put on that top shelf. He could really use a floor lamp at the head of his bed, but there are some restrictions on floor lamps. And I was going to find out about that tomorrow, too. I'll let you know. </p>

<p>Is there anything else you want to know? I'll be there tomorrow, so I can find out about anything you need. And I'll be going up on other weekends, too, so I'd be glad to check out other things for you, then.
g8trmom</p>

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<p>Yuck after reading that description of Jennings, I am so glad that our son is living at home.</p>

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<p>I was wondering a few things more.
How long an ethernet cable should we buy? How many power strips? how long is the closet rod (so we can determine how many hangers to bring and if there is room for hanging storage -canvas shelves). We should bring a wall phone with a long cord? We bought one at walmart for like $8 (for power outtages during hurricanes). I know that my daughter's Fall dormroom has carpet...does that mean we need to send her with a vacuum or does anyone know if they have one on the floor for everyone's use?</p>

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<p>I didn't measure the closet, so I'll do that on Sunday when we drive my son back to school. They're about 5 feet wide. One half of the front is solid wood and does not move like a sliding door, as you would expect. The other half is wide open, and they recommend you bring a curtain to hang over it. There is a wooden curtain rod built into the top of that opening. We bought a navy fabric shower curtain and some clear, plastic shower curtain rings. It works very well, but the opening is so narrow (2.5 ft.?) that we had to fold the curtain in half, and used only half the curtain rings. </p>

<p>If you use storage shelves, I think you'll have to slide your clothes to the back of the closet and put the storage shelves at the front of the closet. Or keep the shelves just waist-high, and you could hang shirts and shorter pieces above the shelves. (There is a shelf inside the closet, above the clothes rod.)</p>

<p>BEDS: Today, I measured the height of the beds. They can be adjusted to about 10 different heights, three inches apart. The lowest puts the mattress very near the floor. The highest raises the mattress to about 40" off the floor. And I found out that you're not allowed to make the adjustments yourself. You put in a request with your RA, and Maintenance will adjust the bed for you. The bottom of my son's mattress frame is 36" off the floor, and his 2-drawer file cabinet fits very easily. In fact, he may request to lower it one notch (3"), and he'll still be able to fit his file cabinet.</p>

<p>ELECTRONICS: My son has a six-outlet surge protector, but this weekend we're going to find him a bigger one to fit: telephone; desk lamp; additional lamp; laptop; printer; TV; alarm clock; refrigerator. The guildelines said that they can't have more than a 10-ft. extension cord, and they have to be 14-guage thick. I learned that the lower the guage, the thicker the cord.......and 14-guage is one of the thicker ones. We found it in Walmart. The 10-ft. maximum length can be a problem, and that's why his fridge is in his closet, near the outlet. </p>

<p>I've got to run for now. If I think of anything else about the room, I'll let you know!
g8trmom</p>

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<p>Puppydogeyes: You were assigned to Jennings? Was it your first, second or third choice? Did you get a single like you had said you wanted? Why didn't you go for Hume (honors dorm)? Just wondering. BTW, I know 2 kids in Jennings right now (summer B) and they love it there.</p>

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<p>Actually, I was planning on living at Hume, but my roommate really wanted Fletcher, so I applied there but was assigned to Jennings. It wasn't my first choice, but, from what I've heard, I'm lucky to have been assigned any dorm room! I'm glad you know people who like it there, Seiclan.</p>

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<p>Yikes, what a horror story! My S lived in Hume last year, and we were amazed at how nice it was; I guess because it is new it hasn't been used and abused like some of the others. But, although it was nice and clean, he really didn't like living there too much. This year, he has rented a house with 4 other guys in the "UF Ghetto". When I went to help him move, I could not believe the grime left by the previous tenants (4 guys). With alot of elbow grease and trusty Mr. Clean scrubbing sponges, the house was liveable when I left. Now, I can't guarantee that it will stay that way! lol God knows what it will look like after a year!</p>

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<p>Hello, my daughter moved into 2nd floor jennings last week. I think the girls side is better than the boys. My daughter's side was grimy but not creepy. Hope your son is doing well. My daughter is OK, but is somewhat homesick. she is making some new friends, however. She will be in Broward in the fall which may be grubbier! Ha!</p>

<p>Do you know when we pay tuition/room and board for Fall?
email me if possible,
<a href="mailto:jankrav@aol.com">jankrav@aol.com</a></p>

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<p>I'm not sure about tuition, but housing is:
<a href="http://www.housing.ufl.edu/housing/Agreement_Info.htm#RentDue%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.housing.ufl.edu/housing/Agreement_Info.htm#RentDue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<pre><code>Aug. 1 — Final Fall Semester Balance Due
Dec. 1 — Final Spring Semester Balance Due
April 13 — Final Summer A Balance Due
June 2 — Final Summer B Balance Due

NOTE: Rent is billed by semester — not by month or year. Rent statements for the initial term of occupancy are mailed to permanent home addresses. Subsequent billings are mailed to students at campus addresses. Students eligible for a Financial Aid Deferment must apply at the Housing Office. Deferments received at Criser Hall or during Preview are for tuition only.

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</code></pre>