Hi, Son is so excited to be attending Rowan this fall. He’ll be sharing a triple room. For those that already attend, can you advise about items that he should be bringing. Also should he have a laptop safe to protect his laptop, med’s & valuables? In the triple rooms is there underbed storage? Any ideas of what he should bring from your experiences.
Thanks so much.
The most important thing(s): A dual window fan. You can set one to blow in, the other to blow out. Paired with an interior oscillating fan, he’ll be in relative cool comfort and well-ventilated. Kids today can’t imagine a world without A/C. This’ll teach 'em.
Underbed storage is available and highly utilized. Bed height is adjustable from like 2’ to 5’. Beds can be bunked as well (likely). Bring a good hammer to move-in day to detach and re-attach the spring to the frame as you want.
I’d recommend travelling as light as possible. Clothes, toiletries, some cleaning products (detergent, all-fabric bleach, and dryer sheets are needs), and that’s about it. There are plenty of grocery stores and department stores within 5-10 minutes.
“Dormitory” is Latin for “a place to sleep”, and that’s really all it’s for, if you do it right. It’s not an apartment. Kids, and especially parents, are all excited for move-in day and overpacking is common. Don’t forget there will be 2 other students and as many as 4 other parents, each with their own agenda and their own trips to Costco for bulk items. Consensus is better than compromise which is better than anarchy. The more items and agenda, the more difficult room sharing will be. So, bring a good attitude. The kid has to live there - the parents do not. Missed items can be brought later or purchased locally. I mean, how many cases of bottled water do these kids need? I think they’d prefer more space.
Most overrated item from my experience? A television. Second most overrated: The fridge/microwave combo. They are like Christmas toys - fun for 5 minutes, then ignored. What if the Giants game is one one channel, and the Eagles game is on another channel? An invitation to a dispute.
Be sure you bring the right size bed sheets. Dorm beds are an odd size - most standard sheets don’t fit well.
A laptop is more of a “want” than a “need”. Most kids have 'em, but they are more for personal entertainment than education. There are plenty of computer labs, and the one in Mimosa (by the Student Center and the Rec Center) is open 24 x 7. If he’s an engineering student, he’ll be doing most of his work in the Engineering building labs. That stuff is way too heavy for your standard PC.