Too much stuff? What are your parents thinking you need?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hi All,
I started a thread on the parents forum because I am concerned about how much STUFF that some folks are buying for their darlings to outfit dorm rooms. (Does a 10 X 12 dorm room really need a ROOMBA robotic vacuum?)
So, let's hear from the experts (please). What things have been truly helpful and what things are just parent imposed clutter?</p>

<p>Do you feel loved when a parent shops up stuff for you? -- or would you rather have cash and do your own shopping? Please advise!</p>

<p>I will admit to an agenda here. I would like us all to communicate more and consume. . . well, at least appropriately (if not less).</p>

2

<p>-Shower Caddy (important).
-Desk Lamp
-Lock Box (to keep iPod, money, etc. in).
-garbage can
-a under bed storage container thingy
-tv
-xbox 360/wii
-small little broom and small dust pan.</p>

<p>That is pretty much all you need as far as appliances/furniture/storage/cleaning imo.</p>

<p>Also a tool kit is pretty handy.</p>

3

<p>a roomba is overkill...just go for the old fashioned broom and dustpan(for tiled floors). i would suggest getting something as cheap as possible (without sacrificing too much quality, of course) because although you have thought about keeping your floor clean, i can assure you most of the people on you floor haven't and, speaking from personal experience, cleaning items tend to "magically disappear ;)"</p>

<p>parents often try to make sure you have everything that you had at home and more in order to make you comfortable. if you are not going to school far from home, i would suggest just taking a few things that you really need when you move in, and then make a list of things you want as you spend your first week or weeks at college. then, come home and buy them or just buy them around campus. i did this and found that many things i had brought were totally unnecessary. </p>

<p>also, it helps to go there and see what other people have brought...you'll find that there are a lot of things that you hadn't thought of that others have.</p>

4

<p>I don't think the roomba posted about on the other thread was mentioned as a necessity or anything close to it. I believe the poster simply said that her son, as an engineering student, thought it was kind of cool.
However, does anyone advise bringing a small handheld vaccuum cleaner? I'm one of those people who will use it if its there and accessible but won't go searching for the floor or dorm-shared vaccuum. So basically is it okay to not vaccuum for a year or rely on roommates to bring one or deal with it?</p>

5

<p>unless you have a medically dependent obsession for cleaning/ vacuuming, </p>

<p>you're never gonna use it.</p>

<p>just from personal experience</p>

6

<p>A roomba is definitely too much. Here are a few other things I've seen parents buy for their kid's dorms that seemed to be overkill:</p>

<ul>
<li>Both a room phone and a cell phone</li>
<li>Expensive decorations</li>
<li>Anything decorative that doesn't also serve a purpose (unless it hangs on the wall and thus is out of the way).
-Tons of dvds/books/magazines/etc. that only serve an entertainment purpose. There's so much else to do, and they're not used all that much. Do these parents really want their kids sitting in their dorm room all day? *Note that I'm talking an excessive amount - some entertainment is a good thing.</li>
</ul>

7

<p>I'm female and a rising college junior. These are a few things that 2 years of college and dorm lie has taught me....</p>

<p>-you don't need to bring things like brooms and vaccuums. Housekeeping will happily lend those things to your child. They don't want to do a year's worth of sweeping and dusting during move-out in May anymore then you want to have to do it before you can leave, so encourage your kid to do it once in a blue moon. The rooms are small and belongings take up space, so sweeping and vaccuuming a floor and rug will take maybe 10 minutes. </p>

<p>-start with a desk fan, and then buy a standing fan if you find that you actually have room on the floor for it. I know it's hot in August, especially down south, but few things are more annoying then having to duck around and lose walking space to a fan that won't make all that much of a difference. I'm not saying don't buy a floor fan, I'm saying have convenient place for it first. In forced doubles and triples, there truly may not be space for it :(.</p>

<p>-If you are living in a typical double room, there won't be much-if any-space for extra furniture. I have a desk chair that I excitedly bought the summer before freshman year and thought I would use instead of the school chair. Well, residence life wouldn't take any school furniture out of the room and there wasn't space for 2 chairs, so it sits at home waiting for me to move into an unfurnished apartment. Yes, it will be used eventually, but i didn't need to buy something that I can't use yet. Check before you buy additional pieces of larger furniture. </p>

<p>-(mainly for girls) Be prepared to have some kind small plastic drawer set (small enough to fit in the closet). I know it kind of contradicts my last statement, but if you have a lot of clothes, they have to go somewhere. This is the only extra piece of "furniture" I have ever had in the dorm and it has been a lifesaver! Think about it, throwing mounds of clothes on the bed, desk, or floor will not work. </p>

<p>-Don't bring 2 TVs, it doesn't make sense. Decide which roomie will bring it and accept that you can't always get to watch what you want, when you want. Nor can 2 gamer roommates each always play on their own system (try to bring one system that will please both roomies).There are lounges with tvs that you can go to, or you can find a friend that likes the same show, movie or video games. </p>

<p>I am an EXTREMELY particular person and do/would have despised my mom doing my shopping for me. For the last three summers I have spent my money from my jobs on my college stuff, to ensure that I get what I want and like, and not just what's on sale or at one single store. I take 110% of the responsibility for my shopping and packing, and that's the way I prefer it to be. And I can't leave my packing to my mom...she wouldn't do it for me if I begged :).</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
-Don't bring 2 TVs, it doesn't make sense. Decide which roomie will bring it and accept that you can't always get to watch what you want, when you want. Nor can 2 gamer roommates each always play on their own system (try to bring one system that will please both roomies).There are lounges with tvs that you can go to, or you can find a friend that likes the same show, movie or video games

[/quote]

true, unless the tvs were pretty small.</p>

9

<p>I've found that for guys, having something like an iron is really unnecessary and chances are will never get used.</p>

<p>Helpful things:
-Post-it notes (due dates for tests, papers, etc)
-Index Cards (memorizing terms & dates)</p>

<p>Useless:
-Iron
-Ironing board</p>

10

<p>I brought way too much. I'm downsizing this year, but at the same time need to bring of other things because I have my own apartment.</p>

<p>Aside from standard school supplies and clothes the things I found to be the most important to me were:
Memory foam for my bed
Bed risers, my bed was superrrrr low
Shower caddy
Under the bed storage bin
Laundry bag
Closet shelf organizer</p>

<p>Things I found useless were:
The fridge (neither my roommate or me ever used it, not the case for many though)
The tv (again, rarely, rarely used)
Ironing stuff
Posters, annoying to stay up, had to toss them at the end of the year. Found actual pictures were better.
And little decoration kinick knacks. Only decorations this year are going to be a vase and pictures.</p>

<p>Also didn't find a need for a vacuum b/c our front desk rented them out.</p>

11

<p>While a Roomba might be too much, a Dustbuster is very useful.</p>