My D has been assigned to a room with two other roommates. I have no idea how they are going to fit all of their things in a 19x13 room! Please share any advice so she can be prepared. Frankly it sounds like torture!!
I’ll be following this…D was supposed to be in a triple and the room was large enough for that, but due to over enrollment they have turned it into a quad! That means they went from each being able to have their own bed, unlofted, to now they are forced to have two lofted and one bunked according to the residence office. D did not want a lofted bed nor a bunk, so she’s pretty annoyed.
Our son had a triple his freshman year and it worked out just fine. Don’t overpack/take too much stuff, spend time in available lounges so you’re not in spending too much time in a small space, and be adaptable.
We are in the same situation! I was just told by the housing staff that to fit the beds, dressers and desks, the beds had to be lofted or bunks. Neither of which she wanted. How do you decide who gets the bed that’s not a bunk?!?
@denimom, I’m sitting here wondering too. One of D’s roommates has not really communicated with the rest of them since they introduced themselves a few weeks ago when they found out where they were living. But for move-in day, they have a very specific window of time for moving in. Or should I say, there is like a 90 min block of time where you can park by the dorm, and check in. It goes by floor. So I imagine they will all arrive about the same time, but not sure how they will decide to divvy up the beds. It would be nice if they tried to determine that ahead of time, but I suppose they want to see the space b/f they make decisions. I’m hoping the parents will stay out of it and let the kids figure it out.
DS had a small triple freshman year. He said the following : plan to study outside your room. You won’t feel the same pressure to be friends with both roommates you might feel if there were only one - this is a good thing! Don’t bring too much, and definitely don’t bring things like coffeemakers to a campus where coffee is never more than one building away. Under bed storage can help keep things organized (so you can put out of season/infrequently used items out of the way until you need them or can take them home. It’s easier to keep track of your things if they have an easily accessed place and there aren’t too many of them…
As for beds, they had several things that were "unequal " in their room. One person, the “pineapple bringer”, had tons of stuff. He took the only closet. Another took the lofted bed. The 3rd got first choice of tOP or bottom bunk and first choice of desk.
Fwiw, they got along fine. Didn’t become great friends and never lived together again but occasionally would order a pizza, etc. It sounded like they gave each other the space their room did not and were fundamentally respectful and cordial. All good training for life in the real world.
Do not bring furniture, for starters. That will eliminate a lot of trouble right off the bat. I’m generally not convinced that kids on a meal plan need a fridge, but if they do, it might be best to get only two and share them, rather than to have three. If closet space is limited, bring the clothes you need for that season, then switch them out during the break. If your child is an athlete, she will be assigned a locker in the sports complex, so she can store her equipment there. My D managed to get a locker even though she wasn’t an athlete, and she used it to store sweats, running and hiking shoes, and other bulky items.
Pineapple bringer. =))
Yeah, CC is cracking me up today with that thread.
@gardenstategal , regarding the pressure to be friends, D actually requested a triple sort of for that reason. However, somehow, despite that you were not allowed to request roommates, she ended up with two girls from the same h.s. That might have been an issue if they hadn’t turned the room to a quad. And the fourth girl is from the east coast like us (school is in Calif.) so at least D and that girl will have something in common. And LOL about the coffee maker - D doesn’t drink much coffee but wanted a Kuerig thinking she will drink more in college. My husband was like - whydoes she need a coffee maker when there are places all over campus to get coffee?? One of the roommates is bringing one tho, so one less thing for us to purchase and have to ship or store at end of year.
The one benefit I think to the location to D’s college is that it is warm year round so no need to have bulky winter items to store. Of course, they are still girls so…lots of clothes I’m guessing.
I loved that my daughter’s school assigned the beds (they were single rooms in a suite). Also assigned a kitchen cabinet. If not assigned, I think the roommates should draw names out of a hat for first pick.
Agree that if the room is full of people, studying will have to be done elsewhere.
@4kids4us We are in the same boat! One roommate has been very friendly and the other has not reached out at all. Move in is next week and done by last name. Our last name means she moves into the room last. Definitely agree and hope parents let the girls work it out.
My kid moved into her triple room last weekend. She had packed an SUV-full of stuff, and i was amazed that it all fit neatly in the drawers and shelves under the desk ( beds are lofted) and in one of the 3 (smallish) freestanding wardrobes. No overflow of stuff taking up any floor space. She arrived early for a pre-orientation program, so it’ll be interesting next weekend to see how much stuff her roommates bring with them. I believe they are both arriving by plane, so hopefully they are packing light, too!
A lovely surprise at move-in: it was like nothing I’d seen before. The moment we arrived, a small army of smiling volunteers, mostly frat and sorority members, opened our car doors, removed everything, and carried it all up to her room. I just parked the car around the corner and when I got there 10 minutes later, she had already made her bed and had most of her stuff unpacked. I brought home a bunch of empty bins. This was the most efficient and stress-free move in I have ever seen! I think all schools should do it this way.
Op- PLEASE PLEASE tell your son if his bed is lofted to demand safety rails be put on the bed. I cannot urge this strongly enough!!! There is a former thread on this and a video that shows the VERY REAL DANGERS that can arise from lofted beds. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1911839-bunk-and-loft-bed-dangers-p1.html
My oldest son was put in a triple that size and was forced to loft his bed to put his desk underneath or else he wouldn’t have a desk. Luckily my sone didn’t fall and suffer the catastrophic injuries that many have from lofted beds, but he did get many scrapes and bruises from getting into and out of bed and was terrified the whole semester.
It was a nightmare.
Invest in noise cancelling headphones and a darkened sleep mask…
@runswimyoga Thank you for your reply! My daughter is terrified of the idea of being in a lofted bed. Can you purchase the rails or is this something the school can provide?
There are 3 lofted beds in my kid’s room, but just one ladder… And the beds all have rails. But I have to say that after watching her climbing up and down, I do think it’s an accident waiting to happen. She’s looking forward to moving into an apartment after freshman year!
@runswimyoga I read that thread when it was originally posted and went to my D’s school website to see if it said anything about lofted beds. It said right on their res life webpage, that lofted beds were NOT permitted and that beds could only be bunked with prior permission from the res life office who would do it for them. Imagine my surprise and dismay when a couple of weeks later, we get the email from D’s university saying that due to over enrollment they would be lofting the beds b/c her tripled was being made into a quad. Apparently the dorm she requested (she wanted a triple) is considered a “flex” space and those rooms are designed to enable adding an extra bed. Had I known that, I would have talked her out of requesting that dorm. Next step is for her to send an email making sure that the lofted beds come with bed rails.
How can they have just one ladder? Someone could fall trying to get out is one of the roommates moves the ladder from its last position. Can they easily climb down the bed frame like a ladder ?
My D was in a very small forced triple last year. Three beds, each in the middle of one wall. Two desks in the middle of the room so no floor space. Two small closets. They made it work. When the parents all saw the room, after our initial shock at the size, we all tried to help. There was one corner of the room where some plastic bins would fit. My H went to target and bought them. We also bought a full length mirror that opened to a storage space. One of the girls got a very skinny shelving unit and put her shoes there. They utilized every inch of space and shared items that they didn’t need multiple of. For example, one of their bins held their tampons and they took turns buying them. Fortunately they all did their part and made the space issue work.
They also made a roommate contract early in the year. They included things like, if someone was doing hw after a certain time they would go to the common lounge, if someone got a phone call while others were doing hw, they would take the call outside. My younger D went to visit for a weekend and one of the roommates slept in a friend’s room in an extra bed.
The only issue was that my D likes the room cold and one liked it warm so they would always change the temp when the other was out of the room. But they were both too passive and nice to say anything to the other one so they did this all year. So not really an issue.
My daughter requested a double, expected a triple nonetheless, and ended up in a one room quad her freshman year. It was cozy crowed to say the least. She had a corner for her wardrobe, desk, and dresser and was on a top bunk. She had half a bed of underbed storage. We felt like she was shoehorned in the room, but the four of them made it work. Not perfect, but it was fine.
Definitely demand the bunk rails, in writing. A HS classmate of mine rolled off hers, broke both arms and her nose. She was lucky.