Dorm insurance is a good idea anyway. Inexpensive and will typically cover electronics and could come in handy in the event of fire or water damage also. Just like in an apartment, things can happen in dorm rooms also.
Thanks everyone, for your comments. You gave me a lot of good ideas and things to think about or look into. Will definitely look into insurance. And love the suitcase secured to the bed frame idea.
Most students do not need high end laptops. However, the most valuable aspect of a laptop is the term paper that the student has been writing all semester, so a good data backup strategy is essential.
Regarding phones, there are $150 phones that will do all of the needed smart phone things, so there is no need to spend $1,000 on one. Also, it is normally with the person, rather than left in the dorm room.
Go to school where people don’t steal things. most the people on my floor don’t like their doors, people leave their phones/laptop in the library and dining hall when they go to the cafe or bathroom lol I don’t even think kids lock their bikes at my school lol. I don’t know anyone with a safe
Oh yea, regarding bikes, S solved the temptation of folks to steal his bike by buying a really junk bike from the police auction for about $7 for himself and another one for D. Someone once stole the chain and lock but no one had any interest in stealing their bikes when there were many much nicer bikes right beside their junk ones. Once he was in the workforce, he had a nicer (used) bike and it was duly stolen, sadly.
So you think no one has ever had something stolen at Colgate? That’s simply…not true.
Consider yourself lucky…and hope that this continues.
For folks looking to use dorm insurance…check to see if the policy will cover loss when the dorm room was not locked. Make sure you get theft and loss insurance…or you may be surprised that an item you leave unsecured someplace isn’t considered “stolen” if you only have theft insurance.
Neither have had trouble in their dorm rooms but laundry that isn’t attended for a few minutes seems to be fair game.
@turtletime clean or dirty? ?
I would buy a rider for their phone and computer as those are the two most likely items to disappear whether by loss or theft on or off campus and the most expensive to replace. I really like the book idea for medications. Expensive jewelry is best left at home. Most things seem to disappear due to loss or lending rather than actual theft. Never heard of shoes being stolen. Nice water bottles from my experience are most likely to go missing. Go figure.
The washers and dryers at my kids’ colleges locked. The only way way to open was with the card key used to lock them.
As a freshman my daughter had a roommate that often left their room unlocked, despite my daughter’s protests.
From dormco.com we got her a laptop safe and a slash-proof bag that could be secured to furniture with a cable, where she stored her checkbook, car keys, extra cash, meds. She didn’t take valuable jewelry to school but if she had, it would have been kept there too.
We also bought student insurance that would cover repair or replacement of laptop (etc). This is the company we used.
https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com
My daughter’s dorm room doors automatically locked when closed - you needed to use your ID card and a code to enter.
UW said to have a junker, not high end bike, on campus.
Students can’t control roommates- their visitors or leaving door unlocked.
Never leave anything unattended, even for seconds.
Use a lockable drawer in the room for money, documents, other valuables.
Off site safety deposit box is very inconvenient.
Insurance still means the hassle of replacing things and time without.
The above is a do’s/dont’s list.
We rented a safe for our son’s room next semester. There’s a company that installs it in the dorm room (they provide other items for the college also, like loft beds, etc. to rent). He takes medication for his ADHD that is a frequent target for theft on college campuses. His doctor stressed that a safe was an absolute necessity for this reason. It’s large enough to fit his laptop and other valuables.
Our son’s freshmen dorm actually came with built-in safes—one in each student’s closet. I have no idea whether S actually used said safe (it was a holdover from LA Olympics, their dorm housed some of the athletes). The next three years he definitely didn’t gave a safe nor felt the need of one, but he didn’t have any adhd Rx or other items attractive to thieves. His phone was a “dumb” phone (Razor), not an expensive smart phone. His laptop was always with him or out of sight.
One thing I was going to mention that I haven’t seen on this thread but has been a problem for a couple students I know is putting electronics (including laptops) away and out of sight when not in use. I know a couple students who had a roommate spill liquid on their laptop that was left out and open accidentally. Not only are you out a laptop, you now have a really difficult to negotiate situation with your roommate. Here’s a hint - you may not be able to force them to pay for it. Don’t take electronics/valuables to campus you aren’t prepared to replace and aren’t insured… Not to mention seen and unaccompanied electronics are more likely to be targeted. Make sure they have a drawer, cabinet, locker, closet shelf, etc designated for that if they aren’t going to use a locker.
ETA - also remind your student to be backing up their active work onto a flash drive and/or use a cloud based service so they aren’t completely stuck if they suddenly lose their laptop.
Before you buy a safe, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erGOJxQIf5c. Some of the low end safes are total junk.
Wow–that’s a fascinating video, @rothlisburger! Glad the adult only had empty safes or screwdrivers in them. Scary stuff!
Regarding picking up and carrying out safes, it is easy, which is why all but lowest end safes are designed to be attached to the structure of the building. That’s not going to be possible for college students as RAs get upset at students who drill holes in the floor joists.
@momzilla2D My D has nice jewelry, shi-shi handbags and sunglasses - it has never been a problem, but she is good at putting it away if she is gone for awhile, she has a locked drawer for jewelry. If it’s sentimental and irreplaceable then it shouldn’t go, otherwise it’s just stuff that can be replaced. We did buy dorm/renters insurance on our homeowner’s policy. It covers her all over campus, even if something is taken from her car, not just in the room. Doing that even just for the mac pro made it worth it. But it does cover her shi-shi stuff two.
From what I have heard, the funny thing about bikes being stolen on campus is people will steal them, then the original owner will see their bike somewhere and steal it back. It’s more like a ride-sharing theft ring thing going on.