<p>Sorry FAMM - stole your title because it worked! I'm getting ready to figure out what I need to send with D who will be in an apt, not a dorm, with no meal plan, so she'll need more stuff than the usual dorm dweller. Doesn't know how many will be sharing the apt - they are either 2,3, or 4 person apts. We will be renting a van (can't get 3 people in the U-Haul's), so it's all got fit in that. MCAD has a site with "what to bring", but I'm wondering what is absolutely necessary first, and what can be shipped later on.</p>
<p>Here’s a list a student posted on the RISD facebook page (for students in the dorms):</p>
<p>-bring a laptop but don’t buy one for your first year if you are going into furniture, architecture or I.D.
-basic art supplies <em>if you already have them</em> such as charcoal, pencils, erasers, some paints (acrylic or gouache), scissors, exacto knife, brushes, pliers, glue gun,
-don’t bring pads of paper, large rulers, and other large supplies unless you can easily do it (traveling by car)
-don’t bring an easel, you probably won’t have room for it
-umbrella
-rain boots + snow boots if you have them
-gloves and a winter coat
-desk lamp (it’s nice to have one with a clamp to clip to things)
-an area rug
-if you like to cook/bake-a small pot, baking pan, oven mitts, dish soap
-tissues
-a printer is nice to have but not necessary
-posters and photos to decorate your barren walls
-a dustpan and brush are good to have, or a small hand vacuum
-an electric kettle is great if you like to have tea/coffee/soup
-a mirror
-hangers for your clothes
-bins or plastic drawers for storage (you can fit them underneath the bed)
-a shower caddy for all your toiletries
-a small fridge, also not necessary but definitely nice to have
-small collapsable hamper or laundry bag
-detergent (you can buy this later)
-bedding (sheets, blanket, pillow, mattress cover, etc) make sure you get EXTRA LONG (you can also buy the sheets from the RISD linen package if you choose.)
-portfolio- useful to carry your stuff in
-if you can easily take some kind of toolbox that you already have this might also be good
-towels and toiletries, but that’s a given
-a mug or a thermos is nice to have
-some basic medicine like advil/tylenol, cold medicine, allergy medicine, tums, cough drops, etc.</p>
<p>Random things that may come in useful:
-post its
-a stapler
-q tips, cotton balls, etc.
-a few pieces of cutlery, if you like to eat in your room sometimes
-a small fan if you want to keep cool during the warmer months
-USB flash drive and/or external hard drive
-swimsuit if you may want to go swimming at Brown
-any other sports equipment such as tennis racquets if you want to play
-zip lock bags, maybe a couple pieces of tupperware
-needle and thread</p>
<p>thanks! glad to see the thread! I heard one college student say the best thing in the dorm room was one of those old-fashioned coat hangers with an umbrella stand at the bottom…particularly useful for cold climates…dumping on floor or bed big problem with wet clothes and few students will take the time to put a coat on a hanger…also can be where to hang your towel when you live in the old fashioned dorms with many kids sharing a bathroom down the hall. I wish I had had one in my dorm room.</p>
<p>If I can add with regard to the desk lamp…I got my daughter a nice clamp-on lamp at Staples that had a magnifier on it. During finals week of the winter quarter, she sent me a text very late one night with profuse joy at the magnifier on the lamp. One of her projects required painting very small dots of color to blend, and she said the magnification was a blessing to ensure the work was done well.</p>
<p>Daughter is taking: </p>
<p>Bins with her linens and household supplies (pots and pans, dishes), packed from last summer at SAIC
Art supplies
Rice cooker
Espresso or pod coffee maker (per agreement, she will not take up smoking in exchange)
Bike
Professional dress form
Sewing machine
Laptop, pen tablet, HD monitor (but not desktop machine)</p>
<p>She’s currently designing a cart that she can use to carry canvases, something that would fold, which she’ll be building at TechShop in June. </p>
<p>Most of her supplies for college are things we already got for her last summer, for SAIC ECP and CSSSA. She had linens, towels, dishes, cutlery, some kitchen supplies. Student housing at PNCA is in shared apartments, so she will be cooking and eating in her apartment.</p>
<p>@ Trin - I’ll see if I can access the MCAD admitted students page and get their list, since it looks like we’ll both be having kids in apts.</p>
<p>Trin - is your D a fashion major?</p>
<p>The following list is from the MCAD Admitted Students website. Keep in mind that some apartments are furnished, while others are not. I have put my comments in parentheses.</p>
<p>For your desk/drawing table (note- drawing tables are provided, but not the chair!)
art supplies from home
address book, stationery and stamps
batteries
chair or stool for your drawing table
extension cords
glue/glue sticks
light bulbs
needle, thread, and extra buttons
packing tape, Scotch tape
paper clips
pencil sharpener
poster gum
power strips and plug adapters - three prong to two, outlet expanders
rolls of quarters for laundry
rubber bands
safety pins
scissors
screwdriver/tool set
stapler and staples
string
Swiss Army knife - it does everything (I would have NEVER thought of that!)</p>
<p>For your bookshelf:
book of quotations
dictionary
grammar guide - Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is a classic
thesaurus</p>
<p>For your kitchen:
broom
cleaning supplies
mop/bucket
corkscrew, bottle opener, can opener
dishes, cups, bowls
dish washing liquid
dustpan or Dustbuster
enough Ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, and cans of tuna to feed you for the entire semester -these items can also be bought locally and shared with roommates or neighbors
moms/dads quick recipe book
microwave
pots and pans
silverware
sponge/scrub brush for washing dishes
tin foil
toaster oven
Tupperware</p>
<p>For the bathroom:
aspirin or ibuprofen
Band-Aids
cold medicine
cup for brushing teeth
hair dryer
tissue
nail clipper, file
plastic shower caddy
soap dish
terry cloth bathrobe and towels
toilet paper
Tums
Tweezers
(add condoms here, thanks awbacon!)</p>
<p>For your room/life in general:
alarm clock
bedding: two sets of sheets is nice and bring a pillow or two - mattresses are twin standard, not long version
bulletin board
CD stands
cotton swabs - lots of them, you use them for everything
desk lamp - DO NOT bring halogen lampsthey are not allowed in campus housing
doormat
fan
“a few of your favorite things”
frisbee, volley ball, hackey sack, cards
iron
Pictionary
pictures of your family and friends
a “better” phone (I think they mean a cell phone since all the apts have landline phone jacks)
posters
rollerblades
sleeping bag - in case you have visitors or go camping)
stereo, music and such
things to keep you warm: gloves,mittens, wool socks, extra blankets, warm coat, boots, scarf, at least four billion sweaters, long johns - invented for places like this - and a positive attitude toward negative weather (I loved the way they worded that!)
wastebasket</p>
<p>What NOT to bring:
halogen lamps
things that produce open flame - candles, oil lamps, incense burners, etc.
weapons of any type - real or imitation, including paint-ball and bb guns
waterbeds
pets</p>
<p>redbug: No, she’s not a fashion design major. However, she makes/mods her own clothes, and does commissions for other people (of clothing, her soft sculpture people, accessories). She’s been making money selling her work since she was …13, I think? So things like her sewing machine and her laminating supplies, those are the tools she uses in her work.</p>
<p>You have to remember that my daughter is as much moving to Portland as she is going to college. She won’t be here for summers or some vacations – she will live in Portland, until she graduates or transfers. So she’s not just packing for college, she is choosing what she will bring with her of all her things, and what will go into storage. On the other hand, sharing an apartment with four people means that she needs to limit her stuff. Lots of things on the list she won’t be bringing, either because other people will bring them too, or because of all the students in her apartment, I can’t afford to be the parent who pays for things like the broom.</p>
<p>I know, my D will be sharing an apt with anywhere from 1 to 3 other people. Altho it wouldn’t be a burden, I hate to buy EVERYTHING that goes with the apt. I think if others contribute, everyone shares in the ownership and it’s less of the mine and yours philosophy. I know D will be back summers to see her boyfriend (who is going to CC here), and Christmas, but doubt she will come back to Florida to live permanently.</p>
<p>redbug119: Oh, I thought of something going to college that’s actually sort of funny. Evidently, in NY there’s a law against having strings of LED or Christmas style or decorative lights in buildings designed for student housing. It’s illegal to have them? I don’t know if I believe that, but two separate NY schools daughter was accepted to cited this law as the reason why students are not allowed to have strings of tiny lights in their rooms. </p>
<p>Daughter LOVES her tiny lights, and decorating with various kinds. So, one of the things in her list of reasons not to go to SnowyPratt was not being allowed to bring tiny lights to school! Those will definitely be among the things she takes to college.</p>
<p>My list is as follows:</p>
<p>My clothes
My dog
My cameras
My gf
My videogame collection
My dishes</p>
<p>everything else is getting left behind! Haha…we live in a 2 bedroom house in VT, and it sure all can’t move to Chicago with us</p>
<p>Great! I love checklists!
Redbug and Trinf…when i moved into my first apartment my mother took the opportunity to offload her mixed/matched cutlery. Some of this was clearly lifted from the airplane food service trays during her many back-to-the-home-country flights-- very old BOAC spoons, newer British Airways knives, British Caledonian coffe spoons, PanAm forks …etc…probably collectors’ items now. I think they are in camping equipment box. She also gave me a hideous and incomplete pot and pan set from the 1960’s that served our family for 20 years and I used for another 15 years. Then there were the chipped and ugly plates from my parents’ poverty years in Buffalo. Mum was thirlled to the depths of her cheap immigrant soul to have the excuse to buy newer, but not much more expensive, replacements, and I had instant nostalgia-in-a-box that followed me through undergrad, grad and early married life. If you have any old stuff you are tired of, give it to daughters/sons…they will love all the chips and ugliness because it reminds them of home and you can get the upgraded version while also playing the mother/martyr who sacrifices all for the comfort of her child (win-win-win situation).</p>
<p>I am clearly my mother’s daughter. Get this…I still have the extra long twin sheets purchased for my dorm bunk in 1981! they They are in great shape since mainly used for summer camp bunk beds… So guess what S will be taking to CMU? Yup…30 year old sheets! My goal is that any and all household items given to offspring will be harvested from the bounty of my attic or a garage sale.</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom: Oooo, no, I’m all about matching/coordinating college stuff. Last June we shopped for daughter’s SAIC ECP stuff, planning for college. So her sheets match her towels, her cutlery, her plates and cups and kitchen supplies. It’s all rainbow brights of various kinds. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t give her any old plates and things. I moved here with two suitcases, so I had to buy all my kitchen items 10 years ago. I only have one set of dishes, one set of flatware, etc, and my SO has one set of his own. </p>
<p>But all the things we got were on sale or clearance or were from places like Daiso, so they were incredibly affordable. All of that stuff is all packed and ready to go – comforters, quilts, two sets of sheets, kitchen towels, frying pans, spatulas, mixing bowls, the works.</p>
<p>famm- what a great post! We have a bowl that I think was melamine or some other type of engineered plastic (but I think ALL plastic is actually engineered :-D) at least 20 years old, that I bought at a Goodwill in Maine back when I was totally broke. Has been thru the microwave, and dishwasher so many times it’s lost its original color and sheen - but D loves it and is very excited to have permission to bring that bowl to school! I have plenty of plates and bowls, so she’ll have those to take - but she’s not getting my Princess House pots!!</p>
<p>THought I would revive this as S will need to start packing soon. While his material needs are pretty simple, I did get really good advice from his girlfriend who has weathered the foundation year. Top of her list were: duck tape (lots of it), a tool box but with more cutting instruments than the standard (box cutter, small saw, wire cutters) are essential, hooks for walls, over the bed end, etc. Never enough space so you need to use the walls. She emphasized that getting standard art supplies was easy but expensive on or near campus. She also advised him to stock up on cheap blank CDs and DVDs from costco, etc. for his time based work. </p>
<p>He is filling a box with semi-used art supplies–acrylic paints, brushes, etc. Should I resist the desire to label …I used to put his last name on brushes, tools, etc with a sharpie because at school kids borrow but happily give back but don’t remember whom they borrowed from so the name was useful…oh yes, at CMU they suggest bringing a lock for the art locker. First with a lock gets first dibs on freshman/sophomore lockers.</p>
<p>I recommend not buying the “Artbin” name art storage devices. Fish and tackle boxes are cheaper, and you can get huge ones that carry so much. Mine even has cup holders on top :)</p>
<p>The same amount of storage for about a $40 difference.</p>
<p>Just returned from Home Depot to get a tool box. $5 NO JOKE…Quite large, heavy duty plastic, but just perfect for all those wire cutters, hammers, pliers, etc. It has little compartments built into the top for nails, tacks, etc. We still have one of those lethal old red metal ones that weigh a ton and if not closed correctly drop all of the heavy tools onto toes. I am now having tool box envy … I totally agree about avoiding “art” bins and also seeking out used stuff. An art teacher gave him a very old large, leather portfolio carrier–it is stained, incredibly heavy and shows the years have not been kind…but it works for now.</p>
<p>My daughter, a senior from RISD, says “don’t take too much stuff and no area rugs”. You need the use of the floor space and there is just too much charcoal dust". But the one thing she recommends is a tool box and electric drill. Said it would have come in handy her freshman year. There you go!</p>
<p>Heh. I’m buying an area rug, mostly to protect the apartment floor, so daughter doesn’t get paint and crap on it. Freshmen don’t have access to 24 hour studios at PNCA, so she will be doing some work in her apartment, I expect.</p>