<p>Chair, fridge, desk, storage, any of these or other suggestions? Thanks</p>
<p>Every dorm room comes with a desk, bed, desk chair, and some combination of closet space and drawers for storage. It's hard to say what else you might want before you get there, because if you're in the frosh quad you'll have a common room where you can put any furniture you want (a comfy reading chair or whatever to add to the furniture that comes in the common room), but if you're in mission then there isn't a ton of room for extra furniture. For the fridge, it's good to coordinate with your roommate/suitemates and share one.</p>
<p>Don't bring too much. You'll be able to get to Wal-Mart, Target, etc. once you show up, so you can buy stuff if you decide you need it. Also, there are tag sales at the beginning of the year that sell furniture and other dorm essentials <em>much</em> cheaper then you'll be able to find at a store. It sucks to bring a carload of everything you might possibly need, and realize that a) there's not enough space in your room for all of it and b) you could have gotten most of it cheaper here. If you already have stuff that you know you want to bring, then bring it, but I wouldn't go on a shopping spree to outfit your dorm before you even see it.</p>
<p>They'll probably send out a booklet sometime this summer (if they haven't already) with more advice about what to bring.</p>
<p>Yeah, they'll give you a nice little booklet about that stuff sometime over the summer.</p>
<p>But... its really nice to have your own fridge. Its even nicer to get your dad to buy you some beer before leaving. I'd recommend Blue Moon or Magic hat, those are pretty popular around here. You'll make really good friends in your entry fairly quickly, haha.</p>
<p>Yeah, fridges are good. Under no circumstances should you go for the "Microfridge" rental company thing that they send you a flyer for, though. It costs more to rent their microwave and fridge for a year then it would cost you to <em>buy</em> your own microwave and fridge, even if you bought them brand new at the Berkshire Mall (as opposed to used from WSO or a tag sale, which is really what you should go for). Some colleges don't allow any fridges other than the Microfridge, but luckily Williams gives you the choice.</p>
<p>bring a lazyboy and then tell me which entry you are in!</p>
<p>Will there be a phone in the room? If so, is there a monthly charge for it? Are
local calls subject to a per-call charge? How common are cell phones -- I know the reception works well now for some carriers -- and how necessary do you parents and students think they are? I'm trying to figure out how to handle the phone issue without incurring a lot of added expense.</p>
<p>Also, will my daughter need an ethernet cable for her laptop? If so, is this the sort of thing we can easily get for a Mac in the immediate area?</p>
<p>There are phone outlets in the room. You just need to buy the phone set. To get the connection i think you need to go to the phone office (at siskind i think) and retrieve your PIN/long distance authorization code. Calls made within williamstown or to any neighboring place are free of charge. Long distance (for example NYC, Maine, California, international) are charged..i forgot the rate but its cheaper than cellphone.</p>
<p>Most people do use cellphones. Verizon and Cingular seem to be popular.</p>
<p>It's good to have an ethernet cable...but she might not need it. The wireless works pretty much everywhere. But sometimes the wireless does go crazy..so ethernet is a good backup. Ethernet cables are widely available in most hardware stores. The same cable works for both PCs and macs.</p>
<p>If you anticipate making lots of long distance calls, it's better to bring a phone card. I think the Williams long-distance rate is around $0.10/min, while phone cards will take that down to 4 or 5 cents per minute.</p>
<p>Cell phones are ubiquitous and basically a necessity, if only for logistical stuff like "Where are you and do you want to have dinner with us now?". Reception is generally good; I haven't heard anyone complain about their specific carrier. If you don't think you'll be using your phone much, you might check virgin mobile and their pre-paid plans; I can personally vouch that they get good service here.</p>
<p>"how necessary do you parents and students think they are?"</p>
<p>Since the students carry them all the time, it's much easier to reach them on the cell phone number. The room phone is good as a backup (in case the cell phone's battery needs charging or is otherwise out of commission) -- we bought a simple analog one for about $15 - $20, which has been plugged in only rarely (when the cell phone has been down). That way, both other students and the parents still have a fast way to talk to the Eph (when the Eph is in the dorm room). There's no charge for having the phone in the room.</p>
<p>AT&T has the GSM nationwide plan with no extra charge for US long distance (actually worldwide access if you get a phone with 4 bands) -- we signed up (freshman year of high school) when it was Cingular and got unlimited mobile-to-mobile on the same plan. (T-Mobile also has GSM, but I don't know how the reception is at Williams. With a good phone, the AT&T reception is great.) And texting is pretty much a necessity for student-to-student communication.</p>
<p>My Eph was able to buy any cables needed for a laptop at the Water Street bookstore -- I'm sure other nearby stores sell them as well.</p>
<p>Okay, so I'm a bit alarmed by the refridgerator-as-a-necessity here. I don't know about meal plans yet, so I don't know if frosh are required to have the 21-meals-a-week plan, but I don't see why you would need a fridge when on a complete meal plan. I can understand why someone would want one to supplement, say, a 14-meals-a-week plan, but do you really need one for a full meal plan? You know, those appliances absolutely gobble electricity...</p>
<p>You don't need a fridge, but its nice to have one, for thinks like cold beverages, popsicles, leftover Chopsticks, etc etc. Or, if that fails, make friends with someone that has a fridge.</p>
<p>And yeah, cell phones... if you plan on talking to friends or anything outside of class, get a cell phone.</p>
<p>I never had a fridge nor had cause to use one, although some of entrymates did have fridges, though. The 21-meal plan was adequate, and I only kept fruit and water on my desk. During summer, outgoing seniors leave their microwaves and fridges for the taking, so students spending their summer on campus can take advantage of this. Right now, I'm on a 14-meal plan and still don't use a fridge [summer]. My roommate had a fridge, but then, he switched to a 14-meal plan.
From what I've seen, there's usually one fridge/microwave in the common room, and the suitemates share, so it might be a nice thing to find out who's bringing what to the common room so you don't have unnecessary duplicates or more.</p>
<p>For the first few days, I used wireless, but soon, I got a cable. Wired is much faster, especially when you want to download applications off the keyserver. I got a 6-ft one for about $7 at the bookstore. You can also get them at the Newsroom. I keep it permanently plugged in when my laptop's on my desk, and use wireless away. Coverage is pretty good, too.</p>
<p>What is a good national bank with a branch in Williamstown? I love the feel of a small-town bank, but that's just not practical when I'll be in Williamstown for less than four full years. I'm thinking Bank of America, Wachovia, or some other nationwide bank.</p>
<p>Pretty much everyone has an account at either Williamstown Savings Bank(WSB) or BankNorth, since those are the only two with branches in town. I had a WSB account (I just graduated), mostly because of the convenience of ATMs--there's one on campus. BankNorth is on Spring St, and WSB is on Rt. 2, so they're both very easy to get to. Both offer student accounts with no minimums and few fees. The people in WSB were really nice and helpful.</p>
<p>I also kept an account at a nationwide bank at home (one without a branch in Williamstown), so that I wouldn't have to pay ATM charges no matter where I was. I just wrote myself a check from one account to the other when I needed more in one account. I would caution you against using a bank that doesn't have a branch in town--you'll find yourself racking up ATM fees, and it's just more complicated in general.</p>
<p>I live near Williamstown and I don't think there are any national banks in town. The banks are, to the best of my knowledge, the following:</p>
<p>Williamstown Savings
South Adams Savings
TD Banknorth</p>
<p>I'm not sure, but I <em>think</em> there's also a Hoosac Bank in town. None of these, however, are national banks. WSB isn't a branch of any sort, South Adams has 2 or 3 other locations, TD Banknorth is a New England (& maybe NY?) regional bank, and Hoosac has another branch in North Adams.</p>
<p>I'll be going to Williams in the fall and I have a Banknorth debit/ATM card. But any of the above would be great.</p>
<p>Yeah, go with WSB or TD Banknorth; they're the only ones with easily-walkable locations. Banknorth has a slightly closer location, but WSB has an ATM in the student center, which is even closer, so it's basically a wash. Keep a second account at a national bank in your hometown if you're worried about ATM fees. </p>
<p>You might also want to look into online savings accounts like ING Direct; which lets you store money at high interest and move it easily between your other accounts. I have an ING account linked to my WSB account and it works great: Williams direct-deposits my work-study paychecks to WSB, and every month a certain amount gets automatically moved to ING for long-term saving at 4.5% interest. Shameless plug: if you're interested in ING, pm me and I'll send you a referral; if you open an account we'll both get a small bonus.</p>
<p>a desk lamp would probably be good</p>
<p>Oh, floor lamps are nice. I had to get one over thanksgiving break becasue all my friends' were so cool.</p>