<p>Well, as I am now starting to shop for dorm supplies for my son - I have a couple of questions. I found a list on the Bucknell website that states that students should bring a desk lamp. Do they also need to bring a floor (pole) lamp? </p>
<p>Do you know if the kitchen areas in McDonnell Hall contain microwaves?</p>
<p>Do you know if McDonnell has any storage areas for student use (like for a hockey bag), or do students keep stuff like that in their room?</p>
<p>(I’m assuming my son will be in McDonnell since he signed up to be in the Humanities Residential College).</p>
<p>Every common room has a microwave . Every dorm has a common room. Some on every floor and others per wing, etc. Floor lamp is up to you. Every room has over head lighting.</p>
<p>Most storage is in their room. My RA D said hockey players tried to store their hockey stuff in other places and had to move them. Plan on the room.</p>
<p>“Now I just have to hope that my son has a very understanding roommate who doesn’t mind the stink”</p>
<p>That’s always a good thing! So I have no idea what my son put down about himself, but it looks like he ended up with a single. We are pretty happy about that because he’s a social kid and will find his way out of his room easily, and think it’s a sweet deal to not have to put up with someone else’s snoring, mess and sleep hours. But it seems unusual to get a single as a freshman, so we’re wondering what the catch is. Is this considered a bad deal, or are they crummy rooms? Obviously smaller, but?</p>
<p>My son showed me the roommate survey as he was filling it out and there was a specific question about preferences regarding single, double, triple, etc. Did your son put down single as a first or second choice? Is he in a Res College? Our DS put down a double as his first choice and ended up with a triple (his second choice). I think it will be fine for him although Lord knows he certainly won’t get any studying done in that room!! He is in Harris Hall which I believe is all freshmen and has an assortment of singles, doubles, and triples.</p>
<p>^^He thinks he put it down as second choice, and he’s not in a res college. It does sound like they have a number of singles and triples, so I guess it’s just luck of the draw. They’re probably not going to get much studying done at first, I’ll bet!</p>
<p>My son did end up being in McDonnell Hall. I see that NYGmen’s son is in Harris. If you don’t mind saying - where are the other two boys in the singles? The way McDonnell is laid out, there are only 10 rooms in each area surrounding a common lounge. Two of the rooms are taken by the RA and a Junior Fellow (residential college). That leaves 4 rooms of girls and 4 rooms of boys in his area. I know my son will be looking to meet other people as well since there aren’t that many on his hall.</p>
<p>I was very impressed with how Bucknell showed them a blueprint of the hall and the names of the students living in each room. That will make it easy to make some connections before school even starts.</p>
<p>That is impressive how they give you so much information before everything starts. I wonder when they will find out their class schedule. Hopefully that is soon, also!</p>
<p>We received a short magazine called “First Year” today. Definitely some good info there. It looks like students in A&S get their schedules on the first day of orientation and Engineering get theirs on the following Monday. I guess we went be able to buy books ahead of time. :(</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, 911, we’ll be looking for that in the mail. Bummer about not finding out about schedules until late, we like buying used books over the internet.</p>
<p>Yeah - I’m not happy about the book buying either. I know they have used books and even have a book rental service for some classes through the bookstore. But my son will have no idea what to do when he sets foot in there. I’m sure we’ll be paying full price for books he doesn’t need :(</p>
<p>I know books are expensive. I am a BU parent and parent of two other college graduates. I am also a professor.</p>
<p>It bothers me when students/parents complain about the cost of books. Yet students have iPads, iPhones, expensive cars and loads of neat stuff for their room and/ or hobby. You are paying big bucks to get a great prestigious education for your kids. You are “so proud” he/she got in. And yet you complain about the price of a book? These are a big part of your childs education. These impart a lot of the knowledge. </p>
<p>Why are text books so expensive? To a large extent because of the used book market. Neither text book author or publisher make a dime on the resale market. Yet they did all the work. So they need to make it in the initial sale. It is actually the used sale sellers that are totally scalping. </p>
<p>As the wife of a text book writer, I know it takes hours, days months and even years to write some text books. If they aren’t compenstated, why do it? Some will for love, not many.</p>
<p>I was really thinking that BU has done such a great job of communication and letting us know what to expect, what to bring, etc. that I am surprised that a crucial part of the prep, i.e., the course schedule and the books, are left for during orientation. I’m assuming that this is the only time it will happen, that for the rest of the semester schedules, the students will have more lead time for buying books.</p>
<p>morrismm - I certainly didn’t mean to complain about the high cost of books. Sorry if I was misunderstood. I meant to compalin about the high cost of books at BARNES AND NOBLE. The prices there are more expensive than a lot of other places where one can get text books, and I have to think that the price difference is not going to the person who wrote the book, but instead to profit B & N.</p>
<p>I think I understand why BU is not giving THEM the schedules until orientation. They want the students to own more and more responsibility as they embrace school. Itr is their schedule - not the parents.</p>
<p>We can help them set up the room and get them in the best place for them. Then the student needs to take over. It is going to be their job to do the school work and advocate for themselves if they need it.</p>
<p>My S has been away at boarding school for 3 years and is currently in Central America for a month on a service internship. I’m very comfortable with him fending for himself.</p>
<p>Well I was completely incredulous yesterday when our son asked if we could head up to Bed Bath & Beyond and get a jump on buying some of his college dorm stuff. Normally he won’t get within a mile of any store unless it’s a Gamestop or Sports Authority! Anyway BBB was fully stocked for back-to-school/college so the assortment was great and there was only one other kid shopping in that department. Our son’s interest in shower caddies and towels started to wane after about an hour but he was able to fill his cart with most of the essentials. Successful day!!</p>
<p>“It bothers me when students/parents complain about the cost of books. Yet students have iPads, iPhones, expensive cars and loads of neat stuff for their room and/ or hobby. You are paying big bucks to get a great prestigious education for your kids. You are “so proud” he/she got in. And yet you complain about the price of a book? These are a big part of your childs education. These impart a lot of the knowledge.”</p>
<p>Understand what we are weary of. We are tired of paying $150+ for one of a number of books that the student rarely uses. And that now we can’t buy something used, because the teacher demands that they buy edition #8, that changes a few words from edition #7. Even in high school. My kid had to buy an environmental science book, the latest edition…for almost $200. They never even cracked that book, and the resale value was next to nothing. We feel like we are being scalped, semester after semester, year after year. I wouldn’t be complaining about the price of the books if they were $20 or even $50. But it is outrageous what the books cost. More should go to the author.</p>
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