<p>What's the cheapest place to buy dorm essentials in Cambridge? Things like bed linens, office chairs, laundry bags, lamps, fans. I'm doing the Fall Clean-Up and I'm flying in, so I want to pack as lightly as possible.</p>
<p>not exactly in cambridge but very close (right by fenway park)-- bed bath and beyond is v. good / cheap and you can order things before you arrive at another bb&b location and pick them up there</p>
<p>There’s a Target in Watertown, a quick bus ride away from Harvard Square.</p>
<p>I made a map of Boston-area stores for Harvard/MIT freshmen last year: [Boston-area</a> stores](<a href=“Boston-area stores - Google My Maps”>Boston-area stores - Google My Maps)</p>
<p>Wow, that map is uber helpful. Thanks a bundle.</p>
<p>Although I am not a fan of Target where I live, the Target in Watertown (close to the Arsenal Mall) had relatively cheap college supplies. If I recall correctly, Watertown was about 20 minutes from Cambridge.</p>
<p>If you are really looking to save and have a vehicle, you may want to head to Nashua, New Hampshire, where there is no sales tax, and you have a nice shopping area that includes Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.</p>
<p>Target is probably the cheapest</p>
<p>Mustafa, If you order from Bed Bath and Beyond online before hand, that might make picking things up easier and will assure that they have what you want. Remember Boston is a huge College town and its not just Harvard students buying stuff, Target was pretty picked over by the time we got there. We had the same situation having to fly there and being limited by weight allowances for baggage. (You could also check with Target they will mail stuff to your Harvard Yard Mail address, that’s even easier then you just have to walk over to the science center and pick up your boxes-and the mailing center has hand carts to help you take the boxes!)</p>
<p>Also check with list of furniture supplied in dorms, you don’t need a desk chair unless you actually want a fancy one…it comes with your desk in your room.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, I’d avoid buying stuff like linens, minifridge, etc from HSA. They’ll mail you flyers over the summer, but their stuff is almost always incredibly overpriced.</p>
<p>Good call, EAO1227. I think I might order the stuff in advance, then.</p>
<p>If you can hook up with somebody who has a car, there are piles of malls about 20 minutes out from Harvard in various directions. They will all have huge sales aimed at the college crowd. Stores right in Harvard Square are generally overpriced, but you save on time. CambridgeSide Galleria is not too bad. The Watertown Mall, which you can get to on a bus fairly quickly is another good place to try.
Do not imagine you can rent a car on Labor Day weekend. Boston/Cambridge is crazy then and rental cars/small trucks tend to be non-existent.</p>
<p>Are there any restrictions on the fridge size? I have one from a sibling, and want to make sure it is allowed. Otherwise, I’ll get rid of it and buy a new one.</p>
<p>There are techically restrictions. They are largely ignored.</p>
<p>I recall my S and his roommates picked up some items at the furniture sale in front of the Science Center. These are things that upperclassmen and/or graduates do not want to bring home.</p>
<p>This would be a good place to start a thread specific to Harvard about what someone should bring/buy.</p>
<p>A pillow, set of X-tra-long twin sheets (maybe two sets) with pillow cases.
blankets or comforter.
towels.
shower shoes
shower caddy
lamp
extension cord.
power strip
tool box…</p>
<p>mattress pad cover
power squid vs power strip ( I like squids better.)
Pillows - I would be inclined to buy/bring my own, plus my kids like more than one</p>
<p>I remember my son needing a long ethernet cable for his room - is harvard wireless in dorms or will it be by cable?</p>
<p>btw, what is the deal with TV’s in the dorms. I feel like I read that cable is not available in the rooms. Is that right?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I don’t think pillows are provided any more, and if one is provided, it’s crummy. So bring one or two of your own.</p></li>
<li><p>All the dorms have wireless, although it can sometimes get busy/slow - so having an ethernet cable as backup is a great idea.</p></li>
<li><p>No freshman dorm has cable in the rooms (however, some enterprising students have been able to split off cable from common rooms in the past). If you bring an HD compatible TV, you can pick up HD channels pretty well.</p></li>
</ol>