what kind of stuff can you put in your dorm?

panasonic · 03-28-2007, 12:14 AM

I know it's still quite off before we choose dorms and what not, but I need to start daydreaming ideas.

What kind of stuff are you allowed to bring into your dorm?
Mini-fridges?
Water dispensors? (those Ozarka ones with the big upside down bottles)
Your own furniture?
Carpet or wooden floor? turf? (you would just lay it down, not glue/staple it)
Toasters?
Portable ovens?

:]

now back to studying for a killer bc test

figgiesblazin · 03-28-2007, 12:22 AM

I think a lot of that depends on which dorm.

Pyrocide · 03-28-2007, 12:31 AM

!!!!!!
i am so excited for dorms.
One reason MIT was my top choice was cuz I could paint on the walls.
Bexley Hall here I come

figgiesblazin · 03-28-2007, 12:59 AM

I love Bexley, but I heard it's not a great place for freshman.

molliebatmit · 03-28-2007, 08:21 AM

Mini-fridges, furniture: definitely.

Toasters and ovens: only officially in kitchen areas.

Water dispensers: I can't imagine why not.

Carpet or flooring: Should be fine as long as you don't glue or staple it down.

There is a list of housing policies here. Rooms are inspected once a year, on an announced date in the fall. That is to say, if you have anything in your room that is not supposed to be there, that is the day to hide it in the closet.

EDIT: And Bexley is fine for freshmen, as long as they don't intimidate easily. Bexley has a tradition of anti-rush, where they will try to discourage freshmen from living in the dorm. As long as this doesn't bother you, Bexley is a great place.

Globber · 03-29-2007, 02:17 AM

MIT is the absolute best place for having random crap in your room and/or customizing everything about your living space. You can get away with almost anything at East Campus, including futons, homemade lofts, fridges, bike racks, couches, hammocks, many many computers (duh), rugs, etc. etc. And that list just comes from rooms on my hall. The first week I moved in, I decided I hated the color and painted it a nice shade of blue with white trim

Sklog_W · 03-29-2007, 08:27 PM

The best is when they clear out buildings, I got a boat load of stuff to fill my dorm room. I got a sweet white board, a huge filing cabinet, and two office chairs. Plus I painted a huge mural on my wall too.

There has been some debate on my floor as to whether a hot tub would work in a room, but we're pretty sure the weight would collapse the ceiling, especially when people get into it. But that's really the only thing stopping us from doing that even.

jamsmad · 03-29-2007, 08:55 PM

Hey Gobbler when you said "(duh), rugs" were you subtly hinting at something else that you could keep in your room? But seriously, yeah you could probably have that in your room and really no one would notice. Some of the dorms/frats actually have histories of being some of the biggest drug suppliers in the nation (no joke).

panasonic · 03-30-2007, 06:44 AM

couldn't you create a structure that distributed the weight of the hot tub to the many support beams (above and below?) in the room? or maybe bathe in a liquid that is less dense than water?

momof07 · 03-30-2007, 07:24 AM

I just wouldn't want to live in the room below...just in case!

Also hazard: CO2 (I don't know how to subscript that 2) and a water leak...yikes!

mootmom · 03-30-2007, 06:55 PM

I think "many many computers (duh)" was a way of saying it's fairly obvious that many dorm rooms in East Campus have more than the expected number of computers in them.

And is someone going to say something about "reuse"?

jamsmad · 03-30-2007, 08:09 PM

haha, yeah mootmom obviously that was what was trying to be said. I was just joking around.

Oh and reuse is an e-mail list you can join that alerts you to things people post (via e-mail) usually for free or very cheap prices. I know a lot of people that have gotten computers, furniture, and even a set of bowling pins and a bowling ball off reuse. Just a few years back a building went on reuse as it was set to be demolished. Apparently everything that wasn't part of the structure was taken, including the heating ducts (for whatever reason). It's a pretty cool list, almost as cool as the freefood list that tells people across campus where food can be found... for free.

Globber · 03-30-2007, 08:26 PM

About half the stuff in my room is from reuse; my laundry bag is made of parachute nylon, as used by the Swiss mail service. How it ended up on reuse, I have no idea

LauraN · 03-30-2007, 08:46 PM

The coolest thing I ever got off reuse was a working VCR. =)

I've been much less diligent about reading the emails lately and haven't managed to get anything in awhile, but it is a pretty cool list. My favorite email ever on reuse went like this:

Date: Thursday, April 6, 2006 10:32 AM
Subject: [Reuse] Centuries old canon

One CalTech cannon. Discarded in front of the green building.

Take and post.