I'm looking at the bed/bath/beyond list of stuff to bring. I have never supplied a dorm room (S1 lived in apartments or at home) so I'm wondering -- do we really need a mirror? How does anyone out there feel about carpets -- is that a necessity or a luxury? Desk chairs? Storage?
-Mirror: Depending upon where they're living, there'll probably be a mirror provided (I think there's one in every room, not positive). I'd suggest just a small one for the closet, if that.
-Carpets: I would suggest getting one, just not a color that makes it noticeable that there's a lot of bits of whatever on it. The annoyance of vacuuming it now and then doesn't outweigh the pros of having one: comfort, appearance, traction, etc. So I wouldn't exactly call it a necessity, or a luxury either though. Look online for the floor plan of the room to see how big a carpet you can fit.
-Desk chairs: The desk chairs provided blow, simply put. I just got used to it, or went to the computer lab or library, but you can buy a separate desk chair too. Just realize you have to put the other chair somewhere, and that could decrease your floor space.
-Storage: You can find pictures online of how big the closets are, but I'd also suggest investing in some bed risers for some under-the-bed storage. In addition to that, I had some random little storage containers for all sorts of stuff; look at Target, BB&B, and stores like that and they'll have huge sections of "necessities" and you can pick what you actually think you need.
Anyone have any knowledge on supplemental rooms and what they include? [the website doesn't tell you much] Since they used to be lounges, are they carpeted or hard floors? Do none of them have closets, or do some? If so which halls? I'm trying to figure out how to get around that situation if there aren't closets and only a dresser. What about lockable drawers? Do all rooms, even supplemental, have a lockable drawer?
Thanks a lot in advance!!
Do you know that you've been stuck with supplemental? The trick there is that you might be in supplemental for 2 weeks, or 2 months. Yes it is carpeted, and yes, every room (or dresser) has a drawer that will lock, but you have to supply the padlock
I know I'm in supplemental to start at least, but I got an email stating that people could very well be stuck there for the whole semester and possibly into the spring semester.
If you do not want to be in supplemental, try to switch your place with someone through eliving. It's a (very) long shot, but it worked for me (I am now in a small double). Good luck in getting the room you want.
You have more space per person than some of the small double dorms, but you might be with 5-10 other people so it can get a little noisier. I had a friend that spend last semester in supplemental and she said she actually liked it. There's many benefits like, you'll have a lot of people to talk to instead of just 1 other person, you won't have to worry about sleeping in past something important (the roommates wake each other up and look after each other.) If some of your roommates get moved, you'll have a lot more space than the people in double dorms.
My son took his own desk chair and the RA gave him a tag to put on the one that the school provided and he left it in the hall. The chair was taken to university storage for the year and reappeared during finals week in the spring. A fair number of kids in his dorm did it so it must be a common practice.
Instead of buying a desk chair, we opted to buy a chair cushion (got it at Pier 1 on sale for my daughter, but for a son, bed, bath, and beyond has some non tie with antislide underneaths that do not have girly print/colors/puffiness that may work well if you opt not to buy a desk chair)
There's also like 3 used furniture stores/thrift stores, a trash for treasure sale, and 5 new furniture stores/stores that carry new furniture in State College. You can always buy it when you get there if you really wanted a different chair. Some people find it's cheaper to buy used in SC, then sell/donate it back before they leave.
