Hmm. I don’t think our son will head up with a safe (Or a passport–we’d like to know before he heads to Montreal as a freshman!). We’re still thinking about the whole bike purchase up there (thanks for that idea…), and in general how to to furnish his space, which is a 3 br-shared common room quad. One of us wants to make sure he’s nice and cushy and has everything he’ll need…and one of us feels like figuring that out on your own and dealing with it is part of the adventure. We are not pampering, nor wealthy folks, but a few hundred dollars can go a long way!
I’m not getting a safe. My son spent last summer at Dartmouth for debate camp and didn’t need it. As for furnishing the room, I have been scouring the BBB dorm supply list for Dartmouth, lists from Grown and Flown, and Dartmouth’s residential services website to create our own list. Then, hope to cut that list by a third! Definitely feel our son needs to live there for a while to figure out what he needs/wants.
I really can’t imagine needing a safe at Dartmouth.
@AboutTheSame and that is exactly what she did do to secure it 
Does anybody have any feedback about having mini-fridges in rooms? Good idea? Bad idea?
Excellent idea. One trip to the coop can save you a lot and lead to having healthier snacks on hand. There will undoubtedly be any number of minis at the used gear sale, but kiddo needs to get there early.
Thanks as always, AboutTheSame. Our son needs to touch base with his 3(!) roommates to figure out the frig/printer situation, among other things. With four using one frig, they’ll probably need a bigger one. And an excellent reminder to get to the gear sale early, though most parents probably stumble across that advice. 
Great! Thanks for the feedback. What about renting one?
On the theft issue, I agree with those that consider Dartmouth a generally safe school. Many tales of leaving laptops/backpacks/etc. unattended for hours, and everything’s fine. Noteworthy exceptions? Frat jackets and bicycles seem to be fair game for anyone. Bikes are borrowed and are often recovered…I don’t think frackets fare so well.
@Mirmark : For what it’s worth, D took a B&W laser printer [actually, I think we had it shipped from Amazon] and did not use up the toner in 4 years, because there were so many printers around campus,and the charge on the DartCard was minuscule.
I have no idea about rental mini-fridges. There are so many used ones floating around, I;m not sure there’s a marker. Maybe some enterprising Tuck student will take it on.
@Mirmak We sent a printer to my daughter at the beginning of Winter term as it was much easier for her to do her schoolwork in her room then traipsing at all hours to Baker. We discovered during the Fall term that her professors had the tendency to assign work that required her to print out frequently assignments or readings that were 20-30 pages long. Winter and Spring term were the same thing multiple times a week. For her it makes sense to have the convenience of the printer in her room.
Thanks, Saffysmum, that is helpful information.
Mom of a '19 here. We looked into renting a fridge last year but I never found a way to do that. We got to the “used stuff sale” on the late side and waited on a very long line. I was worried that there might not be any fridges left by the time I got in, but there were many. They rate them though, according to the shape they’re in, and while there weren’t any perfect ones left by the time we got in, we still got one that was decent. Its only problem was that it was missing the shelving inside, which they just dealt with somehow. So the earlier you go, the better the quality. Quantity wasn’t a problem.
S and his roommate bought a used minifridge for $25. It worked. When eventually is stopped working, the roommate decided to buy a new one on his own, which they shared until the end of the year.
Frankly, I’m not sure how much S really used it.
we purchased a mini fridge from Compact Appliance. Summer sale+free shipping. Used it all four years, and then passed on to his sister which she used at her college when she lived off campus. Donated to a women’s shelter when she move out.
It’s always fun to see parents posting here. fwiw, I did mention to the admissions group that they should establish a parents page on the Dartmouth site. Unless and until that happens, this seems to be the best space for me.
We stopped by Dartmouth this past weekend, heading back home from a Canada vacation. The campus looked beautiful, though they’ve got the green torn up,the Baker Library tower under heavy staging and construction (scheduled to be wrapped up by the end of October), and the Hood Art Museum closed for a long while for renovation. Other than that…
We basically peered in our son’s dorm window (shades pulled down–nothing visible), took a walk from there to the Library, had lunch at the Commons, strolled Hanover a bit, then continued home. A great visit!
Hi, We don’t live in the U.S. Will be opening a bank account once we get there and set up our daughter with a debit or credit card, depending on what they offer. Does the college provide information? Our daughter has been assigned a room in Mid Fayerweather. Very excited!
Your choices are basically Bank of America or Bank of America. There is a local bank (Ledyard National) but I have no idea what larger network they might be affiliated with. BofA worked well for us, although I don’t use them for my own banking. I set up a joint checking account with D. When she needed funds, I could stop by the ATM at our local branch and make a deposit into that account. I suspect something like that would work for you, although I’m not sure how easy (or possible) it would be to set up an account from another country. I’d recommend starting the process soon since there would undoubtedly be paperwork to go back and forth.
forgetmyname, my son will be in Mid Fayerweather, too.