<p>^Gibby – Got it, thanks!</p>
<p>Thank you Fauve! I am on overload!! But this helps- she and I need to sit down and talk tonight and make final decisions. :)</p>
<p>mikig20: here’s a link for the USPS postage calculator:
Postage Price Calculator</p>
<p>Brookings Mom- Thank you So much!! lots to do this next week!</p>
<p>United Parcel Service has worked out best for us. We live about 450 miles from school, and UPS always gets the package to H in 2 days flat (excluding weekends) by 10:30 AM for Ground Shipping which is the least expensive option. With the others, you have pay extra for one of the priority services if you want to guarantee it will get there in 2 days.</p>
<p>UPS will also come to your house or place of work to pick up the package. Once it gets to H, it easy for the kids to pick it up at the H Yard Mail center and when they move on to Upper Class Houses, it even easier since it delivered right to the House. The mailroom always sends a notifying email to the student when the package has arrived.</p>
<p>what is the name of the website that has the combo refrigerator/microwave that was mentioned in that freshman booklet–that the FDO wrote was legal?</p>
<p>Etondad, this was the one:</p>
<p>[MicroFridge</a> : Model 3.6MFAE-7TP](<a href=“http://www.microfridge.com/catalog/product.cgi/24/28/P1/default/N/0]MicroFridge”>NEACUHO | MicroFridge)</p>
<p>^ Here’s the link from the FDO site re: fridge/microwave</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Freshman Dean’s Office Guide to the First Year](<a href=“http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k3806&pageid=icb.page91804&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent216223&state=maximize&view=view.do&viewParam_name=2015PracticalMatters.html]Harvard”>http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k3806&pageid=icb.page91804&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent216223&state=maximize&view=view.do&viewParam_name=2015PracticalMatters.html)</p>
<p>All cooking appliances, regardless of whether they are energy-efficient or affixed to the top of a refrigerator, are forbidden in dormitories by Massachusetts sanitary code.</p>
<p>See: [What</a> If It Were All a Lie? | FM | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/10/10/what-if-it-were-all-a/]What”>The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>Gibby, that ^ article’s from 2002… and the current FDO website says the microfridge IS allowed… does anyone know if they’re actually in use in any dorm?</p>
<p>I realize the article is from 2002, and that the FDO continues to promote the rental of microfridges, but cooking appliances are prohibited by state sanitary code – and for the most part Harvard tends to look the other way with rental-microfridges (not ones that you purchase on your own). </p>
<p>Harvard’s Law School is a bit clearer on the rules. See: [Housing</a> Handbook](<a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/student-services/housing/on-campus/housing-handbook.html#Appliances]Housing”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/student-services/housing/on-campus/housing-handbook.html#Appliances)</p>
<p>“Residents should not have any electronic device that exceeds 1,000 watts. The Massachusetts State Sanitary Code prohibits the use of any cooking appliance within a dormitory room. Therefore, microwaves, microfridges, toaster ovens, toasters, and hot plates cannot be used in individual rooms. Space heaters, pressure cookers, and deep fryers are strictly prohibited from being anywhere in the HLS Residence Halls and Apartments. The only appliance allowed in rooms is a mini-fridge (not microfridge) 4 cubic feet or smaller that does not use sulfur dioxide or other toxic gases as a cooling agent. Residents may bring their own mini-fridge or purchase one from the Harvard Student Agencies Dorm Store.”</p>
<p>^^ Point of clarification: My daughter has had a microwave for the past two years in her dorm room. Room inspections are either announced ahead of time, or occur during breaks, giving the kids ample time to hide prohibited appliances. But students should know they are technically not allowed and items will be confiscated if left out in the open when an inspection occurs.</p>
<p>^^Correct. My daughter & her roommates kept a microwave. She said you didn’t need to hide it very much. Just throw a towel over it and the inspectors would turn a blind eye.</p>
<p>My daughter was in Matthews, now Pfoho and says the same. They announce the visits, and are not allowed to move anything, so students throw a blanket over the top. Apparently it is very clear, but ignored.</p>
<p>Is a land line phone instrument provided in the freshman dorm rooms? I know there’s a line, but I’m not clear on whether they supply the actual phone…</p>
<p>Yes, there is an actual telephone in every common room.</p>
<p>Thanks, Gibby… do students connect an answering machine to that, or do they just rely on cell phone voicemail?</p>
<p>Neither my daughter, nor her roommates ever used the phone in the room; they all relied on their cell phones.</p>
<p>^I figured that would be the case! 
thx</p>
<p>^^I think most students would be quite startled if their land line phone ever rang.</p>
<p>At the college where I work, we minimized room rate increases a few years ago by reducing the number of land lines from one per room to one per suite. No one noticed. I’m pretty sure we could remove the rest of them without any impact if we were so inclined.</p>