<p>I just got back from Bed Bath & Beyond with D today. So much fun! We bought her bedding with matching pillows and they actually had matching towels which I had not originally planned to buy, but they were so cool, I had to. Did not have a 20% coupon (only $5 of $15) but the cashier actually put in a 20% of ALL items, which gave us a substantial discount! So happy. (Wish I bought some other stuff now, LOL)!</p>
<p>DS14 never wants/needs anything and I have officially been given free reign as long as he doesn’t have to shop. His only request is to be present for the purchasing of notebooks. He already received some college things for Christmas since he refused to give anyone ideas and it’s all I could come up with.</p>
<p>@smakl70 – what types of college things did he receive for Christmas? I am still trying to figure out what a boy needs, other than bedding, towels, a shower bucket, and lots of snacks.</p>
<p>@ct1417 - what a boy needs? Almost nothing. These dorm rooms are not big, and more stuff is just more stuff to manage. My son doesn’t even want an area rug and has nothing on his walls. Command hooks are helpful, and I got an over the door hook thing for him to hang up his towels and coat. My d on the other hand is ready to bring in a dorm decorating company and really personalize the space. One helpful thing to start gathering is a medical supply container - though of course my son lost his and insisted I never gave it to him though I remember clearly putting it under his bed since the scandalous conversation at the time between me and hubby about getting him condoms. </p>
<p>@CT1417 Other things could include a desk lamp and a fan. A lot of dorms are not air conditioned if they aren’t in the south and it can be quite warm in September/April/May. I still intend to send some small kitchen item- a couple bowls, plates, silverware, cups/mugs, a popcorn bowl. A flashlight could be useful if they lose power in a storm. Hangers, if you don’t have enough at home to send and a laundry hamper. </p>
<p>Yellowgranite56 and jrmama43–So happy your kids will also be heading to Nashville. I started a thread in the Vanderbilt forum–feel free to join in! (I’m a little lonely) <a href=“Vandy Parents Class of 2018 - Vanderbilt University - College Confidential Forums”>Vandy Parents Class of 2018 - Vanderbilt University - College Confidential Forums; </p>
<p>Also, there is a great thread in that forum to ask current Vanderbilt parents questions. Really helpful info on everything from registation to health insurance to move-in day.</p>
<p>Thanks @eyemamom and @ 2016BarnardMom! I had forgotten about rugs……that will have to be an in-person purchase, if desired. A hook for coats will be essential as he has a PB Teen one in his room now and it helps to keep things relatively neat. I hadn’t thought of the over-the-door type and figured we wouldn’t be able to drill holes as we did at home.</p>
<p>Knew about the medicine kit and can easily stockpile that from my Costco-sized purchases. Thanks for the fan reminder. Younger son attended a camp last summer where they were housed in college dorms. It was one of the weeks during July when the temps almost hit 100. I do not know how he survived.</p>
<p>Have either of you purchased one of those under bed safe/lock boxes I saw mentioned elsewhere here? Do the kids just leave their laptops in their rooms and hope the roommate locks the door? No one owned anything more valuable than a stereo when I went to college, and those weren’t quite as portable.</p>
<p>@eyemamom thanks so much for the hook idea!! Maybe my S will actually hang stuff up if we make it easy (somehow a hanger is too hard for him at home 
I am also interested to hear about dorm lockers. I understand from Apple that the new laptops are too thin for the locks they used to sell.</p>
<p>Just a comment about guys and dorm rooms - my DS’12 would not take a rug the first year - second year he told me I was right and he should have taken it! Second, most valued item was a $17.00 foam pad to top the old matress he was given. Nothing on his wall until this last Christmas I gave him a cheap ($25) framed Japanese wood block print - which he loves! Lastly, we purchased computer insurance for his laptop from <a href=“http://www.squaretrade.com/”>http://www.squaretrade.com/</a> for piece of mind about him dropping it!</p>
<p>@CT1417
I was googling about macbook cable security and small safe yesterday 'coz I’m wondering the same thing. My daughter being from California will have to bring her passport in case she’ll lost her DL so that she can travel. We also have some relatives in NB Canada if she wants to go there during break. So she can use the safe for passport, maybe jewelries, checkbook (do they really need physical checks?), etc. Are we over thinking what they can or need to bring?</p>
<p>This was the dorm safe thing posted elsewhere on this site. It doesn’t look as though a laptop would fit, and to be honest, I can’t see my son remembering to put his laptop away each time he left the room.</p>
<p>@Cal1983 – I can see the foam mattress topper being a good ‘pick up at BB&B’ item.</p>
<p>@2018dad – I over think everything, so why should packing for college be any different? Laptop and perhaps some cash would be the only things my son will have with him. </p>
<p>visiting again from the 2015 forum. It’s been fun the last couple weeks popping in to see all the decisions! So sxciting! My D is already making plans for her future dorm and she doesn’t even apply to colleges until this coming Fall!<br>
I noticed that several on this forum will have kids going to Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has sort of been on and off our list, and I am trying to decide if we should include it in our summer tour. I’d love to hear more about what you found the students there to be like and what your kids liked about it.</p>
<p>This was the dorm safe thing posted elsewhere on this site. I left it off my last post. (Like forgetting to attach the attachment.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://dormvault.com/shop/”>http://dormvault.com/shop/</a></p>
<p>@CT1417 I had the hardest time figuring out which mini-fridges would meet Cornell’s requirements because their rule does not correspond to typically published information. But this is the one we got and it did meet their requirements: <a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-3.1-cu.-ft.-2-Door-Compact-Refrigerator-Black/14089906”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-3.1-cu.-ft.-2-Door-Compact-Refrigerator-Black/14089906</a> (not currently available from Walmart, but maybe still useful as a datapoint?) I think probably all the standard dorm-sized fridges do meet the power requirements, but who knows. We did ship to the Walmart in Ithaca which worked well, though then we still had to get it home and back to school in the car the next year! Now he’s in an apartment, so DS14 will get the fridge, so that worked out really well for us. </p>
<p>@momreads, congrats to your son!!</p>
<p>re: BBB, we don’t get coupons either, probably because there is not a store near us. But we probably won’t buy any new linens for school anyhow.</p>
<p>something like <a href=“http://smile.amazon.com/LED-Hand-Crank-Flashlight-Charger/dp/B00DRLUCBG/”>http://smile.amazon.com/LED-Hand-Crank-Flashlight-Charger/dp/B00DRLUCBG/</a> is a nice gift for a college-bound kid – my DS was happy to have one (different one no longer available) and it gave me a bit of peace of mind for the dorm room.</p>
<p>We bought dorm insurance through NSSI which covers the laptop (and whatever else he has) for theft but also accidental damage. CSI offers similar insurance, we chose NSSI because they offered a lower minimum, and he doesn’t have much of value beside the laptop. We’ve never had a claim, but others on CC have said that it is hassle-free if you do. we also got him a small safe for his passport and possibly other small items like emergency cash or whatever. <a href=“Overstock.com: Online Shopping - Bedding, Furniture, Electronics, Jewelry, Clothing & more”>Overstock.com: Online Shopping - Bedding, Furniture, Electronics, Jewelry, Clothing & more; He attached the cable to the rod in his closet. We ended up with 2 of those due to a shipping error and they told us to just keep the 2nd one, so now we have one for DS14 already</p>
<p>I can’t imagine my son putting a laptop in and out of a safe every time, or even locking it to a cable. We warned him repeatedly about not leaving it alone to go to the bathroom or anything. </p>
<p>For things like hooks and shelves, we just assessed once we got there and got him partially unpacked. All the rooms are different, and you don’t know what yours is going to need until you get there. We ended up only buying some command hooks, and a little plastic shelving unit he put in his closet. And I think 3 power strips (I can’t remember why he needed so many – but the plug locations in the room weren’t that convenient.) For dorms where there is a suite-style bath that only a few kids share, they might want to add some shelving in there as well. But we figured that that stuff would be easier to figure out on the fly. </p>
<p>@mathmomvt–it must have been you who told me to pre-order and pick up at Wal-Mart! I still plan to try that and am not going to think yet about getting it home in May. Those fridges are twice the size of the one I bought to college. I should probably ask my son if he even wants one as he drinks water at room temp and won’t need to keep beer cold the way we did as freshmen! </p>
<p>I see what you mean about satisfying their requirements: “If you’d like to buy one, please make sure it draws no more than 7.3 amps [700 watts] to start and 1.5 amps while running.”</p>
<p>@CT1417 I think it might have been me. My DS took a 14-meal plan and did breakfast in his room, so he kept milk and OJ in the fridge regularly. We got one with a real freezer so they could keep ice cream if they wanted, and so on, but I don’t know how much they used the freezer. He shared the fridge with his roommate. I would not be surprised if beer was chilled in it. My DS wasn’t interested, but he said the booze flowed 7 days a week in the freshman dorms. He had a huge room (just by luck) and at least once his roommate hosted a beer pong game in there. (He didn’t really mind, he’s very laid back.)</p>
<p>@mathmomvt
Thanks for the personal safe tip.
Do you know if how much to rent a mini-fridge at Cornell? </p>
<p>The separate door freezer is nicer because it doesn’t frost up like others do. That’s the kind we got D as well. I was debating whether S14 would need a fridge because he also likes his drinks at room temperature (so weird to me!). Then I thought about milk for cereal, salsa, and pizza rolls (freezer). The kid loves chips and salsa. He also loves salad and ranch but with a great salad bar in his dorm, I don’t know that he’d need that stuff in his room too. Those and microwave popcorn are his favorite snacks.</p>
<p>These are the “dishes” that D got for her dorm room. I may get the same ones for S. <a href=“http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/polyproylene-13-piece-dinnerware-set-in-navy/1017492209?device=c&network=g&matchtype=&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_none_&gclid=CMevgtaEgr4CFe9QOgodKDoAZQ”>http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/polyproylene-13-piece-dinnerware-set-in-navy/1017492209?device=c&network=g&matchtype=&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_none_&gclid=CMevgtaEgr4CFe9QOgodKDoAZQ</a> </p>
<p>@2018dad Cornell’s “preferred vendor” only offers microfridges (with a microwave on top). That’s the only way you’re allowed to have a microwave in the dorm room because the combined unit coordinates the electricity spikes between fridge and microwave so you don’t blow the fuse. But my DS didn’t care about having a microwave in the room. (There was one in the floor lounge he could use on the occasions when he wanted one.) <a href=“https://www.mymicrofridge.com/”>https://www.mymicrofridge.com/</a> is Cornell’s vendor and looks like it’s $200 to rent one for the year, which is why we purchased. But if you rent they do take care of delivery and pick up for you.</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom that is a nice looking dish set for a college student. We sent our DS with a couple corelle pieces from an old set – I think 2 bowls, 2 mugs and maybe 1 plate. </p>