<p>Have you used any of the shipping companies to ship items to/from college? There is a famous hauling company that has a college storage/shipping section where they can store, ship, and deliver to your college. Anyone ever use a company such as this and did you have any problems?</p>
<p>Of course, cost will always be an issue so we are looking for the most economical way to get additional items to my kid who will be attending college out of state. I hate to babble but I feel like if I could just get his refrigerator to him and back home as needed, all would be right with the world. :)</p>
<p>Have you checked out he options locally? My daughter had a Target and a Best Buy a mile from campus. We just picked up stuff there when we dropped her off, but she could have gotten a ride or taken the school’s shuttle bus. Kids who flew to school managed to end up with a fridge.</p>
<p>Her college bookstore also had a fridge (and lamp) service. Order through them over the summer and pick it up right on campus. The prices weren’t much higher than Best Buy.</p>
<p>Summer storage cubicles are probably a fact of life during college. See what the options are. My daughter’s school had free storage in the basement of all the dorms plus a secure locked storage area for valuables.</p>
<p>If you absolutely have to ship a fridge, you can buy a Sanyo for $135 with free super saver shipping from Amazon. The cheapest at Best Buy in the compact size is $100, so you are paying $35 for a recognizable brand name and shipping.</p>
<p>In reality, fridges are commodities on a college campus. There is an abundant supply constantly in circulation and any half-witted college kid can figure out how to get one. For every SUV that arrives with a brand new fridge in September, there is a graduating senior walking away from a 4 year relationship with their dorm fridge!</p>
<p>^^so true my oldest ended up with 3 of them. He stayed during the summer and there was always a kid asking if he could “drop one off.” They ended up as unplugged end tables in his apartment. We put them on the street when he graduated and they were gone in a matter of hours. I have no idea who the original owner was…and the original owner probably graduated 3 years earlier. In addition to Target and Best Buy there is always Walmart…you order it on-line for store pick up and you pick it up at the store in the college town. Many of the tiniest little towns have a Walmart. Personally I would not “ship” a dorm fridge back and forth. Another option is Craigs List or the local newspaper on-line, find what you want in the town and pick it up when you arrive and every town just about as some resale store full of kid’s rejected college supplies and clothes. I’m such a sucker for those stores and have picked up some really nice clothes with tags on sent by some loving mom to her daughter never to be worn when I visited the boys. </p>
<p>For the rest of the stuff…ask the college if they receive and hold packages for the kids. We sent a big box of winter stuff parcel post out ahead of both kids since they had to fly back and forth to college. The college mail rooms held it and on move-in days kept the mailroom open for the kids to pick up their boxes. You see alot of this activity in rural remote colleges where the kids come from all over the country.</p>
<p>It’s unnerving to try and figure out the logistics, but most kids bring 2-3x the amount of “stuff” than they need and they absolutely know how to find stuff when they get to college.My oldest managed to furnish an entire apartment sophomore year without spending a dime.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Bed Bath and Beyond has a program where you can pick out the items and order them locally, and pick them up at the location near the college. Of course, there would have to be a location nearby.</p>
<p>FedEx Ground is relatively cheap, though you’d want to give it a week to get there.</p>
<p>How badly do kids need a refrigerator in their dorm room? Don’t they have a common one on each floor? I am trying to take the easy way out and suggest my kid to get by with what’s provided. Maybe I am mean?</p>
<p>Iglooo - This depends on the school, the dorm, and the student. Some schools have kitchens in each dorm, some only in certain dorms. Some have a refrigerator on each hall. Once your student is assigned to their dorm have them check with housing to see what’s provided. As far as what will they use? Some kids really utilize them and would be miserable without one in their room. My son barely opened his all year. I’m so glad we rented instead of buying!!</p>
<p>None of my kids had a frig in their dorm room and not because they asked and we refused. They just didn’t see the point. I just found out recently though that my son and his friend picked up three of them from dumpster diving at the end of Junior year and put them in their house in various places. </p>
<p>These are easy to order on-line from numerous places, but storing over the summer is more problematic - and the reason my son got the free ones… This is one thing to think about.</p>
<p>The problem with hall refrigerators is that other students eat your food. But whether your kid needs one of his/her own is mostly dependent on how bad the dining hall food is.</p>