<p>Nimsmom here with another question. My son has never ever camped or hiked, yet he signed up for the 4 day FOOT program. We have ZERO equipment. Do they lend out stuff for such kids? rent? do they only lend/rend the big stuff or the littler items too? thanks for any advice, nimsmom</p>
<p>Wendra, Orange St is very long, but has a lot of nice areas, as does Whitney which is parallel to it and a lot of side streets in-between that have rents.</p>
<p>Nimsmom, I wish I encourged my D more with FOOT, she never hiked, and I said to consider something else, I should have realized she wouldn’t be the only one. I don’t know about rentals (that was also another worry of hers, the equipment) but they have an email and usually get back quickly.
Re the fridge, I would do it if it was a micro-fridge, which is at my other daughter’s college, but if we have to do this for even 2 years, it would be way over what I could get one for at Best Buy or Lowes.</p>
<p>Re: fridge; the problem if you buy one is storage in the summer, unless you plan on bringing it home each year. My S and his suitemates all went together on renting the fridge–then for the 6 of them it was just $15 each. At the end of the year you turn it back in and then don’t have to worry about storage.</p>
<p>Debruns,</p>
<p>The section she is looking at is Orange and some of the side streets between Edwards and Willow. Is this area one of the nice ones? </p>
<p>Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>Yes, very nice. Edwards has a lot of apartments in homes and doctor’s offices, etc. I used to run around that neighborhood and got to know it somewhat well. The streets are long though, and usually one end is better than the other. This is one on Edwards
<a href=“File Not Found”>File Not Found;
Orange St has a lot of grad students and many deli’s, etc. they shop at.</p>
<p>Clarimom, I see what you mean about the fridge, but my son, who graduated last year, lived fairly close, so we only had to transport it once a year and it wasn’t too much of a bother. It’s still in good condition so one of my twins can take it. He had a different dorm/roommates each year, so this was just his although he shared it and let others bring the TV, etc. I’ll have to see what my D wants to do.</p>
<p>Regarding furniture (but probably not fridge), often free furniture mysteriously shows up and it is passed from one person to another, especially after you have known more friends: Some may study abroad and he may want to lend it you. Some have graduated and do not want to take it with him. At one time, when DS open the door for another student who carried what looks like a disassembled bed, and that student asked DS whether he wanted to take it for free. DS’s suite discarded their quite new sofa after just 9 months! In DS’s room, there is much stuff that is used by him but is really not acquired by him, including a floor lamp and a guitar. I asked him to buy them from the owners but somehow it never happened.</p>
<p>Nimsmom - FOOT camping equipment: yes, they rent/loan some of it - backpack & sleeping bag in particular. You might cringe at the thought of borrowing a sleeping bag, or you might be 100% OK with it - your call.</p>
<p>Stuff you need to have of your own:
Boots
Raingear (could be as cheap as a $3 poncho, up to $100+ technical-fabric jackets)</p>
<p>We found excellent hiking boots for sale online for about $75, but that was a pretty sweet deal – my daughter had tried on the same boots at a bricks&mortar store so she knew they fit. </p>
<p>You would definitely want to have a flashlight and a messkit - if they don’t have them available to borrow, you could buy both of those items for under $15.</p>
<p>So all told, I think the only serious investment you should make is for a pair of hiking boots. Everything else if either cheap or borrowable.</p>
<p>Debruns - Maybe it’s not too late to switch orientation trips if your daughter regrets her choice?</p>
<p>nimsmom: DS and his suite also rented the refrigerator which takes away the considerable headache of summer storage. For a small fee (I think $10) the rental company will deliver and pick up the fridge as well.</p>
<p>I would advise renting as well. DD is a rising senior and one of her suitemates (and now her closest friend) decided to buy a refrigerator freshman year. It was slightly larger and she decided it would be more economical in the long run. I love this young woman dearly and that is the only reason, for the second summer, that darn thing is in MY basement.</p>
<p>I agree, if you aren’t close, rent. My children have always been within 2 hours, my D will be very close at Yale, so if she wants her own, it’s no big deal. Since she has a single, it might be worth it to buy it, believe me, they are sold very easily too if they decide not to use it later. : )</p>
<p>all the helpful info is much appreciated! As far as I can discern, my son is in Berkeley, in a single off of a common room shared with two other singles and a double, for a total of 5 guys and 5 rooms. </p>
<p>my next question is about “directed studies.” any words of advice? he was invited. is everyone? is it worth giving up your freedom of choice for a full year in order to get a foundation in the western canon?</p>
<p>No, only a few students are invited as pre-admits.
Recent posts on Directed Studies (DS) from recent DS student nickknack:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064617927-post2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064617927-post2.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063721675-post6.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063721675-post6.html</a>
I believe these answer your questions, except for the entirely personal one “Is it worth it?”</p>
<p>Hello all. My son is an incoming freshman at Davenport College. We will be coming to drop him off, however we are from the other end of the world and would appreciate advice re what to buy and the best places to buy from. Esp. things like mattress foam/toppers etc, lamps/rugs and whatever you think is necessary. I will be doing shopping in DC or online. Can we get things delivered in New Haven? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Being local, I know of Bed Bath and Beyond, they have many things for college and have a special program for students which I will post below:</p>
<p>College students hate packing for the trip to school. They know the nightmares of bungee cords, blocked rear-view mirrors and broken air-conditioning. Back-to-School means the transformation of the family car into the college delivery truck. Problem is, there’s usually no room left for the people! </p>
<p>Let bedbathandbeyond.com alleviate your packing headache with our Pack & Hold feature. Shop online, order all your college essentials and let us pack it, hold it, and ship it to your school on the ship date that you select at checkout. It’s that easy! We have solved the problem of where to put all that ‘stuff’ in the car. </p>
<p>To take advantage of Pack & Hold we need to know two critical pieces of information: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The dorm room address. Be aware that a number of schools use their gymnasium or other large facility to ‘stage’ all pre-semester shipments, so you may want to call the school and confirm where packages should be sent and where they should be picked up. </p></li>
<li><p>The ship date. Schools usually open a ‘window’ of delivery dates for pre-semester shipments to be received. You should check with your college to determine these dates.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Keep in mind that you are selecting the date when your order will ship, not the date that it will be received by your school, therefore you should factor in 3 to 8 days for our Standard ship method within the contiguous United States, and 5-10 days for shipments to Alaska or Hawaii (Expedited and Express ship methods are currently not available for Pack & Hold orders). Due to the variability in shipping time, we cannot GUARANTEE exact delivery dates. </p>
<p>Once a Pack & Hold order is submitted, we are unable to make any product or delivery date changes.</p>
<p>For information regarding shipments to US Territories, APO/FPO addresses or international shipments/billing please call 1-800-GO BEYOND® (1-800-462-3966).</p>
<p>Nimsmom: you asked,
Everyone is not invited - plenty of freshmen (but I don’t know if it’s the majority) who end up in DS get in through application.
Not everyone who is invited decides to do it. Your son doesn’t have to make a final decision about this until the end of shopping period. Apart from the educational aspect DS ends up being a self-selected bunch who love the automatic camaraderie, the boot-camp sense of accomplishment in the face of difficulties. Some kids are drawn to this sort of experience and some are not. Some kids have specific academic goals that are hard to combine with DS, for example, wanting to combine pre-med science classes with a non-science major can make it hard to devote a year to DS (depending on the major and on all sorts of other variables, obviously). </p>
<p>My daughter was invited, and decided not to do it. She did not regret her decision. She has a few friends that did do it, and they were also pleased with how things turned out.</p>
<p>You can also arrange to pick everything up at the BedBath&Beyond there (if you have a car). We found that more convenient than trying to track boxes.</p>
<p>I know this has been discussed endlessly in past pages of this very thread…
The following stores are all within a 10-to-15-minute drive from campus:</p>
<p>IKEA, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart</p>
<p>They all carry mattress toppers, comforters, pillows, sheets, lamps, rugs,etc.</p>
<p>1/2 day devoted to running around getting this stuff should be more than enough (in my opinion). The only planning you really have to do ahead of time is renting a car.</p>
<p>As for car rental, here’s my suggestion. I would always fly into Hartford via US Airways. If you go to their homepage and book the flight with car rental under their “vacation planner” option, some very very good deals can be had – better than getting plane tics and car separately. Last time, I had need of a car at Yale for 6 days. My cost for the car? $120 total.</p>
<p>Nimsmom - My son is also in berkeley in a single. I think it is vandy F02? I believe that there are only two suites with singles and they are both in the basement.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help…problem is we won’t have a car, can rent one but won’t know the roads! Could we make do with cabs?</p>