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Stuff "needed" for college

post #1 of 22
7/5/08 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
I was browsing Bed Bath & Beyond's website the other day and was amazed at how much STUFF they are "recommending" kids take off to college. And this is for the dorms!

I went off to a state university one hour from my hometown in 1987. Everything fit in the back of my parent's humungo LTD station wagon (remember those?). I lived in the dorm. My electronics where a 12" B/W TV, a small boom box, and an electric typewriter (I thought I was SO lucky when I got one of those electronic typewriters for Christmas my junior year!). No micro - used the one in the lounge on my floor. Rented a SMALL fridge from the U for $40 for the year. Other things were clothes, personal books.

Did buy a number of those plastic milk crates. My dad was handy with wood so cut several pieces of board and sanded the edges smooth so my roomies and I were able to create a shelving unit of sorts with all our crates.

Did buy a finished edge piece of carpet for a rug for the middle. Hung some posters on the wall. Had a few melamine plates/bowls/cups and some silverware. Had a "hot pot."

That was it.

What the kids go away to school with now is crazy. Seems they turn their dorm rooms into wee apartments with couches and everything.

What did YOU go off to college with? Do you see younger siblings going off with a lot of stuff?

This is for dorm dwellers, not apartments (which I know take a LOT more stuff).
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post #2 of 22
7/5/08 at 5:08pm
Quote:
12' B/W TV
Well, with a twelve foot TV, you wouldn't really have room for anything else!
post #3 of 22
7/5/08 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoHappy View Post
Well, with a twelve foot TV, you wouldn't really have room for anything else!
OOPS! Meant that to be a 12 INCH TV
post #4 of 22
7/5/08 at 6:42pm
I never lived in the dorm so I don't have that experience, but it does seem like an awful lot is marketed towards today's freshman. This shouldn't surprise me, really, since today's freshman has been marketed to his/her entire life.
post #5 of 22
7/5/08 at 7:00pm
It's hardly surprising when you think of how many things you MUST have for a baby, or a child or a house.... You know what I mean.

I think the best thing my friend who lived in a dorm for 4 years did was get enough milk crates to set her bed up on it. This gave her a huge amount of extra space for storage of stuff & made jumping up onto her bed more fun!
post #6 of 22
7/5/08 at 7:28pm
I took my stereo (component-style with speakers), a very small tv/vcr combo, a rug, posters, clothes, toiletries, bed linens and pillow. My roommate had a dorm frig, and she put a small microwave in the common area. I lived in a suite of 4 rooms for 8 girls. This was 20 years ago. No one that I knew brought a computer with them! My room came with a dresser, regular-sized closet, chair, vanity/study area and two beds which could be bunked. I had no need for additional storage space. The common area for the 4 rooms/8 girls had two itchy couches and an end table.
post #7 of 22
7/5/08 at 9:25pm
When I went I stayed in a three bedroom (six girls) one bath dorm "apartment". I took: cookie sheets, pot and pan, bedding, computer, clothes, shoes and a few books I really loved. My roommate however took so much stuff that it was lining all the shelves everywhere. I only stayed a week but I was glad I didn't have to stay any longer. She was a messy clutter bug.
post #8 of 22
7/5/08 at 10:07pm
I just did this in '02!

I took:
2 sets of sheets, 3 pillows, a comforter
5 towels, 5 washclothes
assorted toiletries
Computer w/ printer
Outtake/Intake window fan
2 lamps (1 desk, 1 goose neck floor lamp)
Clock
Dad made a 10' x 3' storage shelf for my roomie and I
Dad also made a shelf for my compy desk that help my screen
My stereo
Movies, books, CDs
Narrow tall plastic storage drawers
Large oval rug

My roomie, on the oher hand, brought a whole crap load of stuff that ended up going home with her parents cause it didn't fit!
post #9 of 22
7/5/08 at 10:28pm
I never lived in a dorm in college - but I did go to boarding school.

I took sheets, comforter, towels, toiletries, books, cds, computer & printer, boombox style stereo, 1 small plastic shelf thing did double duty as bookcase/bedside table, things to hang on my wall, small lamp and a few small things from home that made me happy - a special box for my desk etc. and clothes. Hot plates, microwaves etc were banned.

My senior year I was a dorm proctor so I got the priviledge of having a mini fridge in my room. I also bought a wooden bedside table that year. It had three drawers and it felt so special to have "real furniture".
post #10 of 22
7/5/08 at 11:12pm
As a freshman in 1994, and I had a word processor! Like a typewriter with a little bit of memory, a small screen that shows you just the last couple of sentences you wrote. I wrote all my freshmen papers on it. There was a computer lab but people didn't bring their own or anything. I wonder if they even still have computer labs anymore?

They try to tell the kids they need all this stuff, but dorms are still dorms. Two people both bring a PC, fridge, TV/X-Box as well as clothes -- I can't imagine much else fitting into one of those itty bitty rooms that freshmen get.
post #11 of 22
7/5/08 at 11:27pm
I remember being so jealous because my friend's parents brought her to Target before college and bought her all this stuff! I had just a few basics. She had pots, pans, tupperware, a vacuum, fridge, etc. (Note: she was on mealplan!). I don't know how much she used that stuff freshman year, but I'm sure she used it later on. Her room was also quite a bit bigger than mine, so she did have space.

I'm glad that I didn't have my own TV. I really kicked the TV habit in college and wouldn't have had time anyway. Though I did play a lot of tetris on my computer that had so little RAM that I could do barely anything else with it. I used the dorm floor's fridge, but did have a few things "disappear" out of there!
post #12 of 22
7/5/08 at 11:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesandNo View Post

They try to tell the kids they need all this stuff, but dorms are still dorms. Two people both bring a PC, fridge, TV/X-Box as well as clothes -- I can't imagine much else fitting into one of those itty bitty rooms that freshmen get.
Yea, we just sent ds#1 off last year and I was so surprised by the "must have" list. We did get him some extras ( an area rug, a mini-fridge, a very cheap futon to put under his loft bed.) The rest was 3 sets of towels, sheets, a blanket, a bedspread, a pillow,a lamp, a plate, a cup, a bowl, a fork/spoon/knife...oh, and medium-sized rubber maid box.

He also took a few favorite DVDs, his !Pod and a few favorite books.

His roomate brought a microwave and a t.v. and X-box, and then the other usual stuff.

When I went...many moons ago...

Two sets of towels, one set of sheets, blanket, comforter and too many clothes.

My roomate and I, freshman year, rented a little mini-fridge. No t.v. There was one in the commen room. There was a commen kitchen we used in the dorm if we wanted to cook.

Not much will fit into regular sized dorm rooms, even with loft beds. Some dorms have suites, though, so maybe the lists are geared towards those.
post #13 of 22
7/6/08 at 12:09am
My roomie had a tv/dvd/vcr.
It felt like we struck gold.
But then again, I went to a small Catholic school that had rules about what movies could be watched on common TVs, so those of us with our own TVs had "ban movie" nites.
post #14 of 22
7/6/08 at 12:10am
I happen to know a woman who works in the facilities office at Brown University. She told me that at the end of each year the students tend to LEAVE tons of stuff - especially fridges. Apparently it is common to just get a new one each year :
post #15 of 22
7/6/08 at 12:42am
Thread Starter 
I think I might have bought a mop for the dorm room's tile floor, but for a vacuum, you just borrowed one from your dorm's front desk.

The TV caused issues with my roomie - we always wanted to watch different things. I was also so General Hospital addicted that I scheduled my classes around it first semester - I kicked the habit and never did that again. Would you believe I'm now TV-free?
post #16 of 22
7/6/08 at 1:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesandNo View Post
As a freshman in 1994, and I had a word processor! Like a typewriter with a little bit of memory, a small screen that shows you just the last couple of sentences you wrote. I wrote all my freshmen papers on it. There was a computer lab but people didn't bring their own or anything. I wonder if they even still have computer labs anymore?

They try to tell the kids they need all this stuff, but dorms are still dorms. Two people both bring a PC, fridge, TV/X-Box as well as clothes -- I can't imagine much else fitting into one of those itty bitty rooms that freshmen get.
you're one year younger than me!

yeah I took the bare minimum. However, I live in a college town now and I've been in the dorms and they do look like tiny appartments. They somehow cram EVERYTHING in there.
post #17 of 22
7/6/08 at 3:50am
Depends on the dorms. I lived in an apartment-style dorm my first semester (1995) along with 3 other women. It was fully furnished. I was a mid-year entry, so my roommates had the place pretty much covered in terms of kitchen supplies and such. I think all I brought was an alarm clock and other personal stuff, and then bought bedding and towels and a few other things along the way. Maybe it was because I had already been living on my own for awhile, but I didn't feel the need to bring a whole house with me.
post #18 of 22
7/6/08 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesandNo View Post
I happen to know a woman who works in the facilities office at Brown University. She told me that at the end of each year the students tend to LEAVE tons of stuff - especially fridges. Apparently it is common to just get a new one each year :
I've heard that if you live near a university, you can really clean up at the end of the school year! Clothes, electronics furniture, all left out by or in the dumpster. I don't live near a university but that kind of makes me wish I did!

(FTR: I attend university online. The only supplies I have are regular office supplies, a laptop, and textbooks!)
post #19 of 22
7/7/08 at 6:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
I was browsing Bed Bath & Beyond's website the other day and was amazed at how much STUFF they are "recommending" kids take off to college. And this is for the dorms!

I went off to a state university one hour from my hometown in 1987. Everything fit in the back of my parent's humungo LTD station wagon (remember those?). I lived in the dorm. My electronics where a 12" B/W TV, a small boom box, and an electric typewriter (I thought I was SO lucky when I got one of those electronic typewriters for Christmas my junior year!). No micro - used the one in the lounge on my floor. Rented a SMALL fridge from the U for $40 for the year. Other things were clothes, personal books.

Did buy a number of those plastic milk crates. My dad was handy with wood so cut several pieces of board and sanded the edges smooth so my roomies and I were able to create a shelving unit of sorts with all our crates.

Did buy a finished edge piece of carpet for a rug for the middle. Hung some posters on the wall. Had a few melamine plates/bowls/cups and some silverware. Had a "hot pot."

What did YOU go off to college with?
I went to college in 1988, just a year after you, and my list is pretty much the same, minus the TV. It all fit in ONE suitcase and a footlocker in the trunk of the Oldsmobile. My parents and little sister took a road trip to Montreal after dropping me off, so there was enough room in the car for their vacation things as well as my college stuff. My roommate, on the other hand, had an entire conversion van full of stuff.

a small boom box (mine was a high school graduation gift. I didn't even own any CDs)
an electric typewriter
clothes fit into one suitcase
1 set "long" twin sheets
quilt that grandma made for a grad present
1 set towels
plastic milk crates (2 stolen from the milk co that serviced the summer camp I worked at. I still have one of these)
a set of melamine plates
a hot pot that my mother had when she went to college in the 60s. The coil was bare in the bottom of the mug - it only boiled water.
my stuffed platypus

My friends across the hall bought a carpet remnant for the center of their room, and their comforters matched. I was so jealous of their cozy, coordinated room that I made sure my sister had all matching bedding, sheets and curtains when she went to college 10 years after I did.
post #20 of 22
7/7/08 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesandNo View Post
I happen to know a woman who works in the facilities office at Brown University. She told me that at the end of each year the students tend to LEAVE tons of stuff - especially fridges. Apparently it is common to just get a new one each year :
We work at a very small college. There are departments on campus that upgrade their office fridge and coffee maker by dumpster diving after the students leave.