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| The Basics | The college dorm-room checklist
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Leave the trendy linens and half your wardrobe at home. The things you really need include a laptop, duct tape and an inordinate amount of underwear. And perhaps a refrigerator.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Outfitting your dorm room is no small task, particularly if this is the first time you've ever done it.
Unfortunately, your parents will be of limited help with this all-important assignment. Remember, they went to college in the Mesozoic era, when personal computers were a novelty, if they existed at all, and massive stereo speakers were a campus status symbol.
Besides, their ideas of what you'll need are colored by their own checkered pasts. They might, for example, understand that a dorm-room fridge can be handy -- but they'll instantly recall what they did with theirs (fill it with beer) and decide you don't need one. (You, of course, will stock yours only with healthful fruits and vegetables. But try getting them to believe that.)
What you really need is advice from someone who's not only been there, but who is still there: living in a dorm, negotiating with a roommate over whose hairdryer gets plugged in where and trying to cram a three-season wardrobe into a space smaller than a MINI Cooper trunk.
Meet Brittany Wigmore, 20, a business major about to enter her junior year at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. Wigmore has watched her fellow students, and herself, drag all sorts of unnecessary stuff into their dorms while missing some essentials.
Together we cobbled together this list of what to get and what to forgo. It's not all-inclusive or even universal; after all, there are more than 3,000 institutions of higher learning in the United States alone. Each has its own policies, procedures and culture.
You also can get by with a lot less, particularly if you're a scholarship student who's already on fumes.
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What to get
But if you've got some cash left over from your summer job, a few purchases here and there can make your college experience a lot more pleasant. To wit:
Wireless-enabled laptop. Most colleges have spent beaucoup bucks making sure you can access the Internet anytime from anywhere on campus. You'll want to take advantage of that. Wigmore said some of her professors encourage students to bring laptops for in-class assignments, and she warns that it's pretty easy to tell who's participating and who's instant-messaging friends. "That's probably not the best impression to make when you're a freshman," she said. You can get a decent entry-level model with built-in wireless, at least 512 megabytes of RAM and multiple USB slots for $500 to $1,000.
Keychain drive. About the size of slender cigarette lighter, these make backing up and hauling around your data even easier. Wigmore used hers to obviate the need for a printer -- she just takes her documents to the campus library and prints them out there. You can buy one with 256 megabytes of memory for less than $30, while ones with a gigabyte or more run closer to $100.
Mini-fridge and microwave oven. You'll have to check to make sure these are allowed. You'd be smart to coordinate with your future roomie about who will bring what. Wigmore recommends a MicroFridge, which actually combines the two appliances in one to save space. (The University of Texas at Austin likes them so much it puts one in every dorm room.) They're pricey, though, at around $500. Good used fridges can be had for less than $100; so can brand-new microwaves. You may be able to rent these appliances, as well.
TV and tunes. Again, coordinate with your roommate. You don't need to buy dorm-specific systems; whatever you're using now will work, although Wigmore did suggest buying a TV with a DVD built in to save space. You can buy a flat-panel TV with DVD for around $500, or a regular set for a lot less.
Headphones. Whatever the electronic device (TV, computer, iPod, stereo), you'll want a way to listen to it without driving your roommate around the bend. You can get a decent wireless headphone set for less than $100 or spend about $300 for a top-of-the-line set.
Duct tape. You can fix an amazing number of things with what some Alaska pilots call "100-mph tape" (the idea being that the tape will hold together a rip in your fabric-covered wings). Wigmore and her roommate used it mostly to secure all the cords spewing from their computers, TV, DVD player and other appliances so they could stop tripping over same. But "you can also use it to tie up your roomie," Wigmore notes, if relations between you really sour. I didn't ask how she knows this. Figure $5 a roll.
Dorm-specific supplies. Youll need something to use to lug your toiletries to the bathroom, like a plastic bucket or carrier. Flip-flops for the shower are smart. Many dorm rooms have extra-long twin beds that require special sheets; Wigmore recommends paying for a decent set, since the ones she ordered out of the college catalog fell apart within a month. Also, laundry detergents in tablet form may cost more, but they make more sense for college students than lugging huge containers up and down stairs. She also suggests a full-length mirror to hook on the back of your door and cinder blocks so you can raise your bed and store stuff underneath.
Finally, Wigmore recommends some kind of drawer, filing cabinet or box that locks, in order to stow particularly personal or valuable stuff.
What to leave
The following items are likely to be a waste of money and space:
Vacuum cleaners. Ha. Like you're suddenly going to start cleaning your room. If the urge strikes or the mess is toxic, your RA can loan you one.
Floor lamps. Most dorm rooms Wigmore has seen actually have decent ambient lighting, and floor lamps suck up a lot of space. Task light may be better, but settle in before you decide what you need.
Waste baskets. Again, they're usually supplied.
Hot stuff. Shockingly, your college's administrators believe you are capable of burning down your new home. So they usually don't allow anything that gets really hot, from hot plates to halogen bulbs to candles.
A complete matching dorm-room ensemble. Every retailer on the planet, from Target to Home Depot, is pushing back-to-school dcor. "This year it seems everything's orange, and everything's furry," Wigmore notes. But you'll probably get sick of whatever you choose and want to change it next year. So use the trendy stuff sparingly. Scrounge up as much as you can from home.
Every piece of clothing you own. "If you haven't worn it in the last week or two, don't bring it," Wigmore said. That might seem a bit radical, but Wigmore almost drowned in the sea of clothes she brought her freshman year. "I felt claustrophobic, and I couldn't find anything," she said. Now she brings only the clothes she loves to wear. The exception: lots and lots of underwear and socks. As in, three weeks' worth. You're going to make that schlep to the laundry room a lot less often than you think.
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