dorm room question - how do they keep their valuables secure?

[tvguy]

My son's college actually recommended not buying a laptop, but getting a desktop instead. Desk tops almost never get stolen. My son did evenutally need a computer in class , so he got a Dell $300 netbook and transfered files to the desk top. The cash outlay for the desk top and netbook was less than the laptop would have been, and he ended up with a much more powerful computer in the desk top.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

When my oldest went to college, (years ago) he basically had really nothing of great value. No cell, no iPods, no jewlery, etc. I really do not remember any issues with worry about items possibly being taken or missing.

Years later my #2 DS was going off to college and he had it all; cell, iPod, jewelry and we bought him a standard 2 drawer bedside bureau for next to his bed. Looked very similar to a small 2 drawer file cabinet but was all wood. We had the furniture store put a lock on both the drawers. It was great. So whenever DS was heading out to class or out for the night or just simply away, anything of value went right in one of the drawers and he locked it up.

I like this!

 

[Kimberly]

A dorm lock, and perhaps a lock box to store all your valueables does help. They make ones that operate by combination, so you never have to worry about the key. A small safe would work as well.

My dorm room was broken into when I was at college. The theif only stole books, but still a considerable amounts worth.... about 600 dollars.

 

[goofy!]

You definitely need a laptop lock, and use it, it doesn't do any good locking nothing to the desk (that's the general "you", not the specific "you"). As for the smaller valuables, I'd say a locking footlocker that can hold your game system, either that or a locking file cabinet. Both would be much more difficult to walk off with. Maybe universities will start putting safes in like they have in the hotels, bolted to the floor or cinderblock walls.

That is what DS had his first year up at CU - a trunk that slid under the bed with a lock and then a chain through the handle and that he strung around the bedpost in a way that you couldn't just lift the bed and take it off.

 

[SydSim]

Honestly though, most dorms are pretty secure and theft is rare--not that it doesn't happen.

Unfortunately, a secure dorm only keeps out other people who don't live in the dorm. There are plenty of residents of the dorm itself who could do the stealing. And contrary to popular belief, petty theft on campus is not rare. Statistics can be found out from campus police.

Kids can lock their dorm room, but you can't always trust your roommate to do the same. And if the roommate has friends over, they may have light fingers

This is my experience with colleges in the Northeast. Golfgal, the experiences in your area may be different (according to your normal school posts).

 

[scbelleatheart]

Bed Bath and Beyond has dorm lockers for laptops and other high price items. They attach to the furniture and the bolts are on the inside of the "safe". Pretty cheap too.