Mini fridge for dorm room ?

[The Mystery Machine]

Where is he going to buy that stuff? Does he know where the local market is? Has he budgeted for travel to it (depending on the school) and for groceries every week, since he's on a meal plan?

Like, keeping cold cuts and all sounds fine but is he going to use that stuff? How often is he going to be in the room and making lunch? That seems kind of odd.

That sounds like a huge fridge, the 4.whatever one, especially since his list would fit fine in the 1.5 type ones.

Also, are you going to want to drag something that big back and forth twice a year? That's a giant pain. Seems simpler to just get the small one for $50.

Depends really.

At my older dd's past school's you had people that got the BARE minimum food plan and then had "food pantries" in their rooms, no kidding.

Dorm food sucks after awhile and if you are in class late or have this and that going on you miss dinner or lunch.

Heck even my 15yo who was in a dorm for all of 3 weeks had the big fridge. You just get a "hand truck" to move the fridge. I don't see that as a big deal.

This is an invaluable tool for dorm moving into and beyond....It is a dolly that converts to a "hand truck" as they call it.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...alogId=10053&R=100071520&catEntryId=100071520

 

[cornflake]

It only needs to hold a case of beer.

Wine you can stash in the bottom of the desk.

Heh. Minis! Also minis. And mixers.

 

[cornflake]

Depends really.

At my older dd's past school's you had people that got the BARE minimum food plan and then had "food pantries" in their rooms, no kidding.

Dorm food sucks after awhile and if you are in class late or have this and that going on you miss dinner or lunch.

Heck even my 15yo who was in a dorm for all of 3 weeks had the big fridge. You just get a "hand truck" to move the fridge. I don't see that as a big deal.

This is an invaluable tool for dorm moving into and beyond....It is a dolly that converts to a "hand truck" as they call it.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...alogId=10053&R=100071520&catEntryId=100071520

I think this also depends on the school, because around many schools here, simpler and just as cheap to go out if it's late - and cafeterias are open nearly all hours anyways.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think this also depends on the school, because around many schools here, simpler and just as cheap to go out if it's late - and cafeterias are open nearly all hours anyways.

I am sure that your cafeterias are not doing full food service at midnight.

You can't go out every night unless of course you have tons of money.

Some people are into healthier choices rather than going out and eating cafeteria food every day. Esp. the weekends.

Now my youngest dd will get up for breakfast probably everyday when she gets to college. However she will skip dinner and eat in her room more than likely.

It is really an individual thing.

 

[cornflake]

I am sure that your cafeterias are not doing full food service at midnight.

You can't go out every night unless of course you have tons of money.

Some people are into healthier choices rather than going out and eating cafeteria food every day. Esp. the weekends.

Now my youngest dd will get up for breakfast probably everyday when she gets to college. However she will skip dinner and eat in her room more than likely.

It is really an individual thing.

Agree it's individual, but also I think depends on the school, location and the cafeteria.

Can go outside and it's not tons of money. A market has cheap options. Pizza is cheap. Falafel is cheap. Diner is cheap. Bagel place is cheap. Lots of burrito places are cheap - and sharable. If 2 people share a giant $4 burrito, you don't need tons of money.

 

[MrsPete]

Get the small version. Dorm space is small, and moving the larger models is a pain. They don't fit into the back seat, and you're not supposed to lay them on their side. I had a larger one, and I never, never -- even with a roommate -- used all that space. The things college students tend to keep tend to be cookies, crackers, fruit, none of which need refrigeration.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Agree it's individual, but also I think depends on the school, location and the cafeteria.

Can go outside and it's not tons of money. A market has cheap options. Pizza is cheap. Falafel is cheap. Diner is cheap. Bagel place is cheap. Lots of burrito places are cheap - and sharable. If 2 people share a giant $4 burrito, you don't need tons of money.

Yes it does depend on schools and locations. Here in the MidWest restaurants are not open all night and we don't have diners, falafel, and bagel places.

You can only eat so much Taco Bell, which is our burrito option.

So you can see the need for the large fridge and food pantries in the rooms.

 

[Janepod]

Please don't encourage your children to eat in their dorm rooms. My freshman year roommate did this for the first month of school, storing tons of food in our room, and we ended up with a roach infestation in her closet. Had to be fumigated. In my four years at that school ours was the only room I ever heard of with that problem. Disgusting.

Besides, there is a big social aspect to eating in the dining hall. Why miss out on that?

I am also surprised by the number of people who think their kids need copious amounts of food in the middle of the night. Why? Grab some snacks from the dorm vending machine or call Domino's. Can they really not go without eating until the dining hall opens at what, 6:00 a.m.?

 

[chamonix]

I would get the larger one.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Please don't encourage your children to eat in their dorm rooms. My freshman year roommate did this for the first month of school, storing tons of food in our room, and we ended up with a roach infestation in her closet. Had to be fumigated. In my four years at that school ours was the only room I ever heard of with that problem. Disgusting.

Besides, there is a big social aspect to eating in the dining hall. Why miss out on that?

I am also surprised by the number of people who think their kids need copious amounts of food in the middle of the night. Why? Grab some snacks from the dorm vending machine or call Domino's. Can they really not go without eating until the dining hall opens at what, 6:00 a.m.?

A lot of people do not eat in the dining halls. Maybe back in the day when we went to school, but now not so much.

And 6am?

Let's see from what I see the college schedule goes as follows....

Wake up, grab something from your stash, go to class, come back, eat snack, go to sleep, wake up, eat dinner, go study, activities, work, etc...go to bed at 3am. Get up and do it all over again.

Most students get the 1 meal a day plan.

And never had roaches as an issue. That was probably isolated. Most kids cook in there room with their microwaves and other stuff. Plus they have coffee makers in their room as well.

 

[minkydog]

I'd say the size of the fridge might be determined by the number of flights of stairs you will be forced to haul it. We were unpleasantly surprised to learn that there were NO ELEVATORs when DD19 moved into the dorm last fall. None. She was up on the top floor--nine flights of stairs! It took us about 2 hours to get all her stuff up there and i was very glad that her roommate was bringing the fridge. We passed many Daddies in the stairwell struggling with big fridges.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'd say the size of the fridge might be determined by the number of flights of stairs you will be forced to haul it. We were unpleasantly surprised to learn that there were NO ELEVATORs when DD19 moved into the dorm last fall. None. She was up on the top floor--nine flights of stairs! It took us about 2 hours to get all her stuff up there and i was very glad that her roommate was bringing the fridge. We passed many Daddies in the stairwell struggling with big fridges.

Dollies, people. Amateurs.

 

[LilyWDW]

Dollies, people. Amateurs.

You would be shocked how many times we were stopped and asked where we got ours back when I had started college. And we had people offer us money to use it. We still have that same one and we still use it quite often around the house, for moving friends, and for many other reasons.

As for the food/dining... I always had easy to make meals and fast snacks on hand in my dorm. We were allowed a fridge or fridge/freezer and microwave. I also did have a meal plan, though only the minimum one. Sometimes, you just don't have the time to leave your dorm and walk to where the food is. Sometimes the weather stinks. Sometimes you sleep in too long before your first class. Sometimes all you need is a small snack or treat. Sometimes you are just lazy. There are plenty of reasons why you would want to or need to eat a meal or snack in your room.

And we never had issues with bugs. That seems to be a specific situation with THAT person. I bet many many other people on campus had food in their rooms and never had issues.

 

[cornflake]

Yes it does depend on schools and locations. Here in the MidWest restaurants are not open all night and we don't have diners, falafel, and bagel places.

You can only eat so much Taco Bell, which is our burrito option.

So you can see the need for the large fridge and food pantries in the rooms.

To each his or her own, but I still don't really get it, no... most schools require freshmen and often sophomores as well to get full dining plans. The whole... eat in your room, go to class, come back, have lunch in your room, go to class, have dinner in your room, sounds just... completely odd to me. It's college, you're always out with people. Eating in your room is late-night pizza, sushi, popcorn, chips, some weird faux smores someone invents. That's all.

Dorm fridge is for beverages and alcohol and like, yogurt and leftover pizza and chinese and sushi and stuff.

 

[Janepod]

To each his or her own, but I still don't really get it, no... most schools require freshmen and often sophomores as well to get full dining plans. The whole... eat in your room, go to class, come back, have lunch in your room, go to class, have dinner in your room, sounds just... completely odd to me. It's college, you're always out with people. Eating in your room is late-night pizza, sushi, popcorn, chips, some weird faux smores someone invents. That's all.

Dorm fridge is for beverages and alcohol and like, yogurt and leftover pizza and chinese and sushi and stuff.

I'm with Cornflake on this. My college, freshmen are required to buy the full dining plan (3 meals a day.) Like I mentioned before, no one ate meals in their rooms except my freak roommate (and she really was the talk of our floor.)

 

[Albort]

I'm with Cornflake on this. My college, freshmen are required to buy the full dining plan (3 meals a day.) Like I mentioned before, no one ate meals in their rooms except my freak roommate (and she really was the talk of our floor.)

never been on a meal plan, but weekends?

Yes, mini fridges for drink and snacks, but some smaller fridges dont fit much... :\

 

[The Mystery Machine]

To each his or her own, but I still don't really get it, no... most schools require freshmen and often sophomores as well to get full dining plans. The whole... eat in your room, go to class, come back, have lunch in your room, go to class, have dinner in your room, sounds just... completely odd to me. It's college, you're always out with people. Eating in your room is late-night pizza, sushi, popcorn, chips, some weird faux smores someone invents. That's all.

Dorm fridge is for beverages and alcohol and like, yogurt and leftover pizza and chinese and sushi and stuff.

Thank goodness we have not run into to that. Dining plans here are as much or as little as you want, however you do have to get a basic plan as part of dorm living no matter the rank you are in college.

Many kids wished they could opt out entirely.

 

[MrsPete]

Please don't encourage your children to eat in their dorm rooms. My freshman year roommate did this for the first month of school, storing tons of food in our room, and we ended up with a roach infestation in her closet. Had to be fumigated. In my four years at that school ours was the only room I ever heard of with that problem. Disgusting.

Disgusting, I agree. However, the real moral is, Teach your kids how to store food properly.

A lot of people do not eat in the dining halls. Maybe back in the day when we went to school, but now not so much.

This isn't what I hear from my old students, and it isn't what we've heard on school tours. When I was taking my daughter to visit schools, we made a point to eat in the cafeteria. In every case, the food was good -- maybe not exactly what we would've wanted at that point, maybe not exactly how we'd have cooked it ourselves, but we didn't encounter anything that made me say, "Don't worry, honey, I'll send you a big fat care package every other week." Sadly, she chose the college that probably had the worst food (based upon our limited visits); she knew it and we even joked about it, so I guess that wasn't a big priority for her.

Not using the cafeteria doesn't seem realistic. When you're required to buy a $1200 meal plan, I can't see not using it -- especially I can't see trading cafeteria food for unhealthy stuff like Easy Mac and Lean Cuisines, which is what most in-room food's going to be. And most dorms are very fussy about what small appliances they allow in (pretty much microwaves only), so students are very limited in their ability to cook.

I do think college students today have more money in thier pockets than we did two decades ago, and they have more on-campus options, and I do think they eat out more often -- but the dining hall is still the dorm student's chief food source. I think you're seeing an unusual situation.

I'd say the size of the fridge might be determined by the number of flights of stairs you will be forced to haul it. We were unpleasantly surprised to learn that there were NO ELEVATORs when DD19 moved into the dorm last fall. None. She was up on the top floor--nine flights of stairs! It took us about 2 hours to get all her stuff up there and i was very glad that her roommate was bringing the fridge. We passed many Daddies in the stairwell struggling with big fridges.

Don't forget, too, that your student may not live in the same dorm next year. Even if you have an elevator this year, that may not be true next year.

 

[goofy4tink]

We're right in the middle of the decision making process now. Yes, the school offers the micro-fridge combo, but it's huge, costs $399 to buy and then have to move it twice a year or $212 a year to rent it and not move it. There are micros in every common room, on every floor.
Dd has talked to her roommate about who brings what. The roommate said to get whatever fridge dd wanted..she was bringing some small cooler thing. All freshman have to be on a very comprehensive meal plan. Dd is on one that allows her to eat pretty much anything, at any time, from the main dining hall. THen, she has her card, with a set amount on it to begin with as part of the meal plan, that allows her to get stuff at the lesser food areas...open very early and very late. There really is no reason she would have to have a large fridge for food.
So, we are getting a fairly small one...no more than 2.5 cu ft.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Not using the cafeteria doesn't seem realistic. When you're required to buy a $1200 meal plan, I can't see not using it -- especially I can't see trading cafeteria food for unhealthy stuff like Easy Mac and Lean Cuisines, which is what most in-room food's going to be. And most dorms are very fussy about what small appliances they allow in (pretty much microwaves only), so students are very limited in their ability to cook.

I do think college students today have more money in thier pockets than we did two decades ago, and they have more on-campus options, and I do think they eat out more often -- but the dining hall is still the dorm student's chief food source. I think you're seeing an unusual situation. Don't forget, too, that your student may not live in the same dorm next year. Even if you have an elevator this year, that may not be true next year.

Nope. My dd's have been in 3 different colleges and a lot of them buy food and get the bare minimum dining plan.

Maybe because I have girls? IDK...

Several dorms have kitchettes and big fridges to share in a suite.

I do agree that the dining halls are going strong, however kids eating 3 squares a day in them really does not happen, unless of course you have guys which I don't.

Now they can put away some food to the point of wow.