Shopping for College Dorm Room, College Freshman necessities

[js]

Hi. My dd and I just started dorm shopping at BB&B last week.

One thing I did put back was the pillow top/egg crate.
I felt like I wasn't informed enough of what we really needed and what would be the best for the best price, although I rather spend the extra money if it means she will be more comfortable.

Can anyone PLEASE tell me what is the best that we should buy?

Thanks SO much!

 

[luv2mickey]

Get the 2inch memory foam, its $80 with the coupon and my DD has it and loved it. Her 3 roommates had the eggcrate style and couldn't believe how much more comfortable her bed was, they have all bought the 2inch memory foam this summer for fall.

Also check out Homegoods for bedding, my dd insisted on potterybarn and I caved but I bought my son Tommy Hilfiger bedding last week for $40 from Homegoods and its nice quality.

 

[DVC Daisy]

Get the 2inch memory foam, its $80 with the coupon and my DD has it and loved it. Her 3 roommates had the eggcrate style and couldn't believe how much more comfortable her bed was, they have all bought the 2inch memory foam this summer for fall.

Yup, totally agree. . You will be very glad that you chose the memory foam over the egg crate.

 

[DVC Daisy]

Does anyone have seating ideas other then a futon. His room is really to small we are already lofting the bed and there is still not much room. Dish and butterfly chairs won't work for a boy he is to tall and 185lbs so I think he is to big, I've been looking at the Ikea Poang chair, any other ideas?

We got DS a really nice, comfy leather office chair for his desk at Costco when he was a freshman. It replaces his desk chair the school provides (who knows where that goes - balcony, common room, wherever), so he has somewhere comfortable to sit when he does sit at his desk & it does double duty as a really nice chair to sit in while in the room watching TV, Video games, whatever.

When we looked at office chairs, most of them are very bulky, but there were a couple that looked the same, but we're almost 1/2 the width so it is not gigantic. The back of his also folds down flat for when we put it in storage for the summers which is nice.

DS is a big guy, so this has worked out well. Three years later he still absolutely loves it. Said it is one of his favorite dorm things.

 

[NotUrsula]

Does anyone have seating ideas other then a futon. His room is really to small we are already lofting the bed and there is still not much room. Dish and butterfly chairs won't work for a boy he is to tall and 185lbs so I think he is to big, I've been looking at the Ikea Poang chair, any other ideas?

Lawn furniture. Buy him a good-quality folding lawn chair from a sporting-goods dealer such as Bass Pro Shop. That and a medium storage ottoman will give him extra seating but not take up much room.

 

[js]

Get the 2inch memory foam, its $80 with the coupon and my DD has it and loved it. Her 3 roommates had the eggcrate style and couldn't believe how much more comfortable her bed was, they have all bought the 2inch memory foam this summer for fall.

Also check out Homegoods for bedding, my dd insisted on potterybarn and I caved but I bought my son Tommy Hilfiger bedding last week for $40 from Homegoods and its nice quality.

Yup, totally agree. . You will be very glad that you chose the memory foam over the egg crate.

Thank you very much! That is exactly what I needed to know.
My dd already sleeps on a sytlopedic (I think thats what we have) where the mattress contorts to your body and then reajusts.
Would there be a reason not to get the 3" Twin XL.
Does BB&B have better foam toppers than if I went to look at Overstock, where some seen to get good reviews?

Thanks SO much for your help. I greatly appreciate it.
Also, will this foam topper get incased in the bed bug plastic too? Perhaps that may be a reason I need to just get the 2" so it all fits?

Thanks!

 

[luv2mickey]

We got DS a really nice, comfy leather office chair for his desk at Costco when he was a freshman. It replaces his desk chair the school provides (who knows where that goes - balcony, common room, wherever), so he has somewhere comfortable to sit when he does sit at his desk & it does double duty as a really nice chair to sit in while in the room watching TV, Video games, whatever.

When we looked at office chairs, most of them are very bulky, but there were a couple that looked the same, but we're almost 1/2 the width so it is not gigantic. The back of his also folds down flat for when we put it in storage for the summers which is nice.

DS is a big guy, so this has worked out well. Three years later he still absolutely loves it. Said it is one of his favorite dorm things.

I have defintely considered this, I will look around. At his school they can't remove any furniture from the room but I don't think it would be a big deal to tuck the chair somewhere probably nice to have an extra if other kids come to hang out in their room.

 

[js]

I have defintely considered this, I will look around. At his school they can't remove any furniture from the room but I don't think it would be a big deal to tuck the chair somewhere probably nice to have an extra if other kids come to hang out in their room.

My dd's school too nothing can be removed. She really wants/wanted her mattress from home. I quickly thought about putting in her mattress, taking home the one from school and then returning it at the end of the year but she hasn't spoken about it again.

I guess you could take the same approach by replacing the chair at the end of the year next year and taking home the one you got for your ds?

 

[Patience]

I bought a memory foam topper in Twin XL at Bed Bath and Beyond today with a 20% off coupon. My daughter still does not have her dorm assignment (they are supposed to arrive on July 15) but we were told that all of the freshman dorms use Twin XL.

Move in day is getting so close now!

 

[DVC Daisy]

I have defintely considered this, I will look around. At his school they can't remove any furniture from the room but I don't think it would be a big deal to tuck the chair somewhere probably nice to have an extra if other kids come to hang out in their room.

This has nothing to do with much of anything - but this makes me because kids are so creative.

As a parent, I insist that the kids follow the rules! Obviously.

I was actually astounded to see what kids had done when I went back to visit during Parents' Weekend! kids can be very inventive. For instance, DS's roomie had a full size sofa! They kept it in the hallway (outdoors) unless it rained. Seriously??? Where do they come up with this stuff? I was floored to put it mildly.

I am sure it all depends on the school, RA, etc. but just be prepared that when you go visit, all of that hard work that you did to get just the right stuff, to fit in just the right places may not be what you see.

We pay a small fortune to send our kids to school, it is great to see what their minds can come up with when faced with a challenge Like, how do I fit 20 kids in the room for a party?

 

[luv2mickey]

This has nothing to do with much of anything - but this makes me because kids are so creative.

As a parent, I insist that the kids follow the rules! Obviously.

I was actually astounded to see what kids had done when I went back to visit during Parents' Weekend! kids can be very inventive. For instance, DS's roomie had a full size sofa! They kept it in the hallway (outdoors) unless it rained. Seriously??? Where do they come up with this stuff? I was floored to put it mildly.

I am sure it all depends on the school, RA, etc. but just be prepared that when you go visit, all of that hard work that you did to get just the right stuff, to fit in just the right places may not be what you see.

We pay a small fortune to send our kids to school, it is great to see what their minds can come up with when faced with a challenge Like, how do I fit 20 kids in the room for a party?

Trust me i realize that, this is not my first child I have sent off to college.

 

[DVC Daisy]

Trust me i realize that, this is not my first child I have sent off to college.

They are fun

 

[Chelley00]

Does anyone have seating ideas other then a futon. His room is really to small we are already lofting the bed and there is still not much room. Dish and butterfly chairs won't work for a boy he is to tall and 185lbs so I think he is to big, I've been looking at the Ikea Poang chair, any other ideas?

Thanks

I found a video game chair for my 6 foot 4 son for Christmas on amazon. It has an adjustable headrest so it fit him better and folds up for storage. He's planning on taking that with him instead of another chair.

 

[maxaroni]

No argument posts please - this is just for people like me who can appreciate the task of getting their son to school with min headache. It can be very different getting a son off to school as opposed to a girl!


DS is just entering his Senior Year & so this will be our 4th dorm move in. It is so true about the boys being about what they want/need. His Freshman year he did not shop for one single thing! After getting to know a lot of Mom's from his school, as well as knowing Moms here, it seems like it is a common theme with the boys. I don't think they like shopping & don't want to plan for moving away. They want to have fun, hang with their friends, work, watch sports, etc. oh wait - kinda like their Dads

So - unless you want a call at 1:00 AM, saying I need deodorant, mine ran out yesterday or whatever, I found it was easier (shhh...and fun) to just get his stuff for him. The other Moms' I am friends with did that as well. But that is just how I roll I guess. Please, no comments on making him stand on his own two feet. I still shop for DH! They both get the scary spiders & carry heavy stuff for me

So, after a start of frustrated calling (me) & sending photos of bedding while shopping & asking if he liked this bedding, etc. and getting lots of "no"s, I finally came home with stuff that was just duplicates of his room at home. He was thrilled & declared he loved it all so, that just sorta became my theme while shopping.

So - hints for boys (at least the ones I know):

Stock up. So, when he calls about the deodorant, you are ready & can say "there is more in the bottom drawer of the rolling thing" or whatever. I sent enough toothpaste, deodorant, contact stuff, laundry det, etc. for the 1st Term.

Send a wide variety of meds. I got a small rubbermaid box & filled it with travel size, compact, or concentrate size meds. Everything. When they get sick, and you are far away, it is so helpful to be able to say, look in the box, there is a small bottle of chloraseptic concentrate. Totally agree with figuring out where they should go if they are sick. A lot of campuses have regular Doctors within walking distance & they can use your insurance. In our experience, this is a FAR SUPERIOR choice then the campus clinic!

Buy gray towels! Ewwww. Don't ask. And if they don't know how, make sure & have them start doing their own laundry NOW!

I purchased a desk drawer organizer & just filled it with paper clips, pens, etc. put Seran on the top & we just took that off & popped it in the drawer & instant stocked desk!

A small tool set, or a couple of basic tools is an absolute must. It will also make you instantly popular on move in day.

A really great idea is to get one of those UV toothbrush holders. Kills the icky germs & it seemed like Freshman year was like sending them off to school again, exposing them to many new germs.

And treasure every moment - they are MOVING and don't be surprised if move in day itself is stressfull. For some of the kids, they are more nervous than they may show and you might have some fireworks. I know more than A LOT of mothers of sons that end ended up fighting with their DSs on move in day. It will turn out ok. promise.

Went through all of this last summer with DS. Reading this brought it all back. Boys are not at all concerned with any of this. I tried snapping pics and asking if he liked it and that was a waste. Lol. He wound up liking everything I bought.

 

[maxaroni]

One suggestion is to have DD or DS find out their roommates/suite mates ASAP and talk to them. See what others are bringing and see about splitting some common items. You may not need everyone bring a trash can. One of DS roommates brought a vacuum and that was a hot item on the floor. DS could only use blue painters tape for walls.

 

[maxaroni]

Funny on the printer paper/ink comment. I sent my first child off with a printer but next time I don't think I will. With free printers all over campus, it doesn't seem like something to give up space for.

You'd be surprised. Not only were free printers all over the school but DS had free ink and paper supplied and yet many preferred to print in their rooms.

If they want to use a school printer they may need a flash drive....DS did

 

[maxaroni]

I haven't read all of the posts, but here are my suggestions or things I did for DS last year.

Tomorrow or ASAP, go to Bed, Bath & Beyond if you have one and take your coupon. I found DS's bedding on clearance this time last year (and earlier this year). I got the whole set for under $50 this year and last year I think I paid $69 with regular prices being $150.

I bought 2-3" memory foam topper from Overstock.com. Well worth the $60 I spent he said.

I bought a waterproof mattress pad to encase the memory foam to protect it from spills. Sadly, it didn't get used. When we arrived the mattress was so gross, we used the cover to protect the memory foam from the dirt, until we could get another one. Sadly, DS never put the over on the memory foam like he was told. It turned yellow from the body heat. He is moving off campus next year, so it was trashed after a year. Moral: Buy a second mattress case to put the mattress in. The one on the memory foam is optional, but the dirty green vinyl mattress needed to be covered up.

Also, if your kid gets put in a triple room (3 kids in a room meant for 2) and they tell you it could be a week, or two, or the whole semester....plan for the worse. DS was tripled and didn't get untripled until 1/2 way through the school year! Thankfully, one boy lived close by, so he didn't have too much stuff and the other boy stayed with friends, so rarely were all 3 boys in the room at the same time. We did have to whittle down the stuff he kept in the room though.

Buy the skinny hangers for both sexes! Because we had the skinny hangers, we took a closet and gave up the dressers to the other boys. They saved so much more room than the cheap plastic ones.

My DS was in a triple and it was awful. Rooms are made for 2. The only benefit was each room had bathrooms. No hall baths

 

[addicted2dizney]

just realized that I will prob have to get DD a TV (unless her room mate gets one)

What is the average size/cost people get them for? today I saw a vizio 19 inch for $148 at wal mart. Am I in the right ballpark?

 

[maxaroni]

just realized that I will prob have to get DD a TV (unless her room mate gets one)

What is the average size/cost people get them for? today I saw a vizio 19 inch for $148 at wal mart. Am I in the right ballpark?

You are in the ballpark. You will see all sizes. We got DS a 22 or 23 inch Visio In a triple there were 2 tv's. One to watch and one for gaming

 

[DVC Daisy]

just realized that I will prob have to get DD a TV (unless her room mate gets one)

What is the average size/cost people get them for? today I saw a vizio 19 inch for $148 at wal mart. Am I in the right ballpark?

DS is 32" & that is what just about all of the others that I have heard of have. Not a really expensive one though.

Oh & I just thought of something else. First week of school I get a call, " Mom, do you know where my N64(!!!)is"? Luckily, I had rescued it years before from the donation pile. I actually was keeping it for DH & me as we loved Mario .

Seems like each guy in the suite would bring a different gaming system so that they had all options. There were a couple of N64 games that he wanted for me to see if I could find & when I went to GameStop, the kid there said that N64 games fly out of the place as soon as they come in. They are very popular with the College kids. Crazy.

Since then, we have cycled through several systems going to school. Game Cube, Wii, & now his PS3 is there.