Some of your questions answered

Through Facebook I've been communicating with a few incoming freshmen and they've had a whole bunch of good questions about what to bring and whatnot. Check out their questions and how I answered them

Question #1. "hey, i have a couple of questions about stuff to get for carpenter. other than a microwave/fridge/fan...what else should my roommate and i get? do rooms have a mirror?"

Answer: Good question. There are big bulletin boards in the room that have mirrors on the side of them. It's probably 1/4th of the bulletin board. That was useful for doing make-up or whatever at the desk, but I would recommend bringing a full-length mirror, too. But, don't put it over the back of the door because it won't work very well. My roommate and I just leaned ours up against her bed and that worked pretty well.

Also, you'll want to bring a chair for lounging in. Obviously you'll want a DVD player, too. I'm sure whichever one of you has the TV will have one. But, you might want to spring and get a DVD/VHS player incase you go to the library at school and get a VHS or incase you want to record some TV shows that you might miss because of class.

I would also recommend bringing some sort of wire shelves. I bought a few collapsible ones and they were dead useful. They're just little cubes that have little black connectors on the corners. You can find them pretty much anywhere.

Question #2. do u suggest lofting your bed?

Answer: I would def. loft the bed. The amount of storage it frees up is amazing and you'll need all the space you can get! Yes, it is kind of a pain in the butt to climb up and down it (especially when you need to pee at 3am) but overall I highly suggest it.

Question # 3. and also, how crucial is it to have a TV... my roommate said she didnt care for one and i dont watch a lot of TV either...however other ppl said that it is pretty crucial.

Answer: I don't think a TV is crucial at all. I enjoyed having one mostly for movies. You're going to make friends quickly and you can just go to their room to watch TV or movies. Plus, there's a huge TV in the Carpenter lobby that anybody can use. It might be kind of nice not having that type of distraction. And, if there is one particular show you do like to watch (like Grey's Anatomy) you'll probably find a friend who enjoys the same show or you can just watch it online... without the commercials! The TV I had last year was my roommates and I found I rarely used it when she wasn't around. It really depends on you and your preference.

Question # 4. I was getting my things together and figuring out what I will need for my dorm and was wondering about a refrigerator. Will I need one? If so, then what size should I look for? What is the recommended wattage for the dorm? Is there any size that is too big? Just some questions running through my head when thinking about the dorm situation.

Answer: Have you talked to your roommate yet about the fridge situation? If it is up to you to bring one or not, I would have to say yes, you should have one. Personally, I loved having one. This is mostly because I eat cereal all the time and like to have my milk for it close. Plus, it's good if you want to have some Cokes or bottles of water handy when it's really hot. There will be a community fridge available if you decide you don't want a fridge, but you're taking a risk by using it. People could easily just take your stuff. As far a size goes, mine is on the larger side. I'm pretty sure they won't allow anything bigger than 3 cubic feet and mine is just about that. Mine worked out really well for me because every now and then my friends and I would go grocery shopping (for real food ;)) and all my food (plus some of other people's) fit really well. My neighobors had a much smaller one (1.5 cubic feet I think) and that worked well for them because all they really had was a few juice boxes. I guess it really depends on what you think you'll need.