The Dorm Room Guide

Introduction

Hi. I’m Lara, founder of The Dorm Guide.

Even though it has been decades since I was a college student, today I eat, sleep, and breathe dorm and college life.

It all started when my first child went to college in 2021. I had no idea what we needed to do to get him ready to move into the dorm (nor did he), and we needed a little guidance. His small college didn’t have much information on its website about dorm rooms or move-in procedures. I managed to find one video of a dorm room that wasn’t even in his building, and there was no parent or student Facebook group for the school, either. We were on our own.

The lack of helpful and trustworthy information out there was shocking. Every Google search and Facebook group kept turning up recommendations and suggestions that felt like clickbait—“The 10 Best Mattress Toppers,” “The 20 Dorm Must-Haves”—and spammy links to low-quality products.

Thankfully, I love research and planning, so I turned dorm shopping into a mother-son project. Not surprisingly, my son was far more focused on playing baseball in college than on shopping for dorm room essentials, so I dug in myself and brought him in for the decision-making. I found that I absolutely loved exploring options and preparing him for dorm life and move-in day. It allowed me to reminisce about my own college days, yes, but it also helped me feel connected with my son while we worked on plotting out his dorm room and deciding what he needed together.

We did a pretty good job shopping but a terrible job packing, and we loaded the car all wrong, so we had a somewhat disastrous move-in day. But we worked with his roommate and his roommate’s family, and we all did our best to set the boys up for a good year. And wow did I learn a lot from that one day at that one small college as I left my firstborn there. On the drive home, I was hoping we’d taught him everything he needed to know to be out on his own and make good decisions, but that worry would slowly subside. And then I started thinking about what came next.

Clearly there was a great need for a dorm room shopping, packing, and organizing expert. Someone had to take control, turn down all the dorm noise, and provide honest, trustworthy information, recommendations, and how-tos. I decided it would be me.

This is my purpose now. I even built a dorm room in my house, complete with two twin XL adjustable-height dorm beds and all the other “dorm essentials” that I’ve tested, built, stacked, broken, and squeezed into small spaces over the years.

This purpose doesn’t just stem from my experiences with my two kids (yes, two years later I packed, organized, and moved my second son to college, too). I also have the distinct honor of running the Dorm Shopping Recommendations & Deal Alerts Facebook group, which I founded in early summer 2022. I have learned so much of what I’m sharing in this book from the amazing parents and students in the group. There are so many unique experiences, unusual dorm rules, roommate issues, and homesick students after drop-off. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, the parents and students challenge me with totally new scenarios and questions while they are dorm room planning.

And I am proud to answer every question that is posted. That’s my job, and that’s how I stay in touch and on top of the dorm trends, the school rules, and which products are holding up and which are not. By late summer, we get to see the amazing move-in photos from families who are so thankful to have found our little corner of Facebook. There are no silly questions, but there are definitely repeat questions. The same thirty or so questions are asked over and over, every year. I still smile when I see them—I remember when I wondered those things, too. And I make sure to patiently answer them or direct the poster to where they can find the answer.

The good news is that I’ve taken all those questions, the best of the answers, the collective wisdom, the trials and errors, the creative solutions, the flat-out mistakes, and the advice about managing the emotional ride that is getting ready for college and turned it into this book.

You don’t have to read this book from front to back, although I’d love for you to have all the principles in mind before you match with your roommate, receive your housing assignment, and start dorm shopping.

If you’re going to visit the school and can get a dorm tour, don’t miss the list of what to ask, photograph, and measure on pages 16–17.

If you’re taking a plane ride to college, chapter 3 offers the best advice from years of watching families navigate this like pros.

We’ll go through budgeting, where and when to shop, and each important part of the dorm room, including what to know and how to plan, along with creative solutions for small spaces.

Packing and move-in come next, along with important considerations for taking a car to college.

We’ll finish up with common post-move-in challenges with recommended solutions and finally how to plan for move-out and next year.