|
|
Post by ptamom on Jul 15, 2015 0:59:36 GMT
When I went off to college, I brought clothes, toiletries, school supplies, a clock radio, and little else.
The most expensive item I owned was a graphing calculator.
DD will be bringing a brand new MacBook, iPhone, basically over two thousand dollars worth of electronics with her to school, all very portable.
How do we keep things from being stolen?
She will be in a small dorm room with two other students (when did they go from two kids in a room, to three?) What if a roommate forgets to lock the door? What if a roommate invites a friend in who turns out to be a thief?
I'm thinking that colleges must have a plan for this, right? Do the kids have locked areas for their expensive items?
I don't want to get a call, "mom, my laptop was stolen." Ugh.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 23:33:07 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 1:00:52 GMT
Get a laptop lock!
(Says the person who's laptop was stolen from her desk in grad school).
|
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Jul 15, 2015 1:02:59 GMT
No locked areas at my dd's college, although in her dorm last year (different from the first year) they had individual closets in the outer room and those locked. I know she locked her camera in there, but I don't think they ever did with anything else. My dd and her roommate (same both years) were good about locking the door. They never seemed to worry about theft and they both had laptops, phones, etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by padresfan619 on Jul 15, 2015 1:05:46 GMT
She needs to be in the habit of locking her door every time she leaves. She shouldn't leave her laptop out in plain view if she isn't going to be in the room, she needs to pick a place in her room to keep it out of view and she should change it up every few weeks. Short of getting a safe bolted to the floor, I don't really think there is a full blown 100% preventable way to keep her stuff locked away and safe. And since I doubt a dorm would allow someone to bolt something to the floor, I doubt that is going to be an option.
|
|
|
|
Post by tommygirl on Jul 15, 2015 1:06:16 GMT
We bought a small safe for any jewelry, cash, her iphone (although that was usually on her person), prescription medications, etc but I don't think she used it that much. She also had a laptop lock. She lived in the dorms for 2 years before moving off campus. She has not had any problems (knock on wood)with major theft although she claims a visitor stole her favorite jean shorts. They had a friend of her roommates in their room and the girl made a comment that she liked my dd's jean shorts. When the girl left the shorts disappeared. My dd was seriously ticked (they were her favorites) and of course when they asked the girl she denied knowing anything about it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Memo on Jul 15, 2015 1:06:38 GMT
My son had locks for his cabinets and was very conscientious about locking everything up when leaving his room. He has a laptop, netbook, tablet, Nintendo 3DS, phone, etc all locked up. We also got rental insurance through this company: College Student Insurance . We didn't have to use our policy, but a few parents on our Facebook board did have to use it and said that they were quick to reply to claims. You can click on the link to get an instant quote. HTH! |
|
|
|
Post by scrappyoutlaw on Jul 15, 2015 1:09:02 GMT
I locked my laptop to my desk when I wasn't around. It's a special lock that goes in a small opening in your computer, it's kind of like a bike lock I guess?
|
|
|
|
Post by ptamom on Jul 15, 2015 1:10:11 GMT
Get a laptop lock! (Says the person who's laptop was stolen from her desk in grad school). What is a laptop lock? Recommendations? Thanks! |
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:10:17 GMT
Some students at my son's school have upwards of $10,000+ in photography or computer equipment (he doesn't) so I bought this Student Insurance - www.collegestudentinsurance.com/ Check your school because they may have different insurerer. Also my son's dorm floor had a doors open policy so they could look out for one another and build a community. I know a friend of ours at a another school had his bike stolen his first semester. |
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:12:57 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by cindyupnorth on Jul 15, 2015 1:14:16 GMT
Both my girls never had problems. Though they got to know their roommates pretty good. Youngest dds roommate forgot to lock the room quite a bit, which I was not happy about. One of the things they did in the beginning, as they got to know the roomies, is that ea of them had a footlocker they could lock with a padlock. So they could put their computer or whatever in there, and lock it down. This also had all their banking and SS info they needed to take to college. This worked out just fine, and had no problems. The only thing stolen during the 4 yrs at college for older dd was her bike was stolen from the bike rack outside, even after it was locked to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:15:08 GMT
We also bought a mini safe - for checks and passport, extra cash. And then lock that in a drawer.
|
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:16:16 GMT
Both my girls never had problems. Though they got to know their roommates pretty good. Youngest dds roommate forgot to lock the room quite a bit, which I was not happy about. One of the things they did in the beginning, as they got to know the roomies, is that ea of them had a footlocker they could lock with a padlock. So they could put their computer or whatever in there, and lock it down. This also had all their banking and SS info they needed to take to college. This worked out just fine, and had no problems. The only thing stolen during the 4 yrs at college for older dd was her bike was stolen from the bike rack outside, even after it was locked to it. I wanted mine to get a footlocker and he wouldn't.  |
|
|
|
Post by txdancermom on Jul 15, 2015 1:17:19 GMT
Before you go buying insurance, check with your homeowners policy - ours covered our kids stuff when they were at school since they were still technically legal residents at our house
|
|
|
|
Post by Memo on Jul 15, 2015 1:20:48 GMT
Before you go buying insurance, check with your homeowners policy - ours covered our kids stuff when they were at school since they were still technically legal residents at our house We checked with our homeowners policy first, but the College Insurance Program provided much better coverage, and they were much more lenient about what was covered, i.e. dropping their laptop, etc. |
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:23:59 GMT
She may want to have a separate external hard drive to back up her work.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 23:33:07 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 1:29:30 GMT
Get a laptop lock! (Says the person who's laptop was stolen from her desk in grad school). What is a laptop lock? Recommendations? Thanks! RiverIsis explained it well below! You can put the free end through the loop, around a desk leg or something immovable, and then the lock fits into the lap top. I think most of them are combination locks. |
|
|
|
Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Jul 15, 2015 1:50:39 GMT
I'm thinking that colleges must have a plan for this, right? They sure do. It's called "Not Our Problem." Come to think of it, I'm surprised I didn't have anything stolen, what with my roommate bringing her drunk friends in at 2 in the morning, and our room being right by the elevator. In addition to the locks and whatever else physically, I'd make sure to record serial numbers (when I travel, I make a physical photocopy of the sticker/number), password protect the computer and phone, and install the Lo-Jack apps (or whatever it is you can use to track those devices if they are stolen). |
|
|
|
Post by moveablefeast on Jul 15, 2015 1:53:12 GMT
Lots of companies also make laptop safes that can be anchored to the leg of the bed. I was recently visiting a friend's daughter at college and she has a locker that her laptop, tablet, and phone all slide into and it is attached to the bed. She tucked it between the bed and the wall and when the bed is made you really have to be looking to find it because it's very inconspicuous.
I don't know what brand it is, but if you google dormvault laptop safe, it looks a lot like that one. I saw lots of others when I was googling to try to find what it is.
|
|
|
|
Post by RiverIsis on Jul 15, 2015 1:57:39 GMT
Any of it is only as good as the person who uses it.
Oh and tell her to never go anywhere (bathroom, kitchen, next door, across the hall etc.) without her room key - DS got locked out of his room on the 1st day of orientation which was also parent orientation etc. We were going to catch up by phone etc. It was a very stressful day for mom!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by CarolT on Jul 15, 2015 2:05:39 GMT
Each of my kids had a trunk/footlocker and padlock to lock up valuables. Not the most secure thing in the world but it worked for them  , |
|
|
|
Post by bdhudak on Jul 15, 2015 2:11:54 GMT
While in college at the dorm for two years and then the following apartment off campus our daughters contents were completely insured by our homeowners coverage from home. We have Nationwide Insurance. We made sure to record all make and model, serial numbers of all equipment and even photographed the items. Slowly the feeling of peace will return as you cross all these new herdals of going off to college. Best wishes.
|
|
|
|
Post by renateb on Jul 15, 2015 2:18:10 GMT
Before you go buying insurance, check with your homeowners policy - ours covered our kids stuff when they were at school since they were still technically legal residents at our house ours does cover his stuff, but the deductible is high. Most of his items individually would be less than the deductible making our homeowners insurance basically useless for this instance. Guess I could look into how much it would cost to lover the deductible to something like $100, but the insurance suggested in a prior post has a $25 deductible which would be more in line with what would be needed to cover a cell phone or laptop. |
|
|
|
Post by SnowWhite on Jul 15, 2015 2:30:06 GMT
Check to make sure the furniture they're provided in their dorm rooms don't include a locking file cabinet or desk drawer. I attend an annual event that's hosted at colleges and every year I've seen a locking drawer option in the dorm rooms we're in.
|
|
|
|
Post by ptamom on Jul 15, 2015 6:12:13 GMT
She needs to be in the habit of locking her door every time she leaves. She shouldn't leave her laptop out in plain view if she isn't going to be in the room, she needs to pick a place in her room to keep it out of view and she should change it up every few weeks. Short of getting a safe bolted to the floor, I don't really think there is a full blown 100% preventable way to keep her stuff locked away and safe. And since I doubt a dorm would allow someone to bolt something to the floor, I doubt that is going to be an option. She's going to have two roommates. I'm not worried about her locking up, she's good about that. I am more worried about the other people who will definitely have access to her room (roommates), and also possibly have access (roommates' friends/visitors). |
|
|
|
Post by ptamom on Jul 16, 2015 3:50:19 GMT
Anyone else have advice? TY!
|
|
|
|
Post by k8smom on Jul 16, 2015 4:25:38 GMT
Not to freak you out, but my dd's dorm room mate stole from her. She stole cash from her purse, personal belongings, used her tv/fridge/printer, etc without permission, and worst of all, let her boyfriend have "sleepovers" in the bed not 5 feet from dd. It was a nightmare!
On the upside, most dorms have a locking drawer or closet now.
|
|
|
|
Post by kraft4fun on Jul 16, 2015 6:49:00 GMT
My daughters dorm was basically a four bedroom two bath apartment. Each girl had their own room with a locking door. It was perfect.
Sent from my NX008HD8G using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by DinCA on Jul 16, 2015 7:01:04 GMT
My son was a freshman four years ago and my daughter two years ago. They both had desks and/or dressers in their room with a locking drawer to keep valuables. It didn't stop her roommate from helping herself to my daughter's closet, however.  ETA: I did look into a lock for their laptops but then realized it wouldn't stop someone from taking it if he/she was determined to do so. |
|
, 
