Do

1. Make sure you keep your keys with you at all times. It’s easy to get yourself locked out of your room either by mistake or a breeze through the window. Double check when taking a shower, otherwise you’ll have a ton of fun walking through campus in a towel to get a spare key. Lanyards work well but a carabiner attached to a belt loop can make it even more secure.

2. Keep your dorm room door open when you can, otherwise everyone will think you’re really shy or that troll that lives under bridges and doesn’t want to hang out. When you go out for food, invite dorm mates, you’ll make friends! If someone has an open door it’s much easier to ask, and it applies to your door too.

3. Do your laundry regularly and if possible during the week. In a tight space, smells can become pungent if left unattended. The worst part is that after a while your nose will get used to the scent, so you may forget about it. Doing it during the week or at unorthodox times and you’ll avoid the crowds of everybody else who does it on Sunday.

4. Buy bed risers from Bed Bath and Beyond or Target. Placing them under your bed allows for way more storage space for boxes or a place to shove trash and dirty laundry.

“We recommend students look at the ‘what to bring checklist’ available on the Dash or the University Housing website,” said University Housing marketing director Michael Griffel.

Don’t

1. Don’t be a slob with your stuff. Nobody likes the person who is overly rigid about boundaries, but if you’re going to be messy, at the very least keep it on your side. If it’s not in the way of your roommate, it’s your problem, not theirs.

2. Don’t try to pack your entire room from home and put it into the sardine cans we have for dorms (unless you’re living in LLC or the Global Scholars Hall, then you can probably try). Bring the essentials, and you’ll find that you can live with less stuff.

“We recommend you bring what’s necessary … rather than packing a car full of things,” said McKenzie Winders, housing service center specialist for LLC and Barnhart Hall.

3. Don’t be that person who blasts rap music out of their dorm window for the rest of campus to hear. On the first sunny day, there’s a 99.99 percent chance you’ll hear music, but if it’s you, make it something classy, like Sinatra or Dean Martin. At the very least keep the tunes fresh.

4. Don’t needlessly spend your dorm food points. If you’ve got the standard plan you’ll have enough for meals and a little extra, which means keeping an eye on the points and budgeting is a smart plan. If you’ve got the extra meal plan go bonkers, you’ve got almost too many points for one person. Winders suggests bringing a mini fridge to store easy snacks in your room.

The Housing Department has a lengthy list here with specifics on what to bring.