I just found a really good article on the website Grown & Flown talking about the questions you should answer first BEFORE you go shopping for your student’s room at Missouri State. Here are a few of the questions that I answer specifically for residence life at Missouri State.
1. Are the room dimensions available for the specific dorm room to plan out space? Residence Life, Dining and Housing Services has the dimensions of all the rooms in each residence hall listed here: http://reslife.missouristate.edu/ViewResidenceHalls.htm. Choose your student’s residence hall and you will find all the information you need. This is a great way to find out what will fit in each room.
2. Are desks and desk chairs provided? Yes, each room has two desks and chairs. 
3. Are the beds elevated or bunk or traditional? The beds can be bunked or traditionally placed but lofts are NOT allowed.
4. Does the school allow decorations to be hammered into the wall or just stuck on? Command Hooks are your friend when your student moves in. Your student is not allowed to hammer nails into the walls.
5. Are any appliances forbidden by the school for fire or other hazard? There are appliances you cannot bring to campus. First of all, a refrigerator and a microwave are provided in each room. If you bring these, you will be asked to take them back home. Lamps with plastic shades aren’t allowed. The colored plastic lamp shades are pretty but they catch on fire so they are on the “What NOT to bring list.” Electrical cooking devices OTHER THAN a coffee pot are not allowed. Heater/heating units are not allowed. You can find out more here.
6. What cleaning are students expected to do in their room, bathroom, kitchen and/or common room and do they need their own supplies? Your student needs to clean their room. With that in mind, whatever cleaning supplies they want to use are acceptable. If your student lives in a residence hall that has community bathrooms on the hall, those will be cleaned but if the bathroom is in the suite/room, your student and their roommates will be responsible for the cleaning.
7. Is it easy to get to a drug store or campus store or should your student bring extra toiletry supplies? Missouri State has a full bookstore and three convenience stores on campus where your student can pick up items they might be running out of before they make a run to the local Wal-Mart or Target.
8. What are your student’s electronic needs and does his college offer any discounts for computers purchased through the bookstore? The Missouri State Bookstore is an Apple Certified store and they do run specials on electronics. Keep checking the website to see what they have available. They can also fix your students electronics except for Iphones.
9. Will your student have siblings/out of town friends visiting and do they need extra sheets and blankets? This is an interesting question and I am answering in regards to roommates. Before your student has guests in the room, they will need to have a conversation with their roommate(s) to make sure it’s okay to have guests stay. And vice-versa, your student’s roommate needs to have those same conversations. It’s a great idea for your student and their roommate(s) to have conversations about visitors, cleaning, noise, etc. Having those conversations earlier rather than when a problem pops up makes good sense for everyone.
Not all the questions on this list in the article are relevant to life at Missouri State but they might spark some conversations. That’s always a good thing. Remember the Residence Life, Housing and Dining Services website is a great resource.
If you have any questions, let me know.
~Priscilla
(reprinted from http://grownandflown.com/dorm-room-shopping-questions/)