Dolls at University?

In my first years of university where I lived in a dorm with constant fire alarms and roommates, I left my dolls at home. It wasn't worth the risk and I'm sure my roommates would not have appreciated my dolls.

Later when I lived in apartment style dorms, I brought 1 (cheaper) DD. It wasn't until I got my own apartment that I started moving my dolls over from my mom's house.

College students tend not to be very respectful and complete randos would be invited into my room by my roommate and break my stuff. I guess it depends on your school and your roommate though.

 

In my first year college I met someone who brought their BJDs with them to their dorms. She was partnered in a dorm with someone she went to high school with and shared similar hobbies with. I think it would be ok to bring as long as roommate is someone you know and trust. I think it would be smart to also bring a trunk of some sort to keep them locked in if you’re ever out of your dorm as you never know who’ll enter them. This girl who brought her bjds tho would take awesome pics around campus with her dolls and would let me hold them (this was when I was first introduced to bjds and still didn’t have any). She was really cool and definitely see this as a great stress reliever for those tough days in class

 

I left my dolls at home when I lived in university dorms. I just didn't 100% trust leaving them with people I had just met. My freshman year there had been a lot of thefts on my hall, so I'm glad I did leave them at home.

Later I started commuting from my grandparent's house, and I brought my dolls over there.

 

Hm, definitely recommend holding out until you know your roommate better or can go without one. Dorm security is so hugely varied and my first couple of roommates were not people I'd trust all that far. And not even in a "they'll steal my stuff" kind of way, in a "they invite randos over and forget to lock the door" kind of way... However, later in my college years when I was able to room with my friend I'd be perfectly happy having a doll or two. Or even later when I got a room to myself, that was when I actually got my first doll, lol.

 

Personally I would leave your dolls at home. I did the same it’s not worth the risk.if you really need to have a doll maybe a really tiny yosd that you can put away

 

Grad school student here- I had to do 3 weeks face-to-face class over the summer, meaning I had to stay in the dorm with three other roommates. I brought 2 of my dolls with me. My roommates were great about it and respected me for my love of collecting dolls. They were cool about it.
In short- start out with one or two, see how your roomates feel about it and work your way up. Really, you are you, you should not be afraid to be yourself. You are there to learn and you have your own coping mechanism for stress and all that, and the dolls are part of it. Honestly, college students don’t really care… they’re too busy/focus about themselves. So just care about yourself and do what makes you happy. If bringing in couple of dolls, go for it. They really dont care.

 

Would agree with the other posts saying to get to know your dorm/roommate for a few weeks before considering bringing your dolls over (if shipping isn’t an issue)

Roommates can vary a lot, I had several whose schedules were so different from mine we rarely saw each other, a few who brought their own share of expensive/niche stuff, and one who made fun of me for bringing books (yeah I don’t get it either)

 

I left my bjds at home and brought cheaper dolls with me instead. None of my roommates ever complained or messed with the dolls I had on my bed, but I generally do not trust people so everything I considered expensive stayed at home.

 

I wasn't into BJDs yet most of college, but I did have OT fashion dolls. I took a 12" one to college when I had a roommate I was friends with. I left her out of sight when I wasn't in my room. My first BJD arrived during my last semester of college, and she stayed at home.

So my advice would be to take a tiny you can tuck away when you aren't in your room, just to be safe.

 

I would suggest holding out for at least the first semester is gone. There will be lots of new people and getting used to the environment happening, and learning how safe the dorm and other students are a must! Things get lost. Valuables get stolen. Some dorms are absolute anarchy

 

I'm currently studying abroad and I brought two dolls with me, a 1/12 and 1/6. If you really want to bring a doll, I recommend that you bring a smaller doll so that if the dorm environment isn't that great or you don't feel that your dolls are safe, you can carry them in your bag. I wouldn't leave them for display either, but this depends on how much you trust your roommates.

 

Sounds like the answer depends on where you are (how likely people are to steal/crash your room and damage stuff) and how your room mate is. And maybe if you have a way to secure/lock your doll as needed.

I've brought dolls to dorms in my country (Singapore) and overseas (Korea) before and both turned out fine. In Singapore I had a single room and shared living space with 5 other students, and I kept the 1 SD doll I brought there in my wardrobe unless I was playing with him. In Korea I had a roommate who was luckily cool with dolls (I showed her my Yosd in our first week there and asked lol), so that worked out as well. I don't put my dolls on display in general since I'm scared they might get knocked over accidentally. That's about the extent I had to worry about since my suitemates and roommate were all respectful of boundaries and won't bring strangers over without asking. And if there were other people over I usually just lock/secure/hide my dolls haha

 

I feel like this heavily depends on your roommates! Although I also believe that it’s not worth it mostly because no matter how careful your roommate is accidents can always happen.If possible maybe bring one in a tiny 1/6 or 1/8 size?

 

Since this is your first year at college I wouldn’t recommend bringing your dolls. If you want to just bring one, but make sure you have a secure place to put it. You never know what can happen on campus and if you aren’t completely 100% with ur roommate it’s not worth it.

 

I had my dolls in a dorm, but I had the kind where everyone had a private bedroom and it was a relatively new building, so it was easy to keep my valuables locked up.

Dolls are way harder to flip for cash than like every college student's laptop and other electronics, so I don't really consider them the highest theft risk. As long as the roommate isn't deathly afraid of dolls (never know how serious some people are about "destroying haunted dolls") or the type of person to constantly invite shady people around (a past roommate was a creepy dude magnet), it's probably fine.

 

All correct what folks said about roommates and security, but in general I think bringing a doll with you to uni is a great idea.
Cuz when it gets tough and frustrating and you're exhausted and lonely, having a doll for emotional support is the best thing

 

When I first started collecting BJDs all those years ago, I was at uni! I lived at home for most of my uni experience but I did spend a year in Nebraska as an exchange student. I took my Crobidoll Haz with me and I believe I bought my LittleFee Lewi while out there too.

Anyone I was friends with knew about my dolls and I never had any issues with that. I did have the privilege of being in a single room and my Haz would hang out on a shelf all day when I wasn't taking him out for photos or cuddling him I never had issues with anyone trying to take anything from me since my room was pretty secure.

I'm sure if any issues do come up, there is campus security and even RAs to talk to! Typically, you'd have a key to your bedroom anyway. I suppose if you were extra worried, you could find some kind of lockable display case for them?

 

@souphouse I think you made the right choice in keeping them home for now. I definitely agree that it's all dependent on the roommate. My first roommate in college was under the impression that dolls housed the souls of demons within them so they by no means wanted my dolls anywhere near the room

My second year roommate was a lot more lax, but had the habit of bringing over randos so I wasn't comfortable with having my valuable dolls around.

On my last years at Uni though I finally found some great people who were respectful of my stuff as well as my hobbies!