Laptop Lock Up in the Dorm?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Aug. 10, 2014

Question: My daughter has been assigned to Stuart Hall 6th floor (Penn State Main Campus). Do the desks have the capability of storing and locking a laptop?

This is a question for the office of Residence Life at Penn State. Write to AskResLife@psu.edu or make a call to one of the numbers listed here: http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/reslife/contacts.shtml

While many college dorm rooms do provide a locking drawer or cupboard that could hold a laptop, few students seem to bother with them. If your daughter is concerned about laptop theft, she might be better off investing in a cable lock like this one of these:

http://www.officedepot.com/a/browse/laptop-security-cable-locks/N=5+509570/

This way, she can keep her laptop locked right on her desk and won't have to worry about stashing it in a drawer or cabinet if she takes a short bathroom or soda break.

And here's some advice from a College Confidential discussion-forum thread on laptop security: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/penn-state-university-park/550185-laptop-dorm-room-security.html Note the comment about the locking drawer from a Penn State parent!

However, if YOU are the one worried about laptop safety and your daughter isn't, then don't spend the money on a lock because she'll probably never use it.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

Just one more step to start saving colleges!

Laptop Lock Up in the Dorm?

Sally Rubenstone

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