Donner

• 88 frosh
• 6 Resident Assistants
• 1 Resident Fellow
• 3 Resident Cats, who politely stay in the RF’s apartment, waiting for you to stop by
• 1 Resident Dog, who eagerly awaits your visits to the Rf’s apartment

The dorm is located in Stern Hall. Your home for the next year is a short walk away from the Main Quad, Meyer Green, Tresidder Student Union, Green Library, and most of Stanford's athletic facilities.  And this year, Donner will be looking out on the brand new Donner Beach.  

Donner's 95 human residents live on 3 co-ed floors. Donner has a spacious lounge, with a piano, a ping-pong table, a projector, and a smart screen, as well as numerous comfortable couches, which are particularly useful for hanging out with friends, movie nights, studying, guest speakers, and house meetings. We have a courtyard with a barbecue for gatherings throughout the year. Donner also has its own computer cluster stocked with Macs with Bootcamp, which allows them to run both Windows and Mac OS. Each computer comes pre-installed with a variety of programs such as MATLAB and Photoshop, which can be useful for problem sets and projects. The lounge also has a dorm printer that prints black-and-white pages at a cost per page, so you don't have to purchase your own, though it can be convenient to do so. (If you do buy a printer and it's wireless, we recommend bringing a USB cable, as wireless printers can be difficult to set up on the Stanford network.) Donner even has a cozy kitchenette with a refrigerator, microwave, induction stove top, oven, and sink. This area is perfect for blossoming chefs looking for a break from Stanford Dining. 

Donner residents can use the laundry room in the dorm's basement free of charge. There are enough washers and dryers to service the nearly 200 students living in Donner and Sally Ride, the adjacent dorm. But please remember to bring your own laundry detergent!

Donner bathrooms have all recently been fully renovated. The bathrooms have toilettes, showers, and sinks. There are both gender-specific and gender-neutral bathrooms available.

Donner rooms, one-room doubles (one room for a pair of freshmen), come with the following amenities:

• 2 extra-long twin beds
• 2 desks and chairs
• 2 bookshelves
• 2 dressers
• 2 waste baskets, compost bins, and recycling bins
• 2 wardrobes
• 2 mirrors
• Wireless internet

Most rooms are carpeted and feature a number of outlets, Ethernet jacks,  and window shades. Each room also has heating (but no air conditioning).

Stern Dining, one of the largest dining halls on campus, is only a few steps away from the Donner Lounge. Stern offers a variety of options, including a fresh salad bar, a burrito bar, a pasta station, a vegetarian bar with vegan options, as well as more traditional meat-based options like hamburgers, stews, chicken, and beef.  Stern also has a fantastic brunch during the weekends. All of its food is clearly labeled (lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan), and both vegetarians and carnivores are accommodated at every meal. Stern Dining is entirely nut-free. All dining halls offer Halal and Kosher food. The hours are as follows

Weekday (Monday - Friday) Hours 

• Breakfast: 7:30 a.m - 9:00 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
• Dinner: 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. 

Weekend (Saturday - Sunday) and Holiday Hours 

• Brunch: 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
• Dinner: 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. 

In addition to Stern, you can use your meal card at other independent restaurants on campus and other Dining Halls. And if you're hungry at night, there's Late Night Kitchen at Lakeside, a late night snack option in Lakeside Dining. A campus tradition, Late Night Kitchen at Lakeside serves food and snacks such as Chicken Tenders, Breakfast Burritos, and fries from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night of the week. Closer to Stern, Late Night Kitchen at Arrillaga also offers nightly food and snacks.  There are a number of other dining halls near Donner and across campus, all of which are included in the student meal plan. 

• Please refer to Stanford Dining, Hospitality, and Auxiliaries for details about dining. 
• Note: Other on-campus food options use your meal plan, but Donner is your home dining room.

ResComp (Residential Computing) has another specific set of FAQs to help guide you through your computer-purchasing process!

• Stanford IT Recommendations
• Stanford IT Getting Started Guide
• Stanford Bookstore Computer Department

First, we suggest looking at the Suggested Packing List provided by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE). From our own experience, the staff has compiled the following list of things to bring. Some of these items repeat what you'll find in the Suggested Packing List; consider this list to be our way of emphasizing what we think is most important for you to remember. 

• Necessary Things
  • Laptop (refer to computer-buying guide above)
  • Surge protector/power strip
  • Clothes hangers
  • Coats, jackets, sweaters, long pants
    • Though California is indeed beautiful, it DOES get chilly here! Don't just bring t-shirts and shorts.
  • Sheets and pillow(s) and bedcovers
    • Reminder: the beds are twin XL!
    • We recommend buying your items early and probably at home, as they’ll sell out when students arrive on campus.
  • Towels
  • Detergent and any laundry supplies you need
  • Toiletries
  • Shower caddy
  • Bike (most students find a bike necessary for transportation)
  • A bike helmet
  • A U-Lock for your bike. Cable locks will get cut!
  • Shower shoes
  • First-Aid kit
  • General meds (such as Advil, Tylenol, etc., as well as meds specific to your needs)
  • Desk lamp
  • Reusable water bottle
• Nice-To-Have Things
  • Fan (it gets rather warm in the spring! Box fans work great)
  • Desk supplies (e.g., stationery, writing utensils, stapler, desk organizer, etc.)
  • Your own printer (only if you wish; Stanford has printers in Donner and across campus)
  • Extra shelves and storage containers
  • Board games and cards
  • Headphones
  • Ear plugs
  • Picnic blanket
  • Mattress topper
  • Room decorations
  • Tape/Command Strips/Command Hooks
• Consider waiting until you meet your roommate before investing in...
  • Electric kettle
  • Mini-fridge
  • Microwave
  • Speakers
  • Video game system

• Please check out the guide on shipping to campus.
• Walmart and  Target are also both great options for shopping once you arrive on campus, as they are within a 15-minute drive from campus.  Stanford’s free shuttle, The Marguerite, will take you there on weekends, this link corresponds to the shuttle https://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite/se.
• You can have your bike shipped directly to Stanford's Campus Bike shop, and it can be assembled there as well.
  • Reminder: You cannot ship things to FedEx before move-in, as they won't accept packages and will send them back to you.

• Welcome to Stanford Undergrad
• Stanford's Suggested Packing List
• Stanford Parents Webpage
• All About Stern Hall
• Amazon Prime for Students
  • Note: Get three months of free two-day shipping on Amazon for free!
• Stanford Shuttle Service
• Zipcar: By-the-hour car rental for students
• Lyft: Ridesharing app
• Uber: Ridesharing app