Two Welcome Week events provided students with buses to Target and advice from interior design students to help with what can be the first test of college: transforming cramped quarters into a cozy dorm room.

Students gathered in the Mount Vernon Pub and Grill Wednesday night to receive tips from GW interior design students on outfitting their new pads. The Residence Hall Association and Mount Vernon Campus Life sponsored the event, “Wacky Wednesday: Design on A Dime.” The “Target Run,” which coincided with the event, bussed students to and from the store to purchase goods for their dorm room.

Senior Daniel Miller, president of the Residence Hall Association, said more than 750 students participated in the “Target Run,” an increase from 300 last year.

The number of buses leaving for Target from the Mount Vernon and Foggy Bottom campuses also increased this year, from three to six, to accommodate more students. The buses picked up students from Kogan Plaza and the Mount Vernon clock tower.

“The bus to Target is so convenient,” said Max Richman, a freshman who attempted to purchase his dorm d?cor at Costco but found it difficult to lug heavy boxes back to campus on the Metro.

While “Wacky Wednesday” has always included an ice cream social, the Community Living and Learning Center has planned the Target run in past years, said Chad Southerland, graduate programming assistant for Mount Vernon Campus Life. Mount Vernon partnered with RHA to organize it this year, which marked the first year interior design students were involved.

The interior design students helped set up displays of matching sheet sets, towels and bathroom essentials in the Mount Vernon Pub and Grill. The items in the displays were then awarded to three students who received red flyers at the student organization fair and three students who were picked from the crowd because they “encompassed the spirit of Wacky Wednesday.”

Freshman Alex Winn said his dorm decorations serve more than an aesthetic purpose.

“If it makes me a better student, there is no cost for a decorated room,” Winn said.

Some students were displeased with their trip to Target, complaining about long waits for the bus, checkout lines exceeding 50 people and items that quickly sold out as a result of the large GW crowd.

“The bus was crowded and Target is out of a lot of stuff I wanted,” sophomore Jasmine Baker said.