Sending a freshman off to college is almost always an expensive endeavor, but the latest viral trend is taking back-to-school shopping to the next level.

Extreme dorm makeovers are becoming increasingly popular, with some parents shelling out tens of thousands of dollars and hiring professional interior designers to transform their kids' humble abodes into the dorm rooms of their dreams.

Far removed from the beat-up mini-fridges and crooked posters of the past, the dramatic transformations are unnecessary, some say, and reflect the widening line between the haves and have-nots in the U.S.

"Wealth disparity just becomes obvious on a college campus, because suddenly your lifestyle is either funded by you or it's not," said Mya Mendola, who graduated from the University of Minnesota

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