kegerator...

So I have been slowly buying stuff for a keezer got impatient and made a jockey box instead. Now that I have a cold plate and the taps, why couldn’t I…
-Take an old dorm room fridge
-Put the cold plate in the fridge
-Run lines from the kegs into the fridge through the cold plate and put taps on the outside of the fridge?

Does a cold plate need to be covered in ice water to work, or would a dorm room fridge chill the cold plate enough to get cold beer?
I would eventually build some kind box and have the taps on the outside of that with the kegs and dorm fridge inside the box.

You won't get cold enough just putting it in the fridge, you would need to keep the cold plate covered in ice water IMHO.

I've been experimenting with a my cold plate & jockey box rig (I also have a kegerator, and refrigerator to play with).

I agree with @wyzazz the simply placing the cold plate in a mini fridge will not be enough to sufficiently cool your beer for real time service. The first pint or two will be plenty cold, but after that you'll be getting warm beer. Even if the air temp in the fridge is below freezing, air isn't a good conductor of heat, so you'll have a hard time keeping the plate cold when in use. That being said, if you can crank the temp down in the mini fridge low enough to keep a large volume of ice frozen on top of the cold plate, that may work..sort of. Just dont expect a miracle. The cold plate is a heat exchanger. If you run room temp beer through ice in a fridge, the ice will melt and then (as long as the fridge is turned way down) possibly refreeze.

If you already have an old dorm fridge, it's worth a try (with the ice method) if it gets cold enough. It'll be a fun experiment if nothing else. IMHO you'll just be better off investing in the right solution, your original keezer idea, and keep the jockey box for portable fun.

Happy building, and drinking!