What Should I Bring To School?: The ABC's of College Necessities
Jul 15 '06
The Bottom Line You should only bring what you need. What you think you need may not actually be what you really need!
While it's been a few years since I last lived in a dormitory, college hasn't changed that much. The rooms are still small. You still probably will have a roommate and a communal bathroom. If you're living on campus, you're unlikely to have a kitchen as part of your room or even on your floor. You'll basically have a small cubicle of a room and even only half of that unless you're as lucky as I was as a freshman when I had a single. So, space is at a premium and you'll only want to have what you absolutely need, keeping in mind that you'll be acquiring more stuff as the year goes on.
Aside from clothing, bedding, toiletries and basic school supplies, here are my ABC's of College Necessities:
Alarm Clock
So, you've decided not to register for any 8 am classes and you only have seminars twice a week from 1 pm to 3 pm. You still need an alarm clock. Get whatever kind it takes to raise the dead. Learn to use it. Practice before you need it! Don't share this with your roommate - you need your own!
Bucket & Bathrobe (towels & flippies too)
You'll have a communal shower that, even if it's cleaned, isn't the homiest place in the world. You'll likely not see a bathtub until Thanksgiving Break. So, you'll be showering and you can't leave your stuff in the shower when you're not using it. Instead of trying to cart your soap and shampoo and everything else down the hall in your hands, get a shower caddy. Some recommend getting one with drainage holes. I preferred a regular bucket which I was careful to empty the water out of after each shower and then to dry off everything when I got back to my room with my towel. That way, I also had a bucket for other uses throughout the year. You never know when a bucket might come in handy! You'll also want a bathrobe unless you like parading in your towel down the hall. I found this to be quite an important item when I lived on the West Range my last year at the University of Virginia where the bathrooms required a walk outside in front of passing traffic and plenty of tourists. Don't forget flip flops or shower shoes to avoid catching foot fungus in the showers and you'll also you'll want a few towels.
Computer
Pretty obvious. Don't forget all the accessories you'll need and if you are provided with a list of software, take care of it before you leave home. While many campuses have computer labs with printers, if you have room, printers are cheap enough these days to take one with you. You don't want to be waiting in line and having the printers run out of ink right when you're up against a deadline to have the final copy of your thesis turned in within the next 45 minutes. Don't forget that you'll want at least one flash drive and some blank CDs too. If your roommate has a computer, don't think you can share it. You'll need your own.
Dry Erase Board
These are a great way to communicate with your floormates by putting one on the outside of the door to your room. I also had a small one next to the phone inside for jotting down messages. I still use dry erase boards at home, with one on the side of my refrigerator with important phone numbers on it such as Chinese takeout!
Extension Cords
Most dorms were built well before computers and other electronics were the norm. That's why so many colleges say you aren't allowed to have a microwave in your room. So, you won't have many electrical outlets. Bring extension cords, preferable with a built in surge protector. Bring more than you think you need. I had four six-plug strips for my last dorm room.
Flashlight
Great for if the power goes out and also for late night expeditions of any type. My preference is a Mini-Maglite because it's small enough to not take up a lot of room and powerful enough to give off a lot of light. I used one of these when I worked at Six Flags Great Adventure each night to assist me in my cleaning duties. I was able to find enough money over the course of the summer to pay for my fall semester books! Also, if your room doesn't have adequate lighting, get a desk lamp too.
Garbage Bags & a can if not provided
If you don't have a trash can in your room, get one. While it's easier to just dump your trash in the can, get a small box of garbage bags. It'll keep your room from smelling nasty and it's pretty hard to escape from the odor when you only have a 10x13 room.
Hot Pot
If you can't have a microwave, you probably can have a hot pot. These are like electric kettles but more versatile because you can boil water, heat up cans of soup, make Ramen and much more. I preferred this to a coffeemaker because coffee is readily available all over campus if you're willing to delay your gratification for a few minutes or someone else on your floor has a coffeemaker that you can borrow if you're pulling an all-nighter or you can use a French press for coffee. Having a way to prepare something besides Pop-Tarts and tuna is a very nice thing. If you are allowed a microwave, get one of those instead of a hot pot because that is even more versatile! If your roommate has a microwave, one is enough.
Iron
A small travel sized iron doesn't take up much room and will get used more than you think, especially if you are in an ROTC program! It's okay to share an iron with your roommate. There's no need for an ironing board as you can lay a towel across your desk.
Joy
Or Dawn or Palmolive or any other type of dish detergent. You can use this as a stain pre-treatment for laundry as well as for cleaning your hot pot and dishes.
Knapsack
You'll be using a backpack constantly. If you take Chemistry, be careful where you store it during labs. I had to replace mine after an accident with some sulfuric acid.
Laundry Bag or Basket
You need someplace to store all of the dirty laundry that builds up in between trips to the laundromat. Depending on the size of your room, you may prefer a bag or a basket. I always took a bag along to school with me and then if I had room, switched to a basket. If I didn't, the bag could easily be shoved under the bed.
Music
In my day, this meant a stereo and speakers and racks of tapes and cds, perhaps even a turntable and records. It's so much easier today because all you need is your mp3 player and a set of headphones. For a crowd, get some speakers for your mp3 player.
Needles
No, not that kind of needle. Sewing needles. You'll want a small sewing kit and the know-how to be able to use it when you need to replace a button. Other useful kits include a small first aid kit (including a thermometer), an eyeglass repair kit (those jewelers screwdrivers are very useful) and a basic tool kit (Phillips/straight screwdrivers, pliers and hammer).
Organizers (i.e. Milk Crates)
You need something to organize your room with. My preference was milk crates - they were great for moving in, moving out and throughout the year. I used them for everything from serving as a bookcase to sweater storage to building a desk out of them. Mine are still serving duty in my basement today, holding painting supplies.
Photography Essentials
You will want to take photos in college. You may simply have a cellphone that takes pictures. You may have a digital camera. Or you might have a point and shoot that has film that will need developing. Make sure you bring whatever it is you'll want to use.
Quarters
Don't think that one roll will last a long time. It is worth it to bring 3 or 4 rolls along with you and hide them from your roommate. If you want to do laundry, you'll need these. Otherwise, you'll be pretty stinky wearing the same pair of underwear for the entire semester.
Refrigerator
Get a minifridge - not the cube sized one but the next size up. Spread over four years, it's less expensive to buy your own. Even if you move into an off-campus apartment in later semesters, that refrigerator will make a great end table or television stand. In addition, you'll have extra storage space for beverages. In the dorms, this appliance lets you have perishable food besides fruit in your room. Cold drinks when it's 90 degrees outside are wonderful. If your roommate is bringing a fridge, you don't necessarily need one too but this is one item that it's okay to duplicate if there's enough room.
Silverware
I'm not condoning thievery, but most of my classmates borrowed flatware from the cafeteria, returning it at the end of the school year. Not me. I came prepared with a fork, a knife, three spoons, a plate and an oversized mug. You don't need more for yourself and if you do, you can always temporarily borrow some. For drinking, I always managed to acquire plenty of hard plastic cups at football games with the university's logo on them. It helped that I was in the marching band and was given a free cup at every game!
Thesaurus (& Dictionary)
If you're writing a paper, you need these. Even if you're in engineering where no papers are ever required, bring these essentials with you. You probably won't need to bring any other books from home.
Umbrella
When it's 40 degrees outside at 7 pm and you've just finished a Physics lab, this is the last thing you want to be without when it's also raining and your dormitory is a 20 minute walk away! I learned this lesson the hard way. Totes makes an amazing mini umbrella that folds flat and is just a little larger than a pack of cards for about $12.
Vitamins
If you regularly take vitamins, this doesn't apply because you'll bring what you need. If you don't, seriously consider getting a bottle of multivitamins and making it a habit to take one every day. Mom won't be cooking for you anymore and your eating habits will change and probably not for the better. Do yourself a favor.
Wire Clothes Hangers
Space is very limited and you'll want to make the most of it. Joan Crawford might have hated wire hangers but you'll love them if it means you can fit more clothing into your one foot of closet space.
Xeroxes
It's probably a good idea to have a photocopy of important information like immunization records. If you'd rather, you can scan this stuff in and save it on your computer instead.
Yearbook
You don't want too much stuff from home but just bringing along your senior yearbook or a couple of photos is a nice thing to have when you are feeling nostalgic. It's also great when you're talking about home with your new friends on the floor and you can pull out a photo to show them who you are talking about. On the same note, it's okay to bring along that one ratty stuffed animal that you've had since you were 6 months old. Just don't bring dozens of them!
Ziploc Bags
You'll find hundreds of uses for these and they don't take up much room.
In a nutshell, this is what I had in my various campus dorm rooms throughout college except for when I had apartments and needed cooking essentials.
The only thing I left off my list that you might really want is a fan. It all depends upon the dorm that you will be assigned to. One dorm at the University of Virginia had incredible air conditioning so it was never needed. The next one I was in had no air conditioning and I needed a window fan. When I was at Vanderbilt, the dorms all had air conditioning and operable windows so I only used a tiny fan. At the University of Louisville, I never used a fan.
One other piece of advice would be if at all possible, go on a college tour and get to see the dorm rooms. I was lucky enough to not only see the rooms but stay overnight at both the United States Naval Academy and Vanderbilt University. It really made my preparations much easier knowing what my room would be like.
Good luck!
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jdhauer
|
 in Kids & Family |
 - Top 200 |
|
Location: Virginia
Reviews written: 710
Trusted by: 185 members
About Me:
How's that hopey changey thing working out for you?
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.