Items for college that most parents overlook...

[sewbusy]

Walmart and BB&B both have the "husbands" by us for $8. Son was not excited last year when I got him one, but said it wound up being one of the best things he had with him. Leaving again in two days and has yet to unpack the stuff he brought home in May. Lost his cell phone on a roller coaster on Sunday and is getting the runaround from Sprint on how to get a replacement (looks like it might have been better to skip the $7/mo insurance and $50 deductible and just get him a new phone). I'm all anxios about his packing and he is relaxed enough to nap most of the day away. But I'll miss him next week, nonetheless!!!

[thumper1]

We just moved DS into an apartment. One thing he thought of (we didn't) was a plunger. It's one of those things...when you need it you NEED it. So, I would suggest that if your kid is moving into a apartment, this would be an essential.

[workingforblue]

Tools...Got my D one of those $30 briefcase size tool kits before she went to college. We used at least 20 times during move in and everyone came to her to borrow tools (had her mark everything with sharpie).

[Chedva]

Be aware, though, that just like many things, BBB "pickup" is not perfect. I know people who got damaged goods, didn't get the things they ordered, had their order mistakenly given to someone else, had items missing, etc. True, they hadn't yet paid for them, but they were much annoyed at having to run around a store that didn't have much left, picking out new things. I decided it wasn't worth the potential aggravation for me.

[paying3tuitions]

We were in good form this time, but the only thing that caught us all by surprise was those wooden study chairs provided in the dorm rooms. We have padded tushie study chairs all over our house. So we ran over to a nearby box store (Targets or WalMart, can't recall, it was a quick grab). We bought two of those tie-on pillows for the back and seat. We only knew what was right after seeing the actual study chair, which had an unfortunate hole in the lumbar back area. So the pillow had to be big enough not to slip through.

We urged him not to replace the chair, even though we saw some in the box stores under $35 that are ergonomic "task computer" chairs. We told him he'd be responsible for retrieving the college-issued chair at year's end, so shouldn't just put his hard wooden chair out into the study lounge, as some kids were doing.

Keep in mind, whenever you replace a college-issued piece of furniture, to know and follow the college's system for storing their piece. Otherwise you pay at year's end in the "damage" deposit if their piece is missing at final inventory.

[marge_sherwood]

Basically all of the items mentioned in this thread, even the commonly overlooked ones, are listed in this other thread at the College forum, from August 2005 A to Z: What To Bring To College

Don't know if Parents Forum was already aware of the list or not.

[ingerp]

I just wanted to throw a post up here to bring this thread back to the forefront for those of us going through it the first time this year. I've made a consolidated list and after going over it with my kid, I think I'll start slowly amassing some items over the summer. (I'm hoping this will reduce the end-of-summer stress.)

[Karen Colleges]

Keep in mind, dorm rooms are small. Start with the bare minimum of necessities.