A mattress foam pad and a fan are all that are required. Everything else is extra and can be figured out once he’s there.
Some dorm bathrooms do have cubbies. I saw them at Smith on a tour. However, I’m sure there is some looting that goes on.
My daughter had about 1/8th the stuff she had her first semester by her final semester (dorm v sorority house room, but about the same set up). One blanket instead of 4, one towel instead of 2-4, the shower caddie long ago ditched, one or two coats not 8. Shoes? She had a case of them at first and then only a few pairs and some boots. No lamps, alarm clocks, coffee makers, extra pillows, ‘books she really likes and might reread’, trinkets from high school friends, stuffed animals, hangers, hangers and more hangers.
Pretty much anything on that list the schools suggest? Nope, not needed.