This past summer I found this thread from the Parent Forum particularly helpful, essentially a checklist of things students need for freshman year: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1769222-checklist-for-parents-of-incoming-freshmen.html#latest
@b1ggreenca Thank you! I’ll be sure to star that thread so I can find it Ina few years.
Agree with all comments about sons and their rooms. Yes, I bought everything. On move in day, I followed an old suggestion from CC: put two fitted sheets on the bed. That way, a few months in when son has not washed sheets, you can sometimes convince him to at least remove the upper sheet and still have a clean fitted sheet beneath it.
Extra set of sheets will not be used. Don’t do it !
For those who say they won’t shop for their sons - yes my son did live one entire summer on the bare mattress of a summer sublet because he did not have full size sheets and couldn’t be bothered going to the Target 15 minutes away.
Good luck !
@jym626 we will be flying in to take D to college as well, and she’s already had me map out where the nearest Walmart, Target, Big Lots and Ross are located. I find pretty much all of them a better deal than BB& B. But I did buy a duvet cover and sheet set for $10 each on a dorm supply website (Dormify) and figure that even having to pack them will be a better deal than buying on location.
@MAB222 my son did the exact some thing once. He is on his own now and I am afraid to ask if he actually owns sheets.
I got the bedding from Wayfair, it was cheaper than BBB, got a few things from DormCo and they shipped it directly to kid at school. He liked the things that raise the bed until he lofted it and sold the risers to someone else. Fridge and extra monitors he got 2nd hand. Students sell back and forth all the time. Apart from the basics, I send him command hooks and stuff like that in care packages. It becomes too much when you’re traveling thousands of miles.
@sseamom You might want to order what you want from the Walmart or Target sites online and have it held for you at the location you are going to. If the school is large, they sell out of stuff fast and if you are in an urban area, it might be a distance to the stores.
One thing I did insist on was shipping kid’s bike. Shipped to the local bicycle shop via BikeFlights. I had it packed up at our local bike shop, drove it FedEx, and when it arrived at the bike shop near campus, they put it back together. All in all, it was around the same price as a new bike would cost. Kid rides his bike all over campus and around the city.
@bordertexan That’s on the list of options for us. It’s a very small school, starts earlier than others in the area but all of these stores on pretty much in a straight line along an easily accessible road paralleling a freeway, and close (ish) to the college.
When I flew out for Parents Weekend, we purchased a bike and a desk chair. Also, a small sofa. After 2 months, my kid knew what he really needed. Some items, like the mattress topper, never got used.
Reading this thread and watching my freshman daughter leave this morning to go back to finish the last month of school, even though she is my 3rd college student, I am reminded of how we will need to bring EVERYTHING back home in a month - and find a place for it! Don’t forget that new freshman parents - all those storage bins, cushy chairs, futons, decorations, etc. need a place to hang out for the 3-4 months they are home this summer!
Bordertexan, so then did you ship the bike back and forth each year so kid could have a bike when home during the summer?
My kids just needed get-around-town bikes. For S, who was an hour away, we could drive his bike up and back. Unfortunately it got stolen on campus so we bought him a Craigslist bike. For D 1000 miles away it made no sense to ship a bike. We just went to a sporting goods store (Dick’s I think) and bought one there, and then she sold it when she graduated.
My husband will probably hire an organizing expert and have it down to the last pencil, replete with multiple computer monitors, and tempurpedic foam mattress pad.
Our son will be blissfully unaware of the hustle/bustle. He prefers to delegate.
Just kidding. Sort of. 
My Ds both used their mattress toppers. Many dorm mattresses are quite sad.
Agree that the mattress topper would rank in “top 5 perks needed and appreciated” by all three of my kids.
^^good to know about the mattress toppers.
I just laugh when I think of the stuff I went to college with. Plus I had the top bunk. My parents would not have even known what a mattress topper was at that point in time.
Our big perk was a little fridge.
@Pizzagirl He’s a freshman, but the bike will be locked in his dorm basement over the summer. His dorm will be allowing storage for students for a fee. He did apply to be a TA for the summer, so if he gets it, he’ll be using the bike. Christmas break, he used his father’s bike.
My son was in the military and wouldl sleep on the floor if necessary. My older D has a bad back and cherishes her foam topper. Younger D-the one about to go to college, likes hanging out in MY bed with its 4" memory foam topper and asked for one for her own bed-not 4" size, just an egg-crate one. Now that she’s used to that, would like one for her college bed next year.
@SouthFloridaMom9 my D is a planner like that. She already has lists and sublists and is in touch with a student at her school to make sure she isn’t planning on using something that is not allowed. Her father’s job is to keep her feet on the ground. Mine will be schlep it all.
Our S bought himself and D bikes at police auction for $10 each. They are clunkers but no one stole them the whole time they were in LA. I think S sold his bike for more than that when he moved to DC.