<p>Ditto here on using the printer - we didn’t send D to school with one but within the first few weeks she felt she needed one and it was well used all year.</p>
<p>I know she did laundry but I think she tended to re-wash the same things instead of using new so the extra sheets weren’t used but otherwise she used everything we sent with her. Then again we tried not to send extra stuff but given how much room it all took up in the car there and back I am quite certain it was overpacked!</p>
<p>We have read that printers are really a necessity even with on campus printing because of late nights/weather etcetc and having to trapse across campus to pick up stuff.</p>
<p>Have also planned on sending second set of sheets in case of illness etc and just Two large bath towels (have read that too many towels are a storage issue)</p>
<p>Seems less is more</p>
<p>The floor rug is also something that gets left behind at the end of the year. Never used S1’s risers because the bed posts were too large for the top of the riser. </p>
<p>Last year S1’s roommate brought a futon and did NOT loft his bed. S1 didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but this meant the only way for him to access his desk was to have his dresser in the closet. He survived the entire year on about 8" of hanging space. Roommate only used the futon to store laundry and old pizza boxes. </p>
<p>S1 brought way too many clothes. I think he was proud of his varsity sport tees/sweats from high school, but soon learned that the kids at college could not have cared less where he went to high school or what sport he played.</p>
<p>Time to bump again.</p>
<p>Someone said footlockers are a thing of the past. Why? My DS has one and we were thinking it would be good to bring to lug stuff in and also as a lockable container for him, since he will head off to a week long pre-frosh activity and will at least have something semi-secure to lock valuables in (ipod, etc). Thoughts?</p>
<p>If you’re driving him in it can’t hurt to have it, like any other underbed storage, as long as he has room to easily access it.</p>
<p>We packed in the old footlocker (actually, it was newer, plastic and lockable) and waited to see if there was room under a bed to use for storage through-out the year. Since the room was a forced-triple, S2 opted not to keep it. Under bed space was taken up by laundry baskets and squished-down week-end duffels. We did drive and so were able to bring it right home (along with a suitcase-on-wheels, which was useful for move-in, but we knew would not be staying behind).</p>
<p>Also sent a second set of sheets that went unused (thankfully) and will send again, in case of illness or indiscretion. S wants two bath towels again and also 2 hand towels.</p>
<p>Through the year S also winnowed down the T-shirt collection – primarily because he kept picking up game day t-shirts that he’d rather wear.</p>
<p>We actually packed pretty light to begin with and so there was not much that went unused (2nd child syndrome); boys can do with a lot less.</p>
<p>The issue with printers varies from college to college. My son has never needed a printer, though he was glad to have some printer paper on a couple of occaisions. At his college there are well maintained printers in all of the dorms as well as the libraries, various classrooms, etc. Everything gets uploaded to their server so it is easy to access documents from multiple locations. I’d suggest you check the individual college websites and threads here on CC.</p>
<p>My son spent 4 years at an all-boys boarding school. He’ll be headed to college next month. I’m intrigued by the “top sheet” controversy. This was our solution at boarding school (since my son was supposed to make his bed). I bought about 6 bottom sheets and put them all on the bed at once. He just peeled them back every couple of weeks. He was pretty good about changing the pillowcase on his own. There was no top sheet and it was easy just to pull up blankets or comforters…</p>
<p>for college, he wants to “try” the top sheet, since he uses them at home. Will be interesting…</p>
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<p>I’ve never heard of doing this!</p>
<p>"I bought about 6 bottom sheets and put them all on the bed at once. He just peeled them back every couple of weeks. He was pretty good about changing the pillowcase on his own. "</p>
<p>So smart!</p>
<p>6 bottom sheets - that is brilliant!!! I actually think it’s worth the investment just to know they are sleeping on somewhat clean sheets!!</p>
<p>My S just uses a bottom sheet and a duvet. I like the idea of stacking the bottom sheet. Although S just washed duvet cover for the 1st time in a year last night. Wish I could stack duvet covers!</p>
<p>I will say whatever was used all year doesn’t even seem to be used when they are back home as evidenced by the fact dorm mountain seems to remain untouched and just as high in D1’s room over the summer 
But I am certain she’ll insist it all needs to go back to school with her!</p>
<p>Thought I would keep this current for every parent trying to figure out what to and not to get!</p>
<p>I used to stack bottom sheets, interleaved with waterproof pads, in the crib. Crib sheets are a pain to change, especially in the middle of the night :)</p>
<p>^^I bet they are even worse now that the cribs don’t have sides that drop. I’m sure I couldn’t even reach the mattress to lift it up and change it…</p>
<p>Quick question to all of the knowledgeable parents here: Is it okay to use a normal Twin size comforter/duvet cover on a Twin XL bed? Because I was scouting through some department stores and Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day and realized that only Bed, Bath, and Beyond sells any Twin XL comforters/duvet covers. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The comforter cover does not need to be XL.</p>
<p>My S is going to bring his current full-sized down comforter from home, so it may be both too wide and too short. He hates having his feet covered, so too-short is no problem, and too-wide shouldn’t really matter that much either. I figure he’ll make the bed at most once anyhow…</p>
<p>Thanks so much, MD Mom!</p>