<p>Hi, just got accepted to UCSD as a mechanical engineer and I am in Revelle college. I am thinking about buying a messenger bag for college use and was wondering a typical day how much stuff will I carry on me? Do students usually carry 1 or 2 textbooks with them, or not?
I know I will have my laptop with me almost 24/7, but what else?</p>
<p>What do you guys (question directed towards current UCSD students) carry with you?
Thanks</p>
<p>I usually just bring what I need for the classes I’m going to such as notebooks. I go back to my room in between classes since I’m living on campus so I don’t bring everything with me all at once. You’re not going to need your laptop with you all the time. I never bring my laptop or textbooks to class. I only bring out my laptop and textbooks to the library to study.</p>
<p>So for classes, you don’t need to bring textbooks? Is that a general rule?</p>
<p>Yeah pretty much. The textbooks are just meant to supplement what you learn in lecture.</p>
<p>edit: actually you might want to bring your textbooks to discussion sections since they usually expect you to ask questions, and having the textbook will let you refer back to specific topics easier. especially for math</p>
<p>^^ but that is not on a daily basis, no?</p>
<p>I’m not a mechanical engineering major, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken a textbook to class, let alone more than one.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies so far guys!</p>
<p>I’m a 3rd year Revelle student, and my roommate was a mechanical engineer. I don’t think I ever saw him bring more than a notebook when he left for class. Basically, you won’t need to hold much more than you need for class on a normal day if your living on-campus because you can always come back to it, so a messenger bag with a sturdy strap would be fine. If you’re commuting, you’ll probably want to bring a backpack for a few classes worth of things and lunch, but even then it’s not much.</p>
<p>^^
Yeah that was what I was thinking also, but I thought that sometimes you won’t have time to go back to your dorm and then you’ll need to carry some books from class to class</p>
<p>^That’s true, except for the fact that you won’t be carrying any books with you.</p>
<p>a few engineering classes will have readers instead of the textbooks that you will have to take to class everyday to take notes on</p>