I told S22 to let me know if he needed a mattress topper after a week or so. He decided he was fine without. Even though most at his college say to get one, I’m glad we waited and skipped it. Likely we will do the same for D24.
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We haven’t purchased a mattress topper yet because 1 of the dorms on campus has twin beds whereas all the rest have twin XL mattresses, so have to wait 2 more weeks to find out on 6/15 what dorm she’s assigned to.
I’ve been squirreling a lot of dorm stuff away, gradually buying things here and there so it’s not as painful financially by buying it all last minute. Odds & ends that have been gathered up so far include the following (I got lots of ideas of this by reading stuff online & then picking & choosing what seemed to make sense given how D24 is):
- 1st aid kit. Didn’t buy one, put it together ourselves. It’s all in a small plastic see-through bin.
- small tool kit. My mom bought me one when I moved into the dorms ages ago. Everybody in my hall borrowed it that year.
- shower caddy & shower shoes
- 1 plastic bowl, cup, & plate, on sale at Target for something like $0.50 each
- travel-sized clothes steamer. Very compact
- Woozoo fan
- air purifier
- 2 towels & washcloths
- a tap/puck light
- 1 of those desk lamps that doubles up as a USB charger & pencil/pen holder. Purchased for cheap at Target.
- microwave ramen cooker
- moisture absorbers to hang in her closet
- Command Strip broom holders for her to hang a couple of her light sabers on the wall
- some cheap cable management things from the Daiso store
- a power strip that has 3 USB charger ports in it + regular power plugs
- winter gloves (we’re in AZ and D26 doesn’t have any and it’ll be colder in the winter in north TX compared to the PHX metro area)
- 1 small package of S-hooks from the Daiso store
- random general office supply stuff like scotch tape, scissors, a sharpie marker
- small plastic bin that I filled with a bunch of random small useful stuff. Like a luggage scale, couple of luffas I grew in the backyard, more Command Strip hooks, a cute cloud-shaped magnetic keyholder I found on Amazon, toothpaste, tooth flossers, some thingies to prevent your phone charger cord from kinking
- 1 larger plastic tote/bin filled with other stuff, like a hot water kettle we had leftover (I checked the college’s website 1st to see if this was ok), small box of white envelopes, 2 pillow protectors, travel umbrella, 1 solar umbrella we’ve used at WDW, chopsticks (this was a D24 specific request), sheet grippers (another D24 request), 1 set of fork, knife & spoon in a travel pouch, + 1 of those basket/bag thingies that you hang off the edge of your bed so you have a place to stash your cell phone & other stuff that normally you’d put on a bedside table
- small foldable step stool that I bought for $5 at the $5 & under store.
- 1 of those small desk organizer things from IKEA that you use to store mail, pens & pencils, etc. D24 tends to be messy & asked for things like this for her to keep her stuff organized (DRÖNJÖNS Desk organizer, 9 ¾x7 ¾" - IKEA).
- cheap fold-up laundry basket/hamper I bought from IKEA for ~$10-11 (FYLLEN laundry basket, white, 21 gallon - IKEA). Mostly got this one because it’s compact and will fit well in the rental SUV for our long boring drive from AZ through NM and west Texas in August.
Still need to buy some IKEA Frakta-like zip-up bags for us to transport all of her clothes. And she needs 1 large suitcase (only has 1 smaller rolling carry-on suitcase at the moment). She also still has to pick out her comforter because she doesn’t want to bring the one she has right now on her bed.
I did learn on the college’s parent group on Facebook that having a pair of rainboots is really essential because some of the walkways on campus tend to flood a bit when there’s heavy rain. So we’ll find a pair of those at some point before move in day.
DH & I have very different points of view about the whole “buying stuff for the dorm room” topic. When he was 18, he had to move out, pay everything for himself, support himself through college while working full time, figure out how to afford paying his portion of the rent w/his apartment-mates, etc. Zero help or advice or anything from his parents. There’s a long negative back story to all of that which I won’t bother everybody with here.
By comparison, my parents bought me stuff to get started…dorm bedding, laundry basket, shower caddy, and some other related stuff.
So DH & I are compromising (a little on my part ). D24 is going to purchase her comforter & sheets. We’re buying everything else. 
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S24 will get his dorm assignment in mid august, the housing applicaiton goes out in late july, he just got the school email this week!
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S24’s Prom was this Saturday and he had fun. He now spends on avg every other evening with his friends by just hanging out or going to gym and grabbing dinner. He has finals week this week but the finals for many classes are done they just have projects due. Can’t believe graduation is less than two weeks.
In regards to planning for the move in date and parents weekend we are very much behind and need to start doing that. We will be moving him across the country so the planning it seems daunting.
In regards to the dorm stuff I have slowly started adding thing to my amazon shopping cart. Some of the bigger items I plan to ship to my brother who is about 2 hours from the college S24 will be attending so we can take them from there when we drop of S24.
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My daughter won’t leave for college until mid September and I don’t want to look at a sad pile of stuff everyday reminding me she’s leaving so we are waiting until late summer for most purchases.
One thing to wait on is the foam topper, the less time it’s compressed in the original box the better from what I hear. We got the inexpensive sleep innovations brand from Amazon for ‘21 and she likes it a lot.
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I have a shared note (iPhone/apple)with D24 of checklists of things for college, stuf to buy and some to do, and like @sbinaz I am buying things a little as we go. For instance, today I saw that walmart has our detergent in the small bottles so I grabbed that, along with some other laundry staples. As I pick things up I check it off the list and as I hear of good ideas, I add (same for her.) I am NOT buying any decor or things like that without her input, but 90% is just basics like medicines, laundry/cleaning, etc. She is anxiously awaiting Target’s Dorm Stuff season, though! (And the biggest debate on the internet MIGHT be “hard plastic or mesh” for the shower caddy - her dorms will all have hall bathrooms, no suites for her, so the caddy is necessity, just not sure WHICH ONE.)
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Yes, we are struggling with this one also! I see benefits and drawbacks to each. S23 has a hard plastic one that worked well for him this, but I’m not convinced it will work for S24. The bathrooms are a different set up and I think one that hangs might be better, but then I worry about mildew.
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I also try to remind MYSELF it’s not THAT big of a deal, if we buy one kind and turns out the other is what’s needed, it’s a $10 decision. I’ve probably spent more than $10 of mental energy thinking about it.
(Much like how I realized we left one form out of an envelope that I’d already stamped and sealed, and I was trying to salvage the envelope or the stamp… and then thought, wait, this is for a 5k award, it’s ok to let the stamp go, just get a new one. LOL)
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We were just watching the game on TV! Perfect pastime as everyone is half dead on the couch after several days of Commencement celebrations.
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Tough loss, UNC is a force! Onward!
At my older child’s college, there were also tons of throw pillows in the dumpsters and donation bins. A parent on that college’s FB parents’ page said they owned storage rental units and they wouldn’t actually recommend renting one for dorm stuff, based on the local cost. In San Antonio, it’s about $75/month for a small unit with AC, so about 3 months = $225. Even if you share with someone else, it’s about $100 to store things. That really made me think about what was worth buying–do we really need those shelves? No, we do not. My student can stuff clothes, bed linens, and towels in two duffle bags and fly those home.
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In context of dorm stuff….and storage of the following summer….:
I had S21 throw bath mats, and other rugs or things away after the first year rather than store them bc (1) things get old and nasty after being in a dorm for a year, (2) things (clothing, towels, rugs, etc) can get quite a beating after being in dorm washer/dryers.
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In case anyone’s looking for additional “what to buy” resources, my TikTok feed has been full of college kids doing “what you need/what you don’t need” videos. Not sure how they appeared on my FYP, but they’re helpful inasmuch as watching several of them kind of provides a consensus view. From what I’ve observed, these are the things most kids recommend:
Fan
Storage Ottoman
Makeup Mirror
Large trash can
Vaccuum and/or Swiffer
Cold medicine/advil
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We will definitely be renting a small storage unit for each summer because that’s far cheaper than a rental car, gas, meals, and hotel to get all of the dorm stuff back home, only to redo the process again a couple of months later.
But if we lived within 6 hr driving distance? Yeah, would absolutely be driving all of it home. 
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We are local to our school and always keep a few items for friends who travel far.
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My oldest just finished freshman year and is at a school with four years of on campus housing. The only thing she threw away was the throw rug. Everything else was packed away for the following year, and stored at school. Maybe a third of her stuff came home with us for the summer. So, for those staying on campus for a few years, might be a different approach.
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That is so appreciated! D22’s roommate has kept all her stuff the past 2 summers and we are incredibly grateful to her and her parents.
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So after being deferred and then waitlisted at Vassar, D24 just got an email from admissions asking to have a phone call about her continued interest in the school. This has to mean she’s getting off of the WL, right? They don’t just have these conversations to continue to torture teenagers? ugh, this has been such an emotional rollercoaster for me… uh, I mean her.
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We did a storage unit for S22 after his first year. He put in quite a bit - fan, desk chair, white board, clothes hamper, trash can, vacuum, air fryer, etc in it. We could have brought it all home, but then it would sit in my dining room or something. This summer he only came home with clothes and musical instruments, as he is staying in the same apartment next year and they were able to leave things there.
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As a fellow parent of a D24 recently admitted off of a waitlist, I can completely empathize. It’s hard to switch gears after committing elsewhere. Hang in there!
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