<p>I know some colleges prohibit things like hot plates and toaster ovens. So that might be something to take off the list. Has anyone brought those things and it was fine?</p>
<p>Too many clothes. They need a reason to do laundry.</p>
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<p>One of my good friends uses a laptop lock.</p>
<p>kyledavid80- what the college doesn’t know won’t hurt them :P.</p>
<p>But seriously, bring one if you want, just hide it when RA’s come by your room for fire inspection and end of the semester inspection.</p>
<p>Bring a hardcopy phone list for key people. Many kids don’t know mom or dad’s cellphone numbers or work numbers, or numbers for any other relative or close friends because everything’s already programmed into their cell phones. But if that cellphone gets lost, or the charger gets lost, or… it is still nice to be able to call some folks.</p>
<p>Whether to bring a printer depends on the school. My d has really liked having her own for her own convenience. She loved not having to run out of the dorm at 4 in the morning (particularly in winter) to grab a paper out of a printer.</p>
<p>Dont bring guns.</p>
<p>You don’t need to bring very many office supplies. My Mom packed me like 5-6 notebooks, and in all honesty, I only used two the whole year and maintained good grades. Every school should have a bookstore in which you can purchase office supplies.</p>
<p>Rethinking this from #34. I remember DS mommy doing the packing the first time . A lot of the stuff came back when mommy visited on Parents Weekend. Even more came back at Christmas. </p>
<p>Rather than “Things you DON’T need to pack for college,” could be more easily established by packing Mommy first into the first baggage and leave everything else at home. Mommy gets to college and sees that whats really needed is a couple of changes of clothes and that’s it. Mommy quickly discovers that she, herself, is extraneous and should be shipped home right away.</p>
<p>Too many plastic storage bins. This year we decided to pack almost everything in paper boxes with lids. Those that S wants to keep can be easily stowed/stacked. Others can be tossed when empty.</p>
<p>Your parents, and their helicopter(s).</p>
<p>Do not bring deodorant; hygiene is overrated</p>
<p>Depends on the person, but I liked to leave video game systems behind as I figured they would be a distraction, and someone else would probably have one. Now that I’m a senior though and have figured out how much studying is necessary to do well, I bring it with me. </p>
<p>Other than that, I always say remove 1/4 of the clothes one plans on bringing. I tend to overpack like crazy, so now I try to go through all of my shirts and decide whether or not I’d actually wear certain things or not. Most of the time, I bring stuff thinking I might wear it, but in all reality I never will. </p>
<p>BTW, I didn’t bother to read through the entire thread, but I can’t imagine any outlandish or earth-shattering information here.</p>
<p>Stuff to pack for college, taken from the A-Z packing thread, in Word format:</p>
<p>[RapidShare:</a> Easy Filehosting](<a href=“http://rapidshare.com/files/126411615/list_of_stuff_for_college.doc.html]RapidShare:”>http://rapidshare.com/files/126411615/list_of_stuff_for_college.doc.html)</p>
<p>I insisted S bring a 2nd set of sheets. They came back still wrapped in plastic. S said he did wash his sheets a few times, but he just took them off the bed, washed them, and put them back on. I still think they would have been useful had he gotten sick on his bed and not felt up to laundry…</p>
<p>Also we sent him with a fleece blanket and a comforter. One or the other would have been enough. At the end of the year he called asking for a beach towel to lay on the grass with; I reminded him of the fleece throw which would do the same thing, but he preferred a beach towel. </p>
<p>I also sent him with a book of stamps, I think he only used 4 of them. </p>
<p>Actually DS went to school packed pretty light. His roommate, on the other hand… a lifetime supply of clothes, Gatorade and junk food. I didn’t know whether to feel proud of DS for being so low-maintenence, or whether to feel bad about myself as a mom who didn’t provide/send enough stuff for her kid!</p>
<p>Know your kid! The best piece of advice, I think. I can tell you that when I left for college in the Dark Ages, I had my stuff sent. Waaaay tooooo much stuff. How sorry I was! I moved a lot in the 4 years and what a pain hauling that stuff around. Storing stuff can be a problem, moving murderous, and if you ever end up in an apartment, oh, the stuff you collect.</p>
<p>It’s a lot cheaper to just buy what you need, even at those book store prices than to load up on lots of stuff that you are not going to ever use. My kids lost a lot of stuff that they just didn’t feel like hauling.</p>
<p>Too many clothes often means letting the wash go too long and out of control. Also more clothes to be lying around. Better to have just 10 days worth of stuff if that. Absolutely do not bring anything dear to you as there is theft in the dorms at times, and many kids are just plain old careless. </p>
<p>Unless you are going to a school truly in the outlands, you will be able to find most things locally, and you can mail things as kids need them.</p>
<p>My D (and everyone else it seemed) brought a bike at first and the bike racks were a lot emptier by Xmas. </p>
<p>Our S, a rising freshman, will definitely NOT bring video games. However, we got him an expensive guitar as a graduation present; he won’t bring that either unless we ensure that it’s insured…</p>
<p>BOOKS. Bring no more than 4 of your favorite books; you will NOT reread your favorite 30 books that you think you can’t live without. I learned this the hard way and needlessly lugged dozens of pounds of books back and forth when I moved in and out.</p>
<p>Yes, don’t bring all your favorite books. THis is advice from soon to be college sophomores as a group; save the space…
My kid sent that…</p>
<p>STDs - dont bring 'em</p>