I am waiting to hear back from my colleges but am very excited to begin thinking about my next 4 years in a new place.
There are many articles out there telling students what to bring to college and they all seem like no-brainers (bed sheets, warm clothes, clothes hangers etc.)… or things that I would never bring (sewing kit, salt and pepper shakers etc).
My question is, what kinds of things did you bring that ended up being very helpful or fun, or what did you wish you had?
With a birthday coming up and some extra money to spend, I would like to get some things that are not exactly necessities but will be very fun/useful.
I wish I had spent more time decorating my dorm room walls. I didn’t put any decorations up at all because I tend to be a minimalistic person, but the bare white walls get really depressing particularly in the winter. So maybe spend a little time thinking about what you want to put on the walls, shelves, desk, and bed. Maybe get a cute ribbon board or one of those clothesline picture hangers or some doodads for your desk.
You should totally bring a small sewing kit, by the way. Helpful if you pop a button or a hem.
I am trying to think of things my daughter ended up asking for…
Small net bags that are usually sold to wash delicates. My daughter had one for her bras, but has since asked for several more and washes her socks in one and her underwear in another. She never loses these smaller items in the dorm laundry.
Her computer did not have a disc drive, so she asked for an external drive to play DVD movies. The drive was really inexpensive and small. Students on her floor share their DVDs. We also bought her some DVDs of older movies that she likes for pennies and free Prime shipping.
My advice would be to specifically save it for fun college things: you could find you personally don’t need decoration or a CD Drive, but that you want item Y. It will be clear once you get there, and these days its not a hassle to get things after you get there. It could be streamers to throw down your hall or a nicer desk chair or a cool decoration - but I think you will be happier filling the need once you realize what it specifically is than trying to predict now.
That said, this is a great thread idea just to have some fun and to see if anyone has cool ideas or experiences, so by no means do I want to lessen the previous suggestions or discourage new ones. Hope people post more cool stuff and ideas
