I’m currently writing a post for Forbes about which items NOT to buy for college. I’m looking to speak with current college students who have felt overwhelmed by shopping for back-to-school supplies. I’d also like to speak with current college students who use Dropbox or Google Drive often. Please comment below if you match one of these descriptions and would like to be featured in my story!
I am a current college student and I use Google Drive like it’s my religious duty.
@preamble1776 thanks for the response, I’ll message you.
I’m still looking for more sources!
I’m a college student who uses Google drive. Probably not a good idea to bring a high school letterman jacket or the sweatshirt of a school the freshman got rejected from.
@whenhen - I never understood that. I know a girl who was obsessed with Brown in high school and she went through the entire application process and was devastated after her rejection yet now in college she still wears Brown gear regularly? She is always sporting either a Brown tee or hoodie. It’s so confusing. It seems almost masochistic? LOL.
What NOT to buy? Boy, this is going to be a long list…
Biggest purchase regret I’ve made for college was a large laptop. My college laptop was a 17’ Dell Inspiron and while the computer itself was functional and reliable, it was ridiculously annoying to carry with me.
Do NOT get a laptop or computer that is really heavy or larger than 15 inches. You will have enough to haul around when commuting and going from class to class, you do NOT need a giant brick of a computer weighing you down as well.
You could just keep the 17 inch laptop or a desktop at your dorm and have a small laptop you use to carry around the campus. And with google drive you don’t even need a flash-drive to transfer information from each laptop. I find a bigger screen more comfortable and easier.
Though if you’re on a budget then just go for the small laptop for portability reasons.
Dont buy condoms. That’s for sure.
Don’t buy a binder, folder, and notebook for each class. Nobody wants to carry that to class, and while it might have been okay for high school, it’s overboard for college. Professors usually aren’t giving students hand-outs each class. Just stick to a couple 5-subject notebooks.
I ended up doing that exact thing last year when I finally had the money to get a smaller machine and started commuting instead of living on campus. Unfortunately, for the first three years of college, I had no choice but to carry around my big laptop or leave it at my dorm and just print out everything/use library computers.
The bigger screen didn’t actually do a whole lot for me except when I was gaming or watching Netflix.
There’s so much stuff that the adds try to get you to buy for college. You don’t need 95% of it. For my freshman year of college, I bought a desk lamp, a set of towels, and a set of sheets. I headed to school across the country by train, so that definitely forced me to limit myself. But I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. People tend to get psyched up by all the ads, I think.
As for Dropbox/Google Drive, I mostly use Dropbox. I’d prefer to use Google Drive, but since they don’t have a version for Linux, it’s mostly Dropbox for now. Both are especially good for group projects, and Dropbox also functions as yet another backup and a place to store research data to share with my collaborators.
I actually did use a notebook and usually a folder for each class. Some professors like to print everything out.
Too many clothes, laptop lock, iron and ironing board (Once in a while you might have to dress up, but there is a very good chance you can borrow one from somebody)
Edit: Printer (can be useful, but there should be a computer lab nearby). Cooking equipment if you don’t plan on cooking much, a semester’s worth of food, large book/DVD/CD collections (some schools let you rent DVDs and cooking equipment from the dorms)
Related thread:
Actually, I need to purchase a printer because all of the printers at my school print with coupons and watermarks on the paper. I can’t hand that in to a professor.
textbooks from school. Too expensive.
this is a good thread…My parents want to buy everything but I am not sure what to bring for computer engineering supplies…If you run out of something you can always go to the school store but they want me to be well prepared. If anyone goes to UMD and lived in Hagerstown Hall…your comments would be great, such as something to sit on…rooms seem small…should they get a trunk or fold up chair…what book supplies…etc?
The college I’m going to provides furniture like desks, chairs, drawers, etc. in all of the dorms.
Less is more. Everything you bring to school in August (and more) has to go back home or get sent to storage in May. With mailorder even students on remote campuses can buy what they need quickly. It makes more sense than packing a ton of “maybe” items
Just bought a kayak. I would not recommend bringing one to a college dorm unless you really want to piss off a future roommate.
As for the textbook thing. Be wary. Sometimes books have an electronic access code that can only be obtained through the school bookstore or something like that. Be sure to check before ordering online.