<p>Yesterday I was in Bed,Bath & Beyond and I was surprised to see all of the college items out already. In fact their twin Xl section was wiped out and I asked one of the workers if people had actually bought things already and he said that they have been mobbed this past week. Yikes, isn’t it kind of early? My daughter has wanted to get her bedding taken care of but that is more what is going on the bed not sheets etc. When my son was heading to college I remember doing the shopping in early August not June! I saw people with storage containers, mattress pads, and they were shopping with the list BBB puts out for college students. This was not a college town either. I tend to pick stuff up here and there I guess but my daughter wants to pick all of her stuff out herself, my son could have cared less. When do most of you start shopping?</p>
<p>my son received college items for Christmas, per his request! So we have been purchasing things for over 6 months! LOL</p>
<p>It starts slowly - gifts and the like, and turns into a “dorm mountain” in pretty short order. Our S could have cared less, but mom had a list… Somewhere on CC here is a thread dedicated to “things my kid never took out of the box”. A visit to that thread is worthwhile. I wish we had been aware of it before sending S1 off in '10. </p>
<p>If your child is going to a distant school, you can buy your stuff and BBB will ship it to the store nearest to the school. That saves room in the minivan for the really important stuff, like a big screen TV. ;)</p>
<p>Be thoughtful about how much you pack - you can ship them their winter coat in October. Freshman dorm rooms tend to be SMALL. Last year my then Sophomore son volunteered to help move in freshman, and posted a pic on FB of a large rental truck someone brought. He went the other way. Found out later it was actually two freshmen, but still, it was a very large truck.</p>
<p>Get XL stuff early if you care what the pattern is. Boys are easier (my s couldn’t care less as long as the blanket reached his feet). At the end of August you can get great prices on sale but no selection. Almost everything but bedding can be found later in the season.</p>
<p>When we found things. Sorry, kind of a dumb answer, but that’s how it worked. We heard about a recent grad selling her dorm fridge, we bought it. That would have been May. We stopped throwing out/donating things that might be useful in a dorm room soph year in high school. As for the purchase of brand new items, we probably did start checking things out right after hs graduation and quickly had our own dorm mountain in the dining room.</p>
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<p>At one of the parent sessions at my D’s orientation last week, the presenter showed a slide with the question “How much will a dorm room hold!” The next slide showed a photo of a U-Haul truck with a “not” symbol over it. The next slide, a Toyota Corolla with its trunk open.</p>
<p>I found a winter coat cleaning a closet yesterday. One thing down. </p>
<p>The store was probably wiped out from people buying graduation gifts.</p>
<p>We probably will get a few things over the summer. The boy is a bit different than the girl.</p>
<p>try this for some thoughts around what NOT to bring</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/926984-10s-what-did-you-send-college-your-child-never-used.html&sa=U&ei=rqHiT8fsF4Wi8ATVgOGGCA&ved=0CAUQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNG69cN2kxWckuy3VCjK21ktSGpONQ[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/926984-10s-what-did-you-send-college-your-child-never-used.html&sa=U&ei=rqHiT8fsF4Wi8ATVgOGGCA&ved=0CAUQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNG69cN2kxWckuy3VCjK21ktSGpONQ</a></p>
<p>Do not undestimate on-line shopping. Can shop till you drop (without getting up from your couch) and get much better deals, specifically on bedding.<br>
D. does more and more on-line. She has no time. Even stuff like bridesmaids dresses are bought on-line any more. You can also shop in your favorite stor on-line or ask to sort them by price.</p>
<p>Another thing with the XL twin sheets, kids are going off to various camps/summer programs and often have to bring their own sheets, etc. </p>
<p>We waited until they found out who they had for roommates and what the general plan was for who was going to bring what (fridge, etc.). I ordered bedding online when I saw a good sale.</p>
<p>^Check about fridge/microwave with college dorms. We were NOT allowed to have own fridge, we had to rent from them. Microwave had to be only certain kind. Check before you buy any appliances.</p>
<p>With my first college student, we started shortly after graduation. It was fun and we were anxious and happy to do it!</p>
<p>We initially bought our first dorm sheets at BBB, but honestly the prices and quality of XL sheets was better at TJ Maxx - and that is where we have gotten dorm bedding ever since.</p>
<p>I didn’t buy anything for my kid until mid August. I had no trouble finding anything. We bought everything at Marshall’s. Didn’t spend a fortune either - about $150, if that. At Walmart we bought a lamp (desk one he had but needed one for next to his bed), extra storage container for under his bed (which he ended up not needing.) Did this a day or two before he left. Once he was at school, he went with his roommate to Walmart and the Salvation Army to buy the rest of the stuff they wanted (rug for the room, etc.) </p>
<p>A lot of things we didn’t have to buy as he had the stuff from when he was sleep away camp (laundry bag, shower caddy, extra blankets, etc.)</p>
<p>We did an unexpected trip to Target in mid-July last year on our way back from the Shore when the Garden State Parkway was a parking lot due to an accident (7:30pm on a Sunday is typically clear). We got the sheets, comforter, bowl chair, hamper & a few other accessories.</p>
<p>I…don’t quite understand the entire thing about getting new stuff for college. I just went with the sheets and towels I already had (although I did get myself new winter gear once I got to campus, but then again I went from Texas to Boston) and I picked up stuff from Goodwill after I got to MIT (mostly pots and pans and silverware).</p>
<p>I think the more important thing is not getting too much stuff. I recently had to move all my stuff about a mile via cart (and since I cook for myself I have a lot of stuff). Coincidentally, I’ve also made a resolution to throw out much of the (free) stuff I’ve picked up in the last year.</p>
<p>And incidentally, about fridges - ask about communal stuff. Both of the MIT dorms I’ve lived in have awesome communal kitchens. Also if your kid has a roomie, check with roomie too so you don’t have two fridges in the same dorm room.</p>
<p>^You must have XL twin at home. Most people do not have XL twin at home and have to buy XL twin sheet set(s).<br>
We also did not have specific microwave that dorm required. Room needed a rug. Some shelving/stacked bins…etc…it accumulated. Sorry, no communal kitchens were in D’s dorm and we could not buy fridge either as I have indicated, the only option was to rent from them, which we did and split the cost with roomate.</p>
<p>If I had to buy one item early (other than xl bedding) it would be a fan. As summer winds down, so does the fan inventory.</p>
<p>A lot of the stuff gone now is probably from graduation gifts and returning college students refreshing their stuff. I always do all my shopping early because I know how crazy things get once August rolls around.</p>
<p>The past couple of years I’ve done it when I went back to school for RA training. The Target in my college town had a great selection, and they were always well-stocked in early August when I went back (two weeks early) in anticipation of move-in. But move-in weekend and about 3 weeks after…forget it. Stores are completely wiped out. YMMV.</p>
<p>This year I’m transitioning from my alma mater to a new Grad School. Thankfully I already have most of the stuff I need from 2 years living in a studio apartment on my own. The only things I need are to update/refresh things that are too old or too worn out to use anymore (some kitchen things, bedding, etc.) And school supplies, of course. Probably get those in early August, since I’ll be at school for job training by late July.</p>
<p>As my director of student life always says to the parents at orientation: “If it won’t fit in the SUV, it won’t fit in the room.” No use bringing a U-Haul. </p>
<p>Have your student make a detailed list of everything they use in a typical week and bring only those items. If they don’t use it at home, chances are slim to none that they’ll use it when they move in.</p>