"Getting ready for college" questions... what did your kids bring?

[khm]

This is a great list! Thank you for attaching that. This will be really helpful. A couple of questions: what made you think to bring a carbon- monoxide detector? I would never have thought of it. Do you think it was needed?

Second, what are Ikea Frakta bags? What do you use them for?

The bags are for moving in and for laundry (coming home at breaks). https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/frakta-...blue-90149148/ They rock! Dorms are generally very small and big suitcases are hard to store. My kid is in a giant dorm and I saw SO many of these on move in day. Amazon has similar ones. They can wear them like a backpack when they are loaded down. Buy many.

A small tool kit for sure, they often need to measure "will this fit in my room"? If they buy cheap endtables or whatever, they'll need a screwdriver or pliers.

All manner of cords and chargers. Power strips. My daughter had to use an extension cord through the open closet area to get her fridge in a decent spot, got her some of those rubber floor cord keeper things to keep the cord along the wall.

Command hooks area a "maybe". Her first roommate moved out and they damaged the heck out of the wall. It's a brand new building, but the walls aren't like regular drywall, it's like painted concrete or something. I dunno, but they were a fail.

A small square ottoman thing, storage and a place to sit.

A pocket and/or shelf for the side of the bed. My daughter's bed is super high up, handy place for the phone, airpods, charger, water bottle etc. She has both and uses them a lot.

Amazon Prime, she's on our Prime and uses it a lot.

Minimal kitchen stuff. She's pays a ton for the required meal plan and just uses that mostly. What she does have is just something else to store and keep tidy.

Dish/hand towels (they have a sink in-room).

She's on our cell phone plan, don't see that changing for a long time. Unless the family needs one provider and the student needs a different one for coverage reasons, I don't see why they can't stay on?

[AnnieW625]

Those college lists are exhausting! We are a few years away, but I can’t see myself telling DD1 to take that much stuff, and unless things have really changed in the last 24 years since I moved away from home at 20.

I really think you can get away with minimums so here is my list:
*XL twin sheets, thermal blanket, and quilt; maybe a throw.
*foam/egg crate mattress topper
*pillow or two
*computer, and printer (but there is no such thing as a small printer these days so I could see leaving that at home; and even way back when if in a pinch I printed for .05 a page in the student store or library….but so much is probably turned in online now so this YMMV depending on the college)
*shower supplies (tote w/shampoo, conditioner, etc)
*two plates, two bowls, two glasses, a few utensils
*collapsible drying rack
*foldable ironing board and iron (probably not an essential item these days, but it was nice to have on hand)…..if you don’t have at least this then the name of the nearest dry cleaner. You might be surprised that college guys often wear a button down shirt (Greek Life/rush/pledge class requirements), church, job interview, scholarship/society program interview…..again not all the time but imho a nicely pressed button down looks better vs. a non ironed one.
*coat hangers (probably the small thin ones, but tubular hangers work just fine as well)
*small set of tools (I kept mine in the trunk of the car)
*band aids, neosporin, tweezers, nail clippers, etc.
*laundry basket, and detergent (a list of what no to wash together, what to dry on hot and what to not)
*robe and slippers
*Swiffer wet, Swiffer dry broom, and Swiffer dusters (not around in 1998, but seriously this would’ve been used in my room)
*long charging cords

Things the college should have:
*a larger first aid kit
*vacuum
*general cleaning supplies (although a Force of Nature kit and a package of the microfiber towels might be good items to have in the room)
*mini fridge
*microwave

One thing to think about is where this stuff will be stored when not in school. I was lucky and stored most of the stuff at my grandparents house but I know a few people who rented storage units for the summer and I paid them like $5 for one summer to store my bike there.

I remember moving out of the dorms the first year and how much stuff I thought I had vs. how much I accumulated and then brought home with me. And I has all of the school related stuff stored at my grandparents house. I had one large suitcase and three largish boxes and when I showed up at the Southwest skycap to fly home I realized that I really had too much stuff and thankfully the skycap felt sorry for me but I really had one or two too many boxes and really should’ve been charged for them. It was only a problem that first year because I didn’t have a car (the next two end of semester and school year trips home I had a car).


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[gatorsmom]

These ideas are fantastic! Thank you all so much! DS1 has narrowed down his choice to his top 3, probably more like his top 2. We have thought of KrisM here a lot lately because she recommended Michigan Tech and it's in his top 2. He's going to visit it one more time in 2 weeks.

What he will need to bring will depend a lot on what the school permits, what it provides (printer? vacuum cleaner? mini fridge?) as well as what his roommate will bring. But it's good to have these complete lists so that we don't forget to consider something. Thank you again!

[JBaxter]

My older boys took Bedding, clothes ( underwear & socks for 2 weeks LOL) a couple nice outfits but mainly casual items. A bike coffee pot I made a plastic shoe box of handyman things hammer set of tiny screw drivers measuring tape duct tape and wd40. I did the same with meds plastic box of sudafed mucinex ibuprofen pepto tums bandaids triple antibiotic ointment antifungal vitamin C Zinc and D3 I didnt over send stuff like body wash and deodorant I just amazoned it when he said he was low. We basically sent the same stuff as we school shopped for It wasn't like they were far away from a store if they needed to replenish something. Oh if they live in a quad apartment ( 4 rooms w/ kitchen & living space) send a plunger LOL ours was popular evidently :P

[khm]

I'm not sure if it is still pertinent, but double-check IKEA before you go. We did a road-trip to hit IKEA for the basics last August and were STUNNED with their lack of supply. SO many empty shelves. If we'd have looked at their website before going, we'd have skipped it. No rugs, no towels, no TwinXL sheets, no rolling carts, no organizational stuff, etc.

They did have the big zipper bags though, lol.

[billysmommy]

This small clothes steamer has been used a lot! They have to dress to/from meets and this gets wrinkles out super quick. So many girls & guys on his floor have borrowed it. I have one I pack when traveling, so much easier than ironing!

https://tinyurl.com/2p8jfar8


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[SnuggleBuggles]

I used my 31 large tote bags. I did borrow a few IKEA bags freshman year and they were fine. My 31 bags were great too. I usually take almost all the bags back home with me. He doesn’t need them on campus.


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[AnnieW625]

I'm not sure if it is still pertinent, but double-check IKEA before you go. We did a road-trip to hit IKEA for the basics last August and were STUNNED with their lack of supply. SO many empty shelves. If we'd have looked at their website before going, we'd have skipped it. No rugs, no towels, no TwinXL sheets, no rolling carts, no organizational stuff, etc.

They did have the big zipper bags though, lol.

Yes to this! IKEA was still having stock problems even in early October which was the last time we went (to get a desk for DH).


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[Kindra178]

Are you on Grown and Flown? So many lists there!

I will add one more thing - 1000 years ago, I inherited a fancier dorm fridge from my mom's friend's kid who left college. It had a separate freezer section up top. That freezer was great for Lean Cuisines when I didn't feel like going to the cafeteria as a freshman. I know that the landscape of college food is different now plus the availability of delivery, paid for on the meal plan, but it was super helpful to me.

I can see my ds1 keeping ice cream in his room!

[essnce629]

This is a great list! Thank you for attaching that. This will be really helpful. A couple of questions: what made you think to bring a carbon- monoxide detector? I would never have thought of it. Do you think it was needed?

Second, what are Ikea Frakta bags? What do you use them for?

Because I'm obsessed with safety! And when I talked to school officials on the parent's page, they said there were carbon monoxide detectors in the hallways and basement, but not in individual rooms. They said we were welcome to bring our own. They did have smoke alarms and sprinklers in every room. So we brought the same carbon monoxide detector that we have at home-- battery powered and attached to the wall with Command velcro strips.

The Ikea Frakta bags are the most popular item on all college boards! They are used instead of suitcases because they are only $4.99 each and hold a ton of stuff and pack down to the size of a wallet. We even flew with them after vacuum packing all of DS1's clothing and bedding into them. These are my posts on Dorm Chatter about packing the Frakta bags.

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