Packing for College
By Kristi Vaughan
When it comes to getting ready for college, there are parental packing lists and there are student packing lists. In the following paragraphs we aim to give you the best of both worlds as well as information on where you can learn more.
Parental lists
Practical stuff is high on the parental lists. The lamps, wastebaskets, two sets of sheets (one dark colored for those weeks when they don't get washed), towels, etc. These things are definitely needed and colleges and bath/linen stores often will provide you with convenient checklists.
One such "Off to College"checklist can be found at the College Board website. Your (your child's) own college may even have sent a list like that published by Skidmore College in New York State.
Most lists will be full of the obvious but there are some items that might stimulate thought and questions. Take, for example, the "egg crate" you see listed so often. For the uninitiated - and those who've long slept on plump, thick mattresses - this is a squishy foam pad that adds cushioning to the ultra-thin mattresses found in most college dorms. Egg crates, featherbeds or fiberbeds are considered necessities by many a college student.
A quick glance at the college shopping lists found in stores or offered by colleges themselves shows that packing can be broken into several categories:
- Sleeping (sheets, quilts, pillows, etc)
- Bathing (towels, shower caddies, etc.)
- Studying (lamps, desk organizers, etc.)
- Organization (storage cubes, bed caddies, etc.)
- Eating (small refrigerators, microwaves, plastic cups, etc.)
- Fun (we leave this to your own imagination and desires)
The over-prepared (parent and student) also will arrive on campus well-stocked with garbage bags, enough laundry detergent to clean the whole dorm's clothes and a vacuum cleaner. And don't forget aspirin or other hangover (oops pain) relievers. But enough of the practical. What do students REALLY need? For that answer, ask those who have gone before or look at some of the student-sponsored lists posted on the Web.
Student packing list
Talk with nearly any student at the end of his, or her, freshman year and you'll hear something along the lines of, "I shouldn't have brought so much" or, I wish I had known I needed....." The first lament may be unavoidable and something that everyone needs to learn for himself, or herself.
The second, however, can be solved by talking with students and reviewing their lists. "A (sorta) practical packing list for college" that was printed in the Yale Daily News a few years back points out that the garbage bags your mother insisted on packing actually can be used to carry bread given away at midnight by a local cafe. And that a set of headphones you can connect to your computer really is a necessity - as much for drowning out noise as listening to music! So too does the article recommend wacky clothing for theme party nights and duct tape because you can do everything with it!
Students who have rolled out of bed only to put their feet on cold tile floors recommend small throw rugs. Others recommend throw rugs to cover up carpet that has seen better days.
On the fun-loving side, the student-sponsored list at Beloit College in Wisconsin adds in recreational items such as a cards as well as a u-shaped bicycle lock (all the harder to break into).
Don't forget
There are a couple of things both parents and students should remember.
- Dorm rooms are small so think carefully about what you really need
- Unless you are going to school in the wilds, you can probably fill in the gaps once you get there (even without a car there are delivery services).
- Befriending your roommate or the kids across the hall can be very helpful when you realize at the last minute that you forgot an ironing board, stapler or whatever.