<p>Book bag or backpack?</p>
<p>I’d go for a backpack. Less chance of hurting your knees/back from carrying all the weight on one side.</p>
<p>Another option is a rollie backpack. Definitely get a backpack that has a waist strap to transfer weight to the hips.</p>
<p>“Another option is a rollie backpack. Definitely get a backpack that has a waist strap to transfer weight to the hips.”</p>
<p>I have never seen a college student use waist straps, and very seldom use a rollie backpack. If there are significant back problems at play, maybe, but for the most part even I would be kind of embarrassed. And that’s saying something. </p>
<p>There are plenty of cute backpacks online at eBags and Amazon. I have the Jansport Big Student Pack, but some students might prefer a bag with a laptop sleeve. Though, I will say that I don’t see girls carrying backpacks as often, and they often seem to use stuff such as a canvas tote to carry books and such. Whatever she is comfortable with should be fine.</p>
<p>I had an HP laptop backpack. I liked it because the straps and back were ultra padded and it made it more comfortable. My 4 year old laptop recently survived a fall down the stairs in that bag. (I was less lucky.)</p>
<p>I agree that most girls use canvas totes, but at my school girls with backpacks were not rare enough to be unusual. Personally, I had some silly phase in high school where I refused to use both straps of my backpack for fear of looking “nerdy” and ALSO had a standard laptop bag on one shoulder, and four years later my shoulders are still messed up. I would never wear a one shoulder bag for school again.</p>
<p>Get a locker in a building close to most of your classes. Carrying all the big books around all day is crazy. Most classes you don’t even need to bring one most days. A rolling bag would be the biggest nerd item ever.</p>
<p>As a person who probably requires a rolling bag for her back and knees, I’m sad you guys think that =(</p>
<p>Although it would probably not make sense to get a rolling bag for college if you’re in an area that gets lots of snow or rain.</p>
<p>The schools I’ve attended have generally only had lockers for musical instruments. I think you could get a locker in the engineering building at the last one I went to on special request, but they certainly weren’t widespread. Unless you’re commuting, it just makes more sense to keep your books in your room and only carry around what you need for your classes/any homework you want to do.</p>
<p>I use a rolly as well, due to knee problems.</p>
<p>Ask her what she wants. My daughter used a Northface backpack with a laptop sleeve and seemed quite happy with it.</p>
<p>The nursing students at my daughter’s college used rollings totes/backbacks because they needed to bring really heavy texts to class. That’s how you could pick out the nursing students because no one else used them. </p>
<p>And they are only practical if you have flat surfaces to walk on. Stairs are no fun with them and forget grassy areas.</p>
<p>My daughter got a Vera Bradley tote bag for her freshman year. Many of her fellow seniors got them as graduation gifts.</p>
<p>We bought my daughter a good old fashioned LLBean laptop bag- in lilac. She will be in classes with mainly guys, so she figured that they are less likely to take her backpack by mistake.</p>
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<p>lol, please don’t listen to this poster’s advice unless you want your daughter to be a social outcast</p>
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<p>lol please grow up and realize college isn’t highschool.</p>
<p>At my daughters school the Longchamp tote seems to be the most popular choice for carrying books. Remember it isn’t like HS where they go for the day and have to carry everything with them. They might not even need the books in class or if they do it might just be for one or two classes at a time.</p>
<p>My girls wouldn’t be caught with a backpack, even in high school. They use a tote bag. In college they only have few classes a day, how many books would they need to carry?</p>
<p>My fashionable daughter uses a shoulder tote to carry her books - usually only the books she’ll need for one or two classes at a time. The Longchamp bag she took to school quickly wore out, and she replaced it with a leather bag - but I’ll not disclose the brand for fear of heavy criticism.</p>
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<p>Actually my daughters started to rip at the bottom seam too, but since they have a lifetime warranty, I sent it back and they repaired it good as new.</p>
<p>At D’s all-female school they also favor the Longchamp bag. I had never even heard of them. D went to Morocco this year for a school program and purchased a bag that looks deceptively similar for about $7, and uses it for her books. Before that she used a canvas tote bag (which she also used in HS).</p>
<p>I work at a different university in a different part of the country. I’ve seen it all: rolling bags, tote bags, and I even saw a girl with a Twilight “Team Jacob” backpack last year. I texted D and joked I was going to get her one, did she want “Team Jacob” or “Team Edward”?</p>
<p>find out what the girls at her college carry.</p>
<p>I only have boys, so I was surprised to learn that various colleges have different traditions for girls and their stuff…some use messenger bags, some use Vera Bradley items, some use North Face stuff.</p>
<p>If you buy the wrong thing, your D may later complain. So have her go to her class’ Facebook page and ask what the trend at her school is.</p>