Items for college that most parents overlook...

<p>Poster putty for posters</p>

<p>Cold and/or flu remedies
Advil/Ibuprofen or whatever</p>

<p>Don't send white sheets--they never wash them until they are stained gray, so get a color!</p>

<p>How good are those command adhesive hooks??<<&lt;/p>

<p>Careful about those--they can damage the walls and then you'll be paying.</p>

<p>2cakes - I don't know if this is the one that was up last year, but here is one that we've used.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nssi.com"&gt;www.nssi.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;/p>

<p>Losses should be covered under your homeowner's or renter's policy. We have renter's insurance, and there was major damage to my son's dorm room last year when the sprinklers on his floor went off. He doesn't have much, and it was still $3500!! The insurance company covered everything but the $250 deductible with no problem.</p>

<p>Something you might forget if you attended orientation over the summer, that new school ID. You definintely don't want to have to stand in line and pay to replace it on the first day.</p>

<p>Those Tide sticks are a lifesaver. We got a lot of use out of them in my room.</p>

<p>Here's the dorm insurance we went with. No experience yet to say if it's any good, but the coverage for accidental damage to electronics seemed worth it.
<a href="http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/&lt;/a>
Seems a lot like the one posted above, and remarkably similar rates!<br>
The thing I just remembered to include for dragongirl; a "rice bag"... long before the buckwheat "heat in the microwave" theraputic stuff was available in stores, my grandma showed me how to make these. Take a rectangle of fabric, kind of 12x20 works well, and flannel is a favorite. Fold it into 12-10, sew along 2 sides, turn right side out so you have a little pillowcase. Sew one or two dividing seams down the length of the case - think down comforter here... fill with ordinary rice - about a pound an a half, you want it pretty soft.. turn under the raw edges of the last side and stitch.
FOr my microwave, I use 2 1/2 minutes on high for 1 1/2 pounds of rice. YMMV. test with shorter times first. Lovely warmth for tired muscles, cramps, cold feet...</p>

<p>Great list - I'll pack it all again for S2 next year. Don't worry if you forget something, someone else on the hall will have what you forgot!</p>

<p>I guess S1 is just unusual - I think I got him absolutely everything listed here (except the ipecac) all packed in low, long clear underbed storage bins and he sent most of it home by winter break with that look that said I was crazy and it wan't like he was spending a year at the north pole. </p>

<p>We brought lots of bottled water and replenished it every time we visited (local water at his school is yuckky) but we've decided to try a Brita pitcher this year.</p>

<p>The four things he left for his summer roommates: the rug, handheld DirtDevil vacuum, oscillating fan and room darkening roman shade I made.
Egg crate bed pad really made a difference; I'm a germ freak so I also bought one of those vinyl mattress covers to encase his mattress.</p>

<p>Did anyone mention a really loud alarm clock? ;)</p>

<p>i just went to the nyu summer program and the one thing i wished i'd brought more than anything was one of those eggcrate foam mattresses like sewbusy mentioned.</p>

<p>I suggest taking some sort of gastrointestinal medication. Pepto-bismol and Phazyme saved me lots of pain while getting used to that awful college food...</p>

<p>Re: eggcrates and memory foam---
A couple days ago we received our budget 1" memory foam mattress from Overstock.com. We opened it up to air out and it STILL stinks of plastic/foam/chemical-whatever. Will give it another day or so then may consider a return...</p>

<p>Protein bars, nail clipper, contact solution, floss, aspirin, etc.</p>

<p>those black cubes that prop up the bed
a water boiler with automatic shut off</p>

<p>don't know if anyone said it between pages 2-6 but:</p>

<p>Theraflu (i love this stuff)
a mug or 2
h2o2/alcohol/other disinfectants
cotton balls</p>

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<p>Even in the COLDEST climate, don't bother with this unless the STUDENT insists they need it. Honestly, my son went to school in a frigid city. The kids wore flip flops in the winter...and hoodies, not even coats. Long underwear would have been a waste of money.</p>

<p>The list of "must haves" differs for boys and girls (in my opinion). </p>

<p>DD NEEDED to loft her bed (she thought), DS didn't care at all.</p>

<p>Other things to bring....</p>

<p>Hangers...there won't be any in the closet if you don't bring them.</p>

<p>DS had a handheld vacuum with a telescoping handle. It was a huge hit.</p>

<p>Don't forget your cell phone charger! And added to this, my kids do not have alarm clocks....they use their cell phone alarms.</p>

<p>Passport- both kids' schools mentioned this.</p>

<p>Over the counter drugs/first aid box with items mentioned in previous posts. </p>

<p>A desk lock for your laptop.</p>

<p>thumper1 - as I was unlocking my own laptop at work I was just thinking to add a lock for laptops to this thread, and see that you just did! I have heard that laptops are one of the top items stolen on most campuses.</p>

<p>Thanks for mentioning the smell in new eggcrate mattress pads. I ordered D's months ago and just left it in the package. I just opened it up and will air it out for the next 2 weeks. It does have a slight plasticy smell.</p>

<p>Thanks for the insurance links. The custom laptop, ipod, cameras,etc are well worth the low premium.</p>

<p>Really big ziplock bags. Something that would fit, oh, say, an oreo box.</p>