<p>Chair pad came from Target.</p>
<p>A daybook or planner. (very helpful to me at least)</p>
<p>Thanks, thumper1 and Novelisto, for the chair pad info.</p>
<p>Well, I have a compulsion, but I must.have.Q-Tips! It's a small thing, but especially if you are like me and have an ear cleaning compulsion, they're something that you'll want and be upset if you don't have (and yes, as long as you are careful, it's alright to clean your ears with them). </p>
<p>Something else that I wouldn't have thought of is a super-absorbent towel for my hair. As a girl with thick, curly hair, I always use two towels at home (one for my hair and one for my body), but that's not practical at school. A specialized hair towel (or camping towel, which is what I bought) is much more portable and practical to wash. </p>
<p>Another good suggestion: a foreign language dictionary for the language of your choice. That's something that I already own, but probably would have forgotten. And it's something that doesn't have a great internet facsimile (at least not for my language), unlike a traditional dictionary. </p>
<p>For those eyeglass wearers: a little portable eyeglass cleaning kit, or wipes. My glasses are constantly dirty, and I love having cleaner with me at all times. If you don't have it around, you'll end up scratching your glasses on tissues or your shirt or something, which doesn't really work anyway. The wipes are great, especially for boys who might find the little kit cumbersome. </p>
<p>Of course, I do think it is important to really ask yourself (or your child) whether you're going to actually USE this stuff. Example: I guess I just have a hearty immune system, but all I need in my medicine box is Excedrin and band-aids, and maaaaybe an antihistamine. It wouldn't make sense for me to bring an arsenal of OTC drugs, because I would just never use them. So...don't go too nuts.</p>
<p>Oh, and question: does someone want to convince me that water filters are really necessary? Because as a person who has happily and healthily drank unfiltered Lake Michigan water for their entire life, I'm not really buying it, but I'll consider advice.</p>
<p>Wall calendar (kids' choice of pictures, LOL) </p>
<p>My kids like the medium-sized, a bit smaller than the desk blotter size we keep at home for the family. I taught them to use big arrows and mark out their big deadlines (midterms; school vacations; 3-day weekends; religious holidays; major project due dates). Seeing the broad overview from across the room helped. This was in addition to the micro-level stuff they kept in their planner. As freshmen, they weren't used to tracking national holiday dates, since they relied on family-talk for that. </p>
<p>Our kids post a Jewish lunar calendar because of the varying holiday dates each year. If someone asks you, "when's Hannukkah" it's nice to know the answer, as it's different every year.</p>
<p>Perhaps there's a Chinese lunar calendar as well?</p>
<p>I know all that info's on the computer, but they like to also see it.</p>
<p>I don't know if I'll be able to hang it up (it's kind of heavy...any suggestions?), but I love my dry-erase calender. I have a two month one, and once I spend the 1-2 minutes to fill in the dates, it's great. I write down when I have a paper or project due, or an appointment, or test, and I love being able to just erase the square at the end of the day and feel like I've accomplished something. Obviously, having two months makes it bigger, but it really came in handy, especially last year, when I had application due dates and interviews and college nights and stuff like that weeks down the road. I've had a variety of day planners and homework notebooks and stuff like that, and even a smallish blank whiteboard, and this is honestly the first organizer that I have actually used and enjoyed.</p>
<p>One lifesaver for me was a bunch of those adhesive hooks. I stuck mine up right inside the door (there were walls on either side of the door for about a foot for each closet) facing towards the rest of the room and it was a perfect place to hang wet coats and hats and scarves.</p>
<p>Also, if you're from a warm weather place going to cold- bring snow boots! So many people at my school did not because they didn't know to. </p>
<p>Eyeglass kits are important too (your glasses WILL break and you WILL need to fix them and it WILL be right when no one else has a repair kit). Ditto to bandaids.</p>
<p>Thanks for this thread. Over time, my D and I have been compiling lists that we divided up into categories and sub-categories. Thanks to all for some great tips and suggestions we hadn't thought of previously.</p>
<p>It's strange how much the "essentials" differ school to school, person to person. For a lot of these, you'll need to wait until you arrive (or know specific details about your dorm) before you know whether or not you might actually need them (for example, some dorms will supply all cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, trash bags, etc., desk might have built-in file drawer, some dorms or schools don't have cable...and when you're packing this much at one time, every spare inch can count :p). </p>
<p>Some odd things I really appreciated having, and some of these are redundant:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Toolkit (never used most of it, but hammer and tape measure were very helpful)</p></li>
<li><p>Small sewing kit (found out a few weeks into school that my comforter had a chronic tendency to come apart at its seams)</p></li>
<li><p>Crayons and construction paper (I know they seem unnecessary at this age, but they can be hard to find in a dorm, and nice to have around on some occasions...making a card for a friend, for example. When I moved in, my roommate got SO excited that I had brought crayons. We ended up printing coloring pages from the internet, framing them on the construction paper, and the whole hall contributed to creating a 'gallery.' It was a bizarre but entertaining way to all start meeting each other.)</p></li>
<li><p>DEFINITELY 'yes' with the thermometer. I never relied on one until getting to college, when it became both validating and helpful to be able to truthfully say "I can't come to class, I have a fever of 104..."</p></li>
<li><p>Footstool (mine was from Target). This could wait until you get there. Bought it on a whim and got TONS of use out of it for all 4 years. Hanging posters, killing bugs up on the wall, reaching top shelf in closet, hanging Christmas decorations in the dorm room (another use for aforementioned construction paper), and, best of all: acted as a TV tray/lap table when eating with friends in the room, watching movies, or whatever. Stood in for a bedside table while sick. It was just handy all around.</p></li>
<li><p>Sunscreen.</p></li>
<li><p>A small duffel (if flying and don't have room for another piece of luggage, buy a collapsible duffel and pack it). Of course I used all the big luggage to pack for school, but this was a problem when it came time to go somewhere for the weekend or fly home for Thanksgiving!</p></li>
<li><p>Favorite movies, favorite books, a few unread books, some printed off photos from home.</p></li>
<li><p>Manuals to electronics.</p></li>
<li><p><em>Something to check when you arrive campus</em>: Whether cell phone gets reception in dorm room. My freshman year, I got zero reception in the whole dorm, though it was fine elsewhere on campus, and our room phones couldn't make long distance calls, so a phone card was necessary.</p></li>
<li><p>Sharpies.</p></li>
<li><p>If you're bringing music CDs with you, try to avoid bringing the originals. After a close friend had his entire huge CD case stolen from his room, I burned copies of all the CDs I wanted to bring and just brought those, so I never had to worry. It didn't end up being necessary, but it was definitely a comfort (also good since they tend to get borrowed, lent, scratched, lost).</p></li>
<li><p>I always brought a box, like a photo storage box or shoebox, in which I could store letters, ticket stubs, wristbands, notes, and any other notable memorabilia. I'm a sentimental pack-rat, though, so to each his own...</p></li>
<li><p>To second at least one previous poster: boardgame(s)/cards (preferably at least one thing that's playable by 2 people). Sometimes going out is just too much of a hassle, but watching a movie is too boring.</p></li>
<li><p>Tidepen. Lifesaver.</p></li>
<li><p>A blanket that can easily be carried into someone else's room for a movie night, or used at the desk on a cold night.</p></li>
<li><p>I brought a big sheet with me starting somewhere in the middle of my second year, and now I regard it as a move-in essential. It was just an old king sheet and it worked perfectly as a beach blanket, picnic blanket, thing to spread out on the lawn during studying or concerts, blanket during Sept. and May. in my unairconditioned SoCal dorm...</p></li>
<li><p>A fan (if room is non-AC, then an oscillating stand-up, but even if room has AC, I always found a little battery desk-fan very convenient).</p></li>
<li><p>You could look it up online at school, or print the info off at home, but it might be helpful to know the locations of the <em>second</em> nearest Target/Wal-Mart/BBB. The closest will all be pretty much stripped.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>. . . . . . .</p>
<p>The good news is that most of this stuff only seems "essential" once you have it, and as long as you can avoid being stuck in a true emergency or inconvenient situation, then none of this is hard to bring or have sent from home, buy at Target, or hunt down with friends. I always had huge turnover...I'd bring a ton of stuff home at winter break, but bring just as much back with me to school. I did appreciate starting out with more than I needed, though, because it was nice to have all my bases covered in those first weeks.</p>
<p>And Advantagious, I laughed at your water filter comment. My mom sent me one and we tried to use it a few times, but it was just such a pain. I went to school in LA, so tap water was kind of gross, but keeping the water filter full was a near impossibility. Just buying the huge, cheap flats of water bottles worked best for most people I knew. But tap water everywhere is different, so whether or not you go the water filter route, be prepared to find out that you've been spoiled ;)</p>
<p>I did the same student insurance. For $75 my D has $5000 coverage with a $100 deductible. COnsidering she has laptop, iPod, digital camera, camcorder, and golf clubs, it is well worth it. But she has to pay the deductible if anything is lost/stolen, which is an incentive to be careful with everything.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>does someone want to convince me that water filters are really necessary?>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>DS went to school in a large city with nasty tasting water. The Brita pitcher made the water drinkable (it also didn't smell, and wasn't discolored). Of course you could buy Spring water in bottles...but DS found that to be way to expensive.</p>
<p>Additional papers:</p>
<p>Birth Certificate if not bringing a passport
List of Local Doctors in your PPO or HMO
Copy of AP scores </p>
<p>Also, we use a mail order pharmacy for recurring prescriptions. So I am sending 1) a sheet of preprinted mailing labels, 2) Copies of a completed form with all the identifying information that must accompany a prescription, 3) Information about copays for both the mail order and retail pharmacy and 4) stamps and envelopes.</p>
<p>Airborne Tablets
Duct Tape
Nalgene Bottles</p>
<p>I don't think that it's parents' responsibility to pack things for kids going to college. I have never even packed for my kids when they were going to summer camp.</p>
<p>I don't see any reason to bring to college things that are readily available locally. It's not as if colleges are in the middle of barren deserts. </p>
<p>Many of the items listed are available at campus bookstores or are probably available within walking distance of a campus. If not, students can take public transportation (if available) or can catch a ride with another student. That's a nice way, too, of getting to know people.</p>
<p>I wouldn't bring something like a passport that easily could lost in the excitement of starting college. That's something parents could easily mail if the student ends up needing it.</p>
<p>I do most of the packing except for clothes. I enjoy the organizational challenge. I send them off with a very nice supply of toiletries. Of course they can buy those things at the local CVS/campus store....but I also enjoy the challenge of getting things at a good price and absolutely hate to spend more than needed. My children do appreciate this. When they start the school year, especially as freshmen, they shouldn't have to worry about everything. Now when they run out of contac solution they are on their own. If they are lucky enough to get a care package, they like getting new toiletries as much as the cookies. Easier and cheaper for them.</p>
<p>I'd think long and hard about sending them with a passport or original,raised seal birth certificate. And then I wouldn't do it. They certainly would know in advance if those items were needed and arrangements could be made.</p>
<p>I pack for myself, but sometimes my mom helps since she's much better at getting everything to miraculously fit--very useful if you're flying to college. </p>
<p>It's a lot easier to buy some of these things at home if you can bring them easily to college. Since you know the stores at home, you can find better deals much easier than in college, when you're more apt to just get things from the first place you look (and of course places on or near campus can dramatically overcharge). If I buy things at home, I can pick them up at places I'm already driving to, saving me the time and money I would need to spend if I needed public transportation to take me to a place to shop that had reasonable prices.</p>
<p>I would never take a birth certificate to college. Why would the student need it? I've never needed my original birth certificate for anything. I've never even needed a copy of it. I can understand a passport if the student or the family travels frequently. I've kept my passport in my own possession for years because we travel a good amount. It also means I'm used to keeping track of it.</p>
<p>electric tea pot to whip up tea, cocoa, cup-o-soup and that major college food group-raman.</p>
<p>Originaloog, most campuses would consider that a fire hazard and wouldn't allow it.</p>
<p>Birth certificate, very specifically for colleges near Canadian or Mexican borders... ???Maybe. For Mexican border crossing, I've been advised they need some proof of citizenship, and this is one possible proof.</p>
<p>Here in Buffalo, it's very normal for college students to cross the Canadian border to visit Niagara Falls on the Canadian side (30 min) or Toronto (90 minutes +) for recreation or cultural enjoyment on weekends. They go by bus or cars.</p>
<p>At this time a passport's not needed at the border, although it may become so within the year. I've been following Homeland Security news and local articles, and I'd be reluctant to tell anyone what's needed now or in the coming year.</p>
<p>A government-issued ID with picture has been okay, but not every college student has a driver's license. One alternative is to bring a picture ID plus a birth certificate, or at least this is how our area high school trips have kids travel before many have drivers' licenses. We forget in this society that it's not mandatory to drive; many come from non-driving cities where public transpo is so good there's little incentive to learn. Others get rushed before college and don't get a license until mid-college or later. </p>
<p>This is a reason to bring a birth certificate. I sure didn't send one for my 2 older kids attending colleges far from those two national borders, but will send papers for the kid going to L.A. Actually, I might wait until he writes me that they are needed by a school trip, as I'm not so eager for him to run across any borders as a newbie freshman. But Canada is a completely safe and wonderful weekend experience for any student at any age, IMHO.</p>
<p>BTW, you don't need all these papers to get into Canada; it's getting back into the U.S. at the border that's getting harder all the time here, due to national security.</p>