<p>I really enjoyed buying my own stuff and packing for college.In fact, I didn't appreciate back then the fact that my mom bought my linens and towels. The colors and designs that she picked out didn't appeal to me, and I replaced those as soon as I could </p>
<p>My sons appeared to feel the same. S#2 is off today buying more things for college. </p>
<p>Both sons are like me -- very picky about what they want -- and therefore don't want someone else to do the shopping for them. Sons also were very good at getting good deals for their money. In fact, for things like this, both have more patience than I do in looking for good deals.</p>
<p>Coarranged, I thought an enclosed teapot that only boils water, and plugs into the wall like any other simple appliance, is okay. </p>
<p>In older dorms where microwaves were forbidden, this is how some kids get by. That's NOT an electric hot plate with an open burner! That would be terribly dangerous, if a random paper or curtain brushed across it. </p>
<p>I thought that electric things that are made to heat up are often against the rules. Of course, for our room roommate and I are getting a larger fridge than allowed, a microwave, and now that I've seen it mentioned maybe an electric tea pot! :)</p>
<p>Son has an allows electric tea pot that has automatic shut off. I didn't have difficulty finding one-it was more expensive than the regular ones. He uses his and lends it out quite a bit. Microwaves are forbidden at his school-you will get caught because their use usually blows a fuse.</p>
<p>My son's dorm explicitly prohibits, among other things, halogen lamps, hotplates, blenders, and George Forman Grills. I would put the plug-in tea kettle in the category with hotplates just in case, and tell him to heat tea/ramen water in the microwave (which is allowed). Interesting the variation in rules, huh?</p>
<p>Last year as S was getting ready to leave for school, he was working full time and trying to see his friends. He's perfectly capable of organizing himself, but I actually enjoy it. So, I asked. Asked him if he wanted to choose his own towels (didn't care), what color he'd like (didn't care). Etc. We made lists and divided up the responsibilities: he shopped for his toiletries and other things, I shopped for bedding, towels, stuff he didn't think of because he hadn't lived in a dorm before, etc. It worked out fine; no toes were stepped on and we didn't forget much! (Though there were a few 2nd-day packages sent that first few weeks)</p>
<p>This year, he had his last day at work a week ago , and I'm extremely busy at work; he's doing it all himself. I think these things work out if we're all careful about making assumptions.</p>
<p>My son's school has told him to bring his original SS card, his passport, or an original birth certificate in order to have a campus job.
Which would you take?
We have had negative experiences with ID theft and are very careful with SS # - I am NOT excited about him carrying that card!
Advise?</p>
<p>^^^Passport. Make 2 sets of copies of the 1st 2 pages and have 2 sets of duplicate passport photos. He takes one set of of the copies with him to store in a different place than his passport, you keep one set at home.</p>
<p>ID theft is usually associated with credit cards. If an ID thief wants the SS numbers they will break into the college computer system and get thousands of them. Carrying the card is no more risky than carrying a drivers license. But if you are paranoid, have him mail it home registered mail return receipt or fedex air, after he gets his job lined up.</p>
<p>In my (albeit limited) experience, birth certificate has been the easiest and quickest to replace. But whatever ends up going to campus, just keep it in a safe and perhaps unpredictable place (i.e. in a folder in the bookshelf instead of in the wallet or sitting out on the desk). There's really no incentive for most people to take such things, so as long as they stay in a file drawer or folder somewhere, I really can't imagine any problems arising.</p>
<p>Just don't decide to bring everything but the kitchen sink. Half the stuff we brought from home (and we looked like Okies traveling during the dustbowl) were easily found in the stores around campus and for not much more, if any, in price. It is such a hassle to cart that stuff to college.
Kids don't need half of the stuff they bring their freshman year. One thing that is NOT a good idea to bring is a tv. There are too many other things that they can and should be doing, such as going out, making friends, going to the gym and let's not forget studying!</p>
<p>Just to counter/add to the last post, I actually found a TV really nice and surprisingly helpful all four years (my roommate brought one originally, and later I got my own). Above all, it meant that movie nights happened in our room, basically. It actually really helped getting to know people, for basically that reason (laptops are no good when you have 6 or 8 people trying to watch/listen). It came in handy other times, such as when needing to watch videos for research or for classes, especially VHS, but most dorms will probably have a VCR available somewhere. Two important things, though...</p>
<p>(1) If "movie nights" don't sound appealing, then the above doesn't really matter. I'm not a partier and I wasn't at a party school, so the TV really did get regular and important social use. Otherwise, laptop would've been okay.</p>
<p>(2) My school didn't offer cable in the rooms and our TV didn't get any real reception to speak of (even with bunny ears and tin foil, although that did make for some interesting roommate bonding time). If there had been cable in the room, it would've been awful. We never would've gotten anything done and a TV would've been a true curse.</p>
<p>That's all. Just continuing to emphasize the fact that what one person says they absolutely need, another will never use. Similarly, what one person thinks is totally unnecessary, another might find very helpful. Both important things to remember throughout this topic :)</p>
<p>Gosh - I COMPLETELY agree with anyone who mentioned thermometer (+ those little protective/sanitary plastic sleeves). That was the random addition to freshman year packing my mom threw in that I've been thankful for ever since.</p>
<p>A small weekend/overnight bag -- you never know when you'll need (or want) to go away for time so short that a suitcase is too big and a backpack is too small (job interviews, formals in another city, going to the beach for the wknd, etc)</p>
<p>I've found a giant picnic blanket/table cloth to be helpful when laying outside in the gardens studying or chatting with friends (and all are shocked I brought one, but very glad); and I've also found kids who have those folding "soccer mom" chairs like having those, esp. when waiting for basketball tickets.</p>
<p>I wear contacts and always have at least one extra contact lens case in my room just in case.</p>
<p>If it's a girl and she's on the pill, always ALWAYS make sure there's an extra pack on hand in case she runs out. At my school, the on campus pharmacy is a part of student health and they won't refill any prescription without meeting with a doctor there, and going to a pharmacy off campus requires having a car. That being said, have doctors add refills to existing prescriptions for medications commonly taken so they can easily be gotten while at school. Keep medical / hospital / pharmacy insurance cards on you.</p>
<p>I've found having a small fold-up umbrella that I can easily toss into a schoolbag very helpful. </p>
<p>I've also found an ice pack helpful (I'm clumsy, but if a friend gets hurt, I've got it under control)</p>
<p>Cold medicine. Once they have the cold, it is way too much work to go get the cold medicine (because they feel like death warmed over), and for some reason, they do not plan ahead on this one. I will also note that the states now vary in their requirements for buying what my family refers to as "the good stuff" with regard to cold medicine. For example, while Washington state allows you to buy a certain amount of pseudephedrine with a drivers' license (and it's not much, really, just about one serious cold's worth), in Oregon you have to have a prescription from your doctor to buy it at all. (And in Canada, you can still get cough syrup with codeine in it OVER THE COUNTER, as well as "real Nyquil" (which my husband prefers when he's got a cold) as opposed to the new (less effective) formulations now available.) (Yes, I have traveled to Canada to buy cold medicine. You can bring back a small amount "for personal use" too.)</p>
<p>I have a Braun electric water kettle and love it. My 220 v. model will bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil in 40 seconds. It doesn't have an exposed element or plate; the pot sits on a separate base, and there is a little contact point that stays cool to the touch, so the only thing that ever gets hot is the water. When I'm cooking pasta, I fill the kettle and bring it to a boil twice to fill the pasta pot, and it is much faster than I can boil the same amount of water on my antiquated electric cooktop.</p>
<p>My mother-in-law was so impressed with it when she visited that she ordered one to have waiting for her when she got back home. The 110 current model is not as fast as mine, but it will still boil six cups of water in just over a minute--faster than a microwave and that way you don't have a cup that is too hot to touch. </p>
<p>My daughter, a hot tea and cup of soup girl, received an Amazon gift certificate for graduation and ordered one and had it shipped to her dorm (Braun WK200W Electric Water Kettle).</p>
<p>"If it's a girl and she's on the pill, always ALWAYS make sure there's an extra pack on hand in case she runs out."</p>
<p>Don't the students themselves, not their moms, keep track of things like this? I got on the pill in college, and my mother was never involved. </p>
<p>"Just don't decide to bring everything but the kitchen sink. Half the stuff we brought from home (and we looked like Okies traveling during the dustbowl) were easily found in the stores around campus and for not much more, if any, in price. It is such a hassle to cart that stuff to college."</p>
<p>
[quote]
Don't the students themselves, not their moms, keep track of things like this? I got on the pill in college, and my mother was never involved
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's a brand new world out there, NSM. I was in the same situation you are back then, too; I never told my parents, they never asked. My D is lucky she does not have the type of relationship with her parents that I had with my parents. We agreed I would re-fill the prescription and send a care package every month (not that I wouldn't, anyway); that way her responsibility was to take her pills not to traipse all over the place trying to get them. Besides, what are they supposed to do once summer comes (and they don't have access to Student Health Services)?</p>
<p>"It's a brand new world out there, NSM. I was in the same situation you are back then, too; I never told my parents, they never asked."</p>
<p>I had a close relationship with my mom. She knew I was on the pill, but i never thought that my obtaining birth control was her responsibility, and she never was involved in personal things like that. I really didn't want her involved in personal things like that.</p>
<p>I never had any problems obtaining my prescription even when I spent 2 summers away from home and college. </p>
<p>I can see a parent's sending care packages of nonessential goodies. To me, however, regularly sending essential items seems unnecessary unless the student is in some exotic location like in some study abroad situations where they can't get those things.</p>
<p>I prefer to get my kids prescriptions filled at our local pharmacy as the cost is less for the family. They have had to fill some on their own, but with advance notice I ship to them or they get it when they are home.</p>
<p>While many girls are on the birth control pill, many do take it to regulate their periods. I am not sure many of of my daughter's friends are not on the pills and I know for sure most are not sexually active!</p>