<p>Don’t take: Multiple musical instruments (Obviously this may vary by the individual, but I brought an instrument just to practice and have fun – wasn’t in a group – but soon realized that, with school plus other activities, I rarely had time for it – not worth the space.)</p>
<p>Take: Hole punch</p>
<p>**Brilliant thing to take: Baking soda! So cheap and has about a thousand uses around the dorm. I use it to clean dishes, deodorize the room/carpet/clothes/etc, dry shoes/insoles when they get wet, as bug bite/itch relief, and as an anti-acid. Really a cheap and compact replacement for so many cleaning chemicals and medicine cabinet products.</p>
<p>Hey guys, I just wanted to say thanks again. After a couple of months at school I can definitely say that my D has confirmed that your ideas were good ones, and we never would have thought of most of them. </p>
<p>For future reference for the class of '10: Read through this whole thread. My D has found the following things to be absolute musts:</p>
<p>*A small toolkit (hammer & screwdriver)
*A fan. Be sure it oscillates.
*A mini-medicine cabinet. Very handy when you and your roommate have the flu at the same time.
*Board games. We gave her Apples-2-Apples as a housewarming gift.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve been an official college parent for a couple of months, I feel qualified to add two of my own:</p>
<p>*Lapdesk. So you and your laptop can do homework sitting on your bed.
*Someone mentioned a mug. Bring two, that way you don’t have to wash dishes as often.</p>
<p>This thread is strange to me b/c it seems like you could go out and buy most these small items if the need arises. Such a hole punch – you could probably buy one at the local Walgreens if you ever need one.</p>
<p>Frankly, in my 3.5 years at college thus far, I can’t remember using a hole punch for any useful purpose ever. Well – except maybe freshman year when I’d punch 50 holes in one sheet of paper out of boredom in class. Haven’t brought one since.</p>
<p>I’d second a vacuum though. Not even necessarily a dust-buster kind - a small thin stand up kind might be great too. Really – the particles and little paper things and dirt collect on the floor, even when you clean your room the floor looks like a mess without a decent vacuum.</p>
<p>You certainly could. I had a couple of reasons for wanting to make sure that my D was stocked up on office supplies at the beginning. First, I didn’t know whether there would be a Walgreens or similar within easy striking distance, and college bookstore prices for school supplies are crazy. Also, I wanted her to spend her first weeks/months concentrating on getting settled in to college, not scrounging around for a stapler the night before her first paper was due. But your point is well-taken; now that she’s settled and knows where the drugstore is, she’s on her own for re-supply.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I can see where some students would never need a hole punch. It all depends on how you deal with paper. My D’s filing system is 3-ring notebooks, so she uses her punch on a daily basis.</p>
<p>I just had to vacuum my entire room with a dustbuster because I realized my roommate’s hair has become a fire hazard and the front desk was closed so I coudn’t borrow the nasty gigantic one they let us borrow. I wish I had a little vacuum.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What did you take that you wish you hadn’t?
I had some uneccesary plastic cups which were hard to wash.</p></li>
<li><p>What didn’t you take that you wish you had?
A printer and a rain coat</p></li>
<li><p>What’s the most brilliant thing you took that no one else thought of?
I brought a nice comfy desk chair, beats the old wooden ones that come standard in the rooms.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I wish I hadn’t brought so many t-shirts. I’ve gotten a bunch since coming to school (and one was on the second day here).</p>
<p>I wish that I had brought rainboots.</p>
<p>The most brilliant thing I thought of was a storage ottoman. It beats other storage containers because it’s cute, and can also function as seating, or a step stool for short people like me and my roomie to reach the top of the closet.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What did you take that you wish you hadn’t?
actually nothing. i researched meticulously when i did my shopping and have not sent anything back yet. XD</p></li>
<li><p>What didn’t you take that you wish you had?
Let’s see, what have I bought since I got here…
-rain coat
-rain boots
-snow boots
-marker board for door (thought i wouldnt need it, but when i saw that EVERYONE else had them i had to get one. XD)
-bed risers
-plastic drawers to make a nightstand
-humidifier (havent had one since i was an infant but my dorm is SO DRY it’s making us sick)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>things i want but still don’t have…
floor lamp (no room for table lamp) to escape the constant fluorescent lights.
-rug. my roommate was responsible for it and hasnt gotten it. we have cables taped across the floor because she flatly refused to get an extension cord long enough to be taped along the ceiling like mine are, and now we trip over them and they are unsightly.
-vacuum. another shirked responsibility of the roommate.</p>
<ul>
<li>What’s the most brilliant thing you took that no one else thought of?
-my dad got me a three in one printer that has a scanner and fax, too. i really like it but i should have ditched color and gotten a laser jet, i spend $30 on 1000 page ink cartridges every two weeks. >.< but the scanner has been REALLY useful for sending in forms by email and showing labs/projects to professors to be looked over before turning them in.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>I also brought a huge fridge that has a separate freezer–as in two doors, so you can make the freezer adequately cold to freeze things without freezing stuff in the fridge, which has been fantastic-- i always have ice and ice cream (both necessities for the three sprained ankles I’ve had since school started), and i freeze hot dogs and bread to keep them fresher longer (and admittedly i am a fan of frozen lasagna). I keep fruit and vegetables, and drinks, in the fridge so i dont need to hit the vending machine and get fat. And I usually have frozen french toast sticks and bagels and cream cheese because I never get up early enough to go to the cafeteria for breakfast.</p>
<p>I looked at every website and checklist known to man while helping D pack for school.</p>
<p>Things that she was glad that I sent:
Ear plugs, Brita Water filter, Cold medicine, first aid supplies, basic pain relievers, tool kit, frig and microwave, plastic bins for organization and storage. and costumes. She somehow managed to find a Gretel costume to match a friend’s Hansel and lent out her mummy and pirate costumes. Purex laundry all in one sheets. Really easy for laundry.</p>
<p>Things that she didn’t need:
She ruthlessly purged my suggestions before we left the house. Will see what she brings home at Thanksgiving. Maybe the sewing kit (the kind you get at a hotel). If a button falls off, she’ll just throw it on the bottom of her closet until she comes home and I can fix it.</p>
<p>Things that I wish I had sent:
-A thermomator - she already has had a cold and H1N1 is all over campus. Fortunately one of her friends has those disposable strip type thermomators. </p>
<p>Note: We are within driving distance of her school. I would have done things differently if we had to fly.</p>
<p>The one item I really wish I had that I still use to this day: Earplugs.
My roommate senior year of college had a huge industrial box of them that her dad gave her when she went to college. She claims it’s the best thing her parents packed for her. A large box might be good so you can switch them out when they get nasty.</p>