<p>Don't laugh at me... been a LONG time and things have changed! As a college student, what supplies are a MUST and what would you have left at home? DS is going to be an engineering major, if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>I bring my wallet with some cash and ID, earbuds, cellphone, and keys. </p>
<p>That pretty much covers it honestly.</p>
<p>Stapler. I used it often. I liked composition notebooks because the paper isn’t loose and I won’t lose things. Printer paper. Pencils, Paper, Pencil Sharpener.</p>
<p>The first reply covered the biggies. Also add in a pen or two and maybe a notebook or two. (I reuse notebooks from semester to semester as I never seem to use more than ~20 pages per class). I’ve never been in a situation (going into my 4th year now) where I needed binders, folders, etc.</p>
<p>One of the best ways to get a list of school supplies is probably to ask your son what he used in high school. Not everyone will use the same things, and then you just have to add in things that he might need on occasion (stapler, scissors, ruler, etc). He can always buy or borrow something that he forgets when he realizes he needs it.</p>
<p>For the first week of classes, just a pen and a notebook/folder for storage. </p>
<p>I have a debit account my parents set up for an allowance so I’ll be using that to but more supplies as I feel fit. You may want to just put a certain amount on a Visa gift card and let him use that as he needs more.</p>
<p>I second what Coste said. I found that alot of professors were using powerpoint and posting the slides pre lecture, most students would take notes directly on the slides by hand , others would add things using a laptop and the notes feature of powerpoint, and others still just used a blank piece of notebook paper.</p>
<p>We’re getting every type of school supply out there.
•pens/pencils/highlighters/markers/sharpies
•scissors
•calculator (2)
•staple + staples
•glue
•tape
•erasers
•pushpins
•3 hole puncher
•Post It notes
•sticky tabs
•envelopes
•stamps
•rubber bands
•paper clips
•rule/straight edge
•protractor
•whiteout
•folders
•binders
•spiral notebook
•loose leaf paper
•computer paper</p>
<p>Major: Chemical Engineering</p>
<p>It really depends person to person. If your child likes to say organized and on top of things then they will need more supplies.</p>
<p>^^Me thinks you are going to end up taking about 75% of that back home in May. lol</p>
<p>Computer Science major, here… overlaps with a lot of the usual engineering classes.</p>
<p>Here’s what I always have with me…
- Spiral for notes/paper (the ones that are the same size as printer paper are nice)
- Pencils, pencil lead, eraser (some teachers will require pencil)
- A pen, white out (some teachers will require pen)
- USB flash drive
- Graphing Calculator
- laptop/netbook</p>
<p>Used less often, but still have:
- Sharpie, highlighter, whiteboard marker, colored pencils
- Duct tape, normal tape
- Stapler
- Index cards (sometimes professors allow an index card of notes on exams)
- scientific calculator (some of my teachers didn’t allow graphing calculators)
- paper clips, rubber bands
- ruler/straightedge
- scissors</p>
<p>The highschool suggestion is really the best, though. Whatever was in her backpack then, she’ll probably need again. On powerpoint slides, I dunno, even when my professors posted slides I found it easier to learn by taking my own notes. Different people learn different ways, though, and everyone has their own preferences for school supplies.</p>
<p>
Good thought process you have there considering I will be moving back home in May and I will be taking the items from my dorm room home…</p>
<p>@failure I need to add some of those items to my list!</p>
<p>A smallish binder, a few 5-subject notebooks, a graphing calculator and protractor, a few pens and pencils…perhaps a highlighter and a couple different colored sharpies. Extra erasers and pencil lead. A stapler is handy to have, but not necessary. A flash drive is definitely a must. </p>
<p>Beyond that, there’s not really much else that I’m going to realistically use frequently.</p>
<p>Snap. You’re clever.</p>
<p>Another thing that I found helpful that hasn’t been listed yet is a recorder, I used in the classes that the teachers allowed us to, either someone asked or they said we could. Some students just used their smartphones.</p>
<p>The big office supply stores and drug stores often have big sales on school supplies in July or early August. They often sell items for pennies to get people into the store. By September, everything is full price. Watch for the sales and stock up.</p>
<p>… and don’t forget a slide rule.</p>
<p>I’m majoring in electrical engineering and for the past two years the following items are the only things I consider necessary:</p>
<p>Pencils, Pens, Eraser
Spiral Notebook (1 per class if necessary) and some loose leaf paper
One folder for any handouts or pieces of paper you magically acquire.
Resume Holder (For career fairs, interviews, etc)
Stapler, Ruler, Pencil Sharpener
Graphing calculator and scientific calculator (some classes require a less advanced calc)
Laptop, USB, external drive (for movies and music)
Printer and printer paper (some schools offer free printing so this isn’t absolutely necessary)</p>
<p>This is all you really need. The rest just takes up space.</p>
<p>My kids’ elementary and high schools have always had huge lists of requirements, usually costing upwards of $60 per kid, not including backpacks. I’m not going to use those lists when I go to college in the fall and instead wing it with one folder plus one spiral per class, pens, pencils, and the computer paper and stapler I already have at home. The binders plus spirals plus folders that the high school requires seems redundant to me. One thing I’m not sure. , however - is a one subject spiral enough pages for a semester long college level class?</p>
<p>^A one subject spiral notebook should be more than enough for one class. I used one notebook for all my classes for a quarter, but I was on the quarter system so you might need more for a semester. It’ll depend on the class and your note taking habits through. Classes like math and o-chem took more room; other classes, I barely took any notes, took notes on my computer, or wrote on the slides. But I would imagine one notebook could handle a couple semester long classes.</p>
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<p>It really depends on the class. In some classes like english or humanities, I’ll take 10-20 pages of notes through the entire semester. In my math classes though, I’ll sometimes use 2 sections of a 5-subject notebook.</p>
<p>For my math classes, I use 5-subject notebooks. I’m a physics/math double major though, so I’ll sometimes find myself referencing notes from a previous class. When I keep them all in 5-subject notebooks, I can keep my math notes all in one place, which makes it easier to reference old notes. In other classes though, a single subject notebook will be sufficient. Other classes like chemistry and physics require a lot of note taking too.</p>
<p>In most of my classes aside from math/physics/chemistry though, I find myself absorbing the material much better if I’m not trying to take down notes for the whole class. I’ll write down a few of the main points so that I can reference them in the textbook or something later.</p>
<p>Unnecessary: a calculator that costs more than a used TI-82 on ebay.</p>
<p>Necessary: a laptop that runs Windows. Sorry Mac fans, but nobody on campus ever ran into the problem of a class-related piece of software running on Mac but <em>not</em> Windows. It’s pretty much always the other way around.</p>