<p>I was a little unnerved by a thread that detailed a lot of stuff being packed for students by parents. What ever happened to seeing the world with a backpack? Taking A suitcase to school? (ala the 1940's Norman Rockwell painting). So, dear students, please tell us what your folks foisted on you that was not a necessary foisting. . . </p>
<p>I'd love to see us all do a little less buying, a lot less tossing and a bit more communicating. Tell us what was helpful and what wasn't! (Please!)</p>
<p>Well, my daughter threw out the expensive "egg shell" mattress pad that would supposedly turn her dorm room bed into her bed at home. :)</p>
<p>My son loved the memory foam pad we bought him. "Like sleeping on a cloud" The rug was not necessary. The door stops weren't needed because the door stayed open without them.</p>
<p>I insisted DS bring 2 sets of sheets. He said he only used the second set once. I also sent him with some cleaning supplies, needless to say they were scarcely used (although he did buy himself a Swiffer duster because he said the heater along the wall got really dusty and gross!).</p>
<p>a phone for the dorm room...never even taken out of the box...what was I ever thinking!</p>
<p>I packed a corded phone too. the land line use was free for local calls. I figured they would use it to call each other in the dorms. Nope. text is the new talk</p>
<p>haha! When D came home from her first year, she had a couple of plastic crates full of stuff she didn't plan to bring back---and every time we visited, we took home a suitcase of things she didn't want! I had diligently made a comprehensive list!!! haha. D had a corded phone in her dorm room. She never---ever---touched it. Just make sure you have unlimited text messages in your cell phone plan!!</p>
<p>Well, I was the one who controlled what was packed, and for the most part I did a good job of not going overboard. I did bring too much in the way of office supplies...1000 notecards when I've never been a flashcard maker & studier (100 would have been more than adequate), glue, a zillion staples. I wouldn't have brought a land line phone except that it was recommended to me by someone on our college's website, but I actually did receive a couple of calls from staff members, so I don't regret bringing it, especially since it only cost $20. Too many clothes, shoes, and purses. Too many sets of towels (this I do blame on my mother; she thought I needed three sets when two was definitely fine). </p>
<p>Other than that, not too much. Didn't think I would need a refrigerator, but forgot that my Diet Coke addiction doesn't end when the dining hall closes (parents bought me one over parent's weekend). Loved my memory foam thing and want to add another on top of it next year. Could have done with another power strip.</p>
<p>I have no idea what didn't get used since she put her stuff into storage there and came home with one suitcase. But she does bring up the iron often as the ultimate in "Mom thinks I'll use this" that never left the box. Hey, she ironed at home....clothes that she wore to work, that is.</p>
<p>Landline cordless phone with answering machine came home the first chance it got. S said the only calls he got on it were telemarketing calls that usually woke him (or his roommate) up.</p>
<p>It is always suggested to bring an iron and ironing board. I have never seen my two college students use either, so I am not sending my third (about to leave in two weeks) with either. My first also never used his second set of sheets, so I did not send second child, nor will I the third, with a second set.</p>
<p>Make the bed comfortable. The beds, whether dorm or off campus, are well worn and who knows what has gone on in them. Mattress covers, memory foam and or feather /fiber mattress covers are a big help.</p>
<p>The dryer rack one uses to drip dry clothing, never unwrapped.</p>
<p>Sorry soozievt, my D uses all of the time.</p>
<p>I'm with you morismm--My D also uses hers all the time and I just bought one today for my S who is leaving in 10 days. :(</p>
<p>What wasn't used: land line phone, dishes, alarm clock (used cell phone)
What he needed more of: power strips, fans, Clorox clean-ups</p>
<p>One of my kid's goes to a school that recommended a phone for the outlet in the room, for calls within the university. My kid and his prospective room-mate were dividing up the things they would bring before school (rug, vacuum cleaner, etc.) The room-mate kept "assigning" stuff to my kid. My kid agreed to almost everything, but finally pushed back and told his room-mate to bring the corded phone. The room-mate refused, and said he would only use his cell phone. You guessed it...three weeks into the semester, this kid lost his cell phone and bugged my kid to find the corded phone that I had stashed in his foot locker.</p>
<p>I pack everything I can think of for my kids...way too much! They end up supplying the dorm with Aleve, Immodium, band-aids, highlighters, Tide, fabric softener sheets, etc. My kids tell me that they are the first-stop for others in the dorm looking for something. </p>
<p>Between the 2 sets of sheets, down comforter, extra pillows, egg-crate mattress, mattress pad, electric blanket, and fuzzy throw, their beds may be more comfortable than mine. Don't forget the fake tree with white lights, the beta fish tank, and the flat-screen tv with DVD player... after they set up their rooms, I'm envious. </p>
<p>The only thing that they apparently never pack enough of is hot chocolate.</p>
<p>morrismm & momsworried, </p>
<p>Believe me, I thought they WOULD use it. You see, up until college, I did all their laundry and actually chose to drip dry almost everything....all shirts, pants, etc. While I don't expect them to quite do it like that, I figured they'd want the drying rack for dance clothing, lingerie, sweaters, or things one surely should not put in a dryer. But neither kid unwrapped it the first year. At D2's, who has a terrible mess at college (D1 is MUCH better), I notice some things she didn't want to put in a dryer and she just threw the wet items in a pile on top of the radiator! Oy.</p>
<p>If we do not pack, then they will buy at much higher prices at college. Surely everything could be bought, but it would be much more expensive than staff we buy at home and will take their time. In regard to question what happenned since the time that they pack A suitcase: prices went way up, up, up........and higher for everything, so we are trying to save as much as we can control in $$ and student time. In addition, not everybody has a car at college to go to a store outside of campus, like Wal-Mart. I do not see any good for them to sleep on bare mattress either, it seems that having bedding would be a better option. To have some food is definately will save $$ and time, so that they do not run to cafeteria 3 times a day. Than how you could pack all of this in A suitcase? We take 3 suitcases to all-inclusive vacation for a week.</p>
<p>Hoppinglass, you might get some interesting answers if you posted this in the "college life" forum. You'd hear from the students themselves, instead of from the parents.</p>
<p>Adding on to my previous post, I didn't think I'd need a fan, but I SO did. Definitely getting that next year. Something that I enjoyed having that isn't mentioned terribly often is a wireless access point (not the same as a router) to convert my room to wireless internet. My school doesn't have wireless internet in the dorm rooms and I've been spoiled by having wireless at home, so I was definitely glad not to be tethered to an ethernet cord.</p>