The Definitive Study Materials List

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I’m not saying all the suggestions will work with you or are necessary to you, but I hope in some way they may help.</p>

<p>The Definitive Study Materials List</p>

<p>Electronic
1) Computer-- Laptop or Desktop or Notebook.
2) Mouse
3) Mouse pad
4) Diskettes
5) Headphones (for when you’re watching videos or listening to music on your computer and the noise would be a disturbance to your roommate)
6) Internet access software/wiring
7) Cable/wiring organizer
8) Power stripes (because you’ll only have so many electrical outlets)</p>

<p>Storage
1) Backpack/messenger bag
2) Pencil case
3) Desk organizers: <a href="http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml;jsessionid=IIO5AFKIZPMPFQFIAILCM44AVABBOJVC?PRODID=61551&CATID=71793&searchId=796531&itemIndex=19%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml;jsessionid=IIO5AFKIZPMPFQFIAILCM44AVABBOJVC?PRODID=61551&CATID=71793&searchId=796531&itemIndex=19&lt;/a>
4) Bins or boxes for storing papers/folders
5) Binders
6) Laptop case
7) Small mesh or plastic containers for small accessories (paperclips/tape/white-out)</p>

<p>Paper Materials
1) College-rule line paper
2) Post-its
3) White printer paper
4) Notepads
5) Spiral notebooks
6) Graphing paper</p>

<p>Writing
1) Highlighters
2) Black, blue, red pens
3) “Nice pen”: at least one, nice pen (not talking Bic here, in other words)
4) Pencils
5) Erasers (Staedtler erasers are amazing <a href="http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do;jsessionid=0000Fazictr5fPBah7f05v6-jP4:10irjpv6n?level=SK&id=120451&uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=staedtler+erasers&An=text%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do;jsessionid=0000Fazictr5fPBah7f05v6-jP4:10irjpv6n?level=SK&id=120451&uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=staedtler+erasers&An=text&lt;/a&gt;)
6) Sharpies or any other permanent marker (thick and thin)
7) Dry-erase markers
8) White-out or correctional fluid (I prefer the rolling, tape-dispenser-like white-out)</p>

<p>Correspondence
1) Envelopes (white, letter type)
2) Manila envelopes (for papers or reports that you don’t want folded)
3) Stamps
4) Various cards or letter paper, for birthdays or congratulations etc
5) Colored markers and colored pencils-- for whatever reason (see #4)</p>

<p>Organization
1) Day planner, dayrunrer, agenda etc
2) Bulletin board with pins
3) Whiteboard with dry-erase markers (lots of people hang these outside their rooms so friends can leave messages)
4) Files and expandable filing folders
5) Binders
6) Folders-- with pockets and three-prongs</p>

<p>Other Desk Accessories
1) Stapler and staples
2) Paperclips
3) Rubber bands
4) Three-hole punch adapter
5) Tape dispenser and clear tape refills
6) Calculator or graphing calculator
7) Battery or Electric-Operated Pencil Sharpener
8) Sturdy Trash Can</p>

2

<p>I have a mouse, but only because I need to use Solidworks (CAD) sometimes, and Solidworks without a mouse is pretty unhappy. </p>

<p>If you have a laptop that you intend to carry around a lot, you probably won't end up using a mouse very much. Hotkeys are your friend :)</p>

3

<p>Diskettes? Are you kidding? They are perhaps the slowest, most useless (only 1.44 mb!) pieces of archaic technology in use today. If your computer has a USB port (i.e. any computer bought in the last couple of years), get a USB flash key. They are smaller, can hold more than one hundred times the data, and they are far, far, far (far, far...) faster and much more durable.</p>

4

<p>^^^^What he said.^^^^^^</p>

5

<p>What size jump drive would everyone recommend getting? 256? 512?</p>

6

<p>Mavin it's still useful to have a few diskettes on hand for when you need to transfer files with a computer that doesn't have a USB port, for example. You can still hold quite a few Word documents with 1.44mb...</p>

<p>But by and large DVD+RW is the best IMHO (over 3,400 times the data ;)).</p>

7

<p>just get an ipod</p>

8

<p>Firstly, DVD-RWs are not the best. Sure, they hold a lot more data, but most transfers you do will be small (i.e. Word documents, like you say). Putting in a DVD, burning, and then putting it into another computer (which also must have a DVD-ROM) and reading it takes far longer than sticking a USB in, copying files in a couple seconds, and sticking it in another computer for reading.</p>

<p>I never buy DVD-RWs or CD-RWs. When I want to put large files on discs, I just burn them permanently on CD-Rs or DVD-Rs because chances are I may want them at a future time. If I want to transfer a lot (5+ gb) of data from one computer to the next, I will connect them to the same network and then transfer, which is the fastest method. I don't think DVD-RWs are very useful outside of doing regular backups of large quantities of data.</p>

<p>And as far as diskettes go...well I don't think most of us have such ancient computers. Every computer I've made over the last 5 years or more has had a USB port.</p>

9

<p>I still think it is wise to have a couple of disks on hand. You probably won't need them, but they will be there just in case. Unless of course, your pc has no dvd drive. </p>

<p>In my experience, between email attachments, network storage, and hard copies, the only files I need to store on a portable medium are large files, so I overlooked some of your points. Ipod is a great (and expensive) option.</p>

10

<p>I guess. If I had to frequently transfer very large files and did not have the option of using a network to do the transfer, I'd probably just invest in an external hard drive.</p>

11

<p>My laptop doesn't even have a diskette drive, and it would be an extreme waste for me to purchase an external one and several diskettes when I have a CD-R and USB.</p>

<p>How many computers that students will be interfacing with could possible lack either a CD drive or a USB port?</p>

12

<p>It is far more common these days to see a computer without a floppy drive than it is without a USB port. In fact, I have considered turning my floppy drive to face inside of the case and then putting the plastic insert back in place...sure I would have to open the case to use it but thats so rare that it wouldnt matter.</p>

<p>The only thing is you might need a floppy to flash bios if your motherboard doesnt have a windows flash utility (scary) or you dont want to go through the nasty hassle of making a boot cd with the bios flash.</p>

13

<p>I haven't owned a computer with a floppy drive since 7th grade (6+ years).</p>

<p>you should be able to transfer files over the school network.</p>

14

<p>My old Pentium 166Mhz had two USB ports; these devices are far more pervasive in computers. Unless the university you are attending uses 486s, a USB flash key should suffice.</p>

<p>A warning for Mac users: I do not know if this applies solely to the Iomega Drives or to Flash Drives in general, but deleting items on the drive (by dragging them to and emptying the trash) does not permanently erase them from memory. I do not know why.</p>

<p>I was able to confirm this flaw by plugging the drive in a PC and noticing how all the files I had, from the day I purchased the drive, remained unscathed. </p>

<p>I do not know how to fix this problem without formatting it; and that too, one must format it on a PC (to FAT32) in order for it to be cross-platform compatible. If one formats the flash drive on a Mac, the drive will not be accessable in Windows.</p>

15

<p>A diskette is useful for transferring something from a laptop or whatever onto a desktop on the computers at school - where it's hard as heck to crawl under the desk, move the CPU around, and find the USB port.</p>

16

<p>Diskettes ARE useful for many students, in different situations.</p>

17

<p>I would never find it useful as I lack a diskette drive. In my experience, a great deal of newer laptops also lack these. So unless you pay for an external drive...</p>

18

<p>"a great deal of newer laptops also lack these."</p>

<p>That's true. What is also true and important to note is that many kids aren't going to be getting new laptops or new, more up-to-date computers. I know a lot of kids with older laptops with diskette drives, and kids with older computers that DO have diskette drivers as well. Not everyone has the means to buy a new computer. </p>

<p>"I would never find it useful as I lack a diskette drive."</p>

<p>As I said, diskettes, for many students other than yourself, ARE useful. If something on the list doesn't apply to you, just skim over it. No big deal.</p>

19

<p>You can also e-mail the file to yourself; GMail's 2GB is generous, though there is a 10MB limit on attachements.</p>

20

<p>You can do that... provided you have internet and can go through the hassle. During law school, we weren't allowed to have our wireless cards in our comps during finals - you could put them in for the purpose of emailing it to yourself and then run to the school printers to print your exam, but that was just a hassle. </p>

<p>Also good if, for some reason, you lack access to an email account at one location - firewalls or whatever at work.</p>