<p>As a freshman parent, I am clueless about what my son might need in his dorm that will be useful. I don't want to shell out for a Microfridge or lug down a small TV, unless it's needed and used. Aside from linens, toiletries, a laptop and printer - what items are handy to have and what items should be left at home?</p>
<p>Skip the TV, IMHO. First, it's a distraction from work. Second, it takes up too much space. Third, it's an invitation to be a little anti-social; every college D & I visited this summer had beautiful student lounges in the dorms, equipped with big flat-screen TVs---better to watch the occasional show or sporting event with some friends or hall mates than in your own room. Fourth, a lot of colleges don't have cable or satellite hook-ups in individual dorm rooms, so you wouldn't get much anyway.</p>
<p>garbage can, garbage bags, first aid kit--make up your own in a small plastic bin--include stuff like cold medicine, tylenol, neosporin, one of those disposable ice packs that you squeeze to activate, etc., cheap mesh laundry bag, a fan, headphones for iPod and laptop, shower sandals or slides for the communal bathroom, ethernet cable, extra ink cartridges specific for your printer, and a usb memory stick.</p>
<p>Don't bother with a blanket. The dorms are usually very warm and a comforter is more than enough. Can do without a bathrobe because most of the guys just wrap a towel around themselves. Also, you can probably do without the standard phone. My S and his roommate never even took it out of the box to hook up. The kids just use their cell phones.</p>
<p>Lots of threads on this including one on the most useless thing your parents bought...try a search this forum.
As for the TV, depends totally on the kid and situation. My son was in a suite when he was a freshman. I have a business where I can purchase electronics at a great price. His HS grad present was a 42" and it is residing in his fourth college room now. (Probably also depends on the college and the lounge facilities).</p>
<p>A current thread here <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/549040-stupid-stuff-my-parents-packed-me.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/549040-stupid-stuff-my-parents-packed-me.html</a></p>
<p>One kid's "gotta have" is another kid's dust collector.</p>
<p>A basis tool kit is indispensible.</p>
<p>For about 80 bucks you can buy a good external TV tuner that easily hooks up to a computer (laptop or desktop) thru a TV cable connection and it plays just fine, just like a regular TV. They even come with a remote. </p>
<p>When my son's roommate and his family first saw it they thought it was some kind of magic.</p>
<p>Read these threads too:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/548296-when-will-he-start-pack.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/548296-when-will-he-start-pack.html</a></p>
<p>useful would be drying rack</p>
<p>There are lots of threads on what to bring but to respond to the two items - </p>
<p>TV - Neither of my Ds brought them and I'm glad of it. I wouldn't have furnished it for them. By TV I mean a regular TV and also a TV tuner for their laptops. Starting college isn't a time to be distracted by a TV. If they want occasional media distraction they can stream some number of TV shows to their laptop/desktop from the networks. The major networks, Showtime and other pay channels, the BBC, and others all have shows available for free streaming.</p>
<p>Microfridge - Beware that some colleges prohibit installing separate fridge and microwave appliances - they require a combined microfridge unit. These were very much used by my Ds for leftovers and heating up said leftovers later at night while they were doing HW. However, we found it most convenient to just rent the unit the Uni had available. The rental price was shared by the roommates, you don't have to worry about multiple roomies bringing microfridges (they couldn't have fit more than one), you don't have to worry about splitting the price of 'shared purchase' units and what to do with it once the roomies head their different directions (which can easily be after the first year), and you don't have to worry about transporting it and storing it during the summer.</p>
<p>TV tuners for the laptop also allow the laptop to act as a DVR.</p>
<p>I agree with tool kit and first aid kit, buy only one roomie needs them.</p>
<p>I want to second all of nysmile's suggestions. My son was a freshman last year and found his slip-on sport sandals very useful for trips to the shower, down the hall, outside in warm weather etc. A modest sized plastic handled shower caddy basket got daily use. One of those collapsable mesh laundry hampers that they can toss dirty clothes into and then lug to the laundry room. Send along a couple lengths of extension cords and if they have a TV have them take a length of TV cable. The outlets/jacks are often placed illogically in relationship to where the furniture and devices end up. Definitely a surge protector power strip for placement on or under their desk. Useful for more than just their computers. Extra ink cartridges for his printer(especially black ones)- those love to run out in the middle of the night when your student is trying to print out a paper due in the morning. Economy packages of AA and AAA batteries. Decent alarm clock with battery back up. I can vouch that the land line telephone in my son's room never got used. He and his roommate did not even know their room's phone number and by Parent's Weekend in October I did not even spot it out in their room. They used their cell phones (which double as alarm clocks also.) Comforter was used as the only blanket. I had sent along a blanket for winter but it never got used. His dorm was warm. He used his folding camp chair sometimes in his room, or he would take it down the hall to someone else's room/the lounge or outside in the warmer weather. He used his $10 fan a lot in the warmer months. </p>
<p>I wanted to specially second the idea of a small plastic box with lid that can be stocked with basic first aid items. Bottle of Advil/Tylenol/Aspirin, antacid tablets, neosporin, cold medication, throat lozenges, cough drops, bandages and the like. My son, who never got sick in high school, came down with an awful case of cold/flu last winter and tried to avoid the student health center since he had mid terms and papers to do. Didn't call for sympathy until he sounded like he was at death's door. But he had dug out the "medical box" and taken some of the cold medication I had packed and felt much better as a result. (However, he had agreed to go to the Health Center if he did not feel much better in a day or so. I reminded him that it could be strep and that is nothing to ignore and power through on one's own. )</p>
<p>So, these are just some things we figured out last year...</p>
<p>Very useful ... Command Strip products. The hooks are the best!! They can hold wet towels, jackets, even curtain rods (we rigged up a couple rods to fit across D's very long window & set them on hooks). The poster strips are useful for putting up things to brighten a dorm room (pictures, posters, etc.). The beauty of these is that when it's time to remove them ... you just pull the strip straight down from the bottom ... and it doesn't leave a mark. The directions are very easy to follow. D had a bunch last year & we bought more for this year. Her room will be smaller & she will need places to hang things.</p>
<p>Oh, and if the room has an open closet ... get a cheap shower curtain rod & a shower curtain to make a "door." Better yet, sew a curtain. It's really easy & very inexpensive. D was pleased to have a curtain that went to the floor (that way, no one could see the dirty laundry piling up in her closet!).</p>
<p>A good general vitamin! Late nights + little sleep + junk food = run down = sick!
Freshmen often get sick that first semester.</p>
<p>I made my S & his friends a kit with "must haves" which included envelopes, tape, paperclips & binder clips, postage stamps, small sewing repair kit, hole punch, mechanical pencil, pen, white-out, permanent marker, pushpins, scissors, glue, stapler, laundy bag, and all the "must haves" that I could think of together in a plastic zipped case. S made fun of me but was using it before he left college & it was the 1st thing openned & in use when we arrived at the dorm. My niece & others who got it were also grateful is it was very handy.</p>
<p>S never used the phone (landline) tho the college recommended we buy one. The college even paid for phone service in every campus housing unit for each student. Very few students even know the phone number assigned to them & their dorm/apartment. They all just use their cell phones.</p>
<p>Used: a pack of 50 thank you notes with stamps (for those gifts from the grandparents and other relatives). </p>
<p>Never used...a cereal bowl.</p>
<p>be sure and include a thermometer in that firstaide/health kit.</p>
<p>I keep saying this but a tv was a great thing for D1 to bring to school...socially. They have had wonderful get togethers in her room for Wii competitions for male and female competitions and the girls get together for Grey's Anatomy, The Office and Desperate Housewives. At her school NO One watches TV in the lounges. We have been to many LAC visits at various different times over several different schools and have never seen the lounge tv even turned on. I'm sure it varies by school but we have never seen it. She is a junior and says a tv is a MUST for her school.</p>
<p>DD had a teeny tiny TV...very small. But she said it was really nice to huddle around with friends and a bag of popcorn to watch a show here and there.</p>
<p>agree regarding TV. Daughter and friends had lots of movie nights.</p>