<p>I know there are a ton of threads about what to bring to college, but what about the things we don't really need?</p>
<p>I'd love to hear about the things you brought and didn't use; especially if they are on the thread of things to bring. As well as things your roommate/floormmates/etc brought, but didn't need. </p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I brought a TV/dvd player and didn’t need them at all.</p>
<p>@PRiNCESSMAHina: Really? That surprises me! I have a 30something inch TV and small DVD player. They really won’t take up extra room (be on ceiling shelf thing) but the TV will sure be a pain to haul. Do you know if most people used their TV? I don’t play games or anything, and I guess the few shows I watch are online… but still! haha.</p>
<p>at college you are surrounded by friends and activities. in 2 years of college i have never watched television. don’t bring one.</p>
<p>A person actually tried to bring a full sized Lazyboy recliner. Someone else tried to bring a queen sized waterbed. Guns and ammo usually are taboo. There was a story of another family who brought so much stuff that they showed up with a 30 foot long Winnebago.</p>
<p>In campuses where the distances are not great and where stores are nearby, many students end up not using their bikes. The bikes just get in the way, especially if they don’t want to leave an expensive bike outside in the snow, and can’t leave it in a stairway or hallway. </p>
<p>I agree that TVs should be avoided - if a student is spending their time watching TV, they are wasting the best years of their life.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that you don’t need a TV, but you’ll definitely use it less than you’re used to. I have mine, and I just leave it with a friend that’s staying in Nashville for the summer when I leave so I don’t have to worry about moving it back and forth (I think it’s a 32"), but it’s nice to have when I do have the time. I brought my N64 and my friends and I played that a lot, sometimes we’ll have movie nights and need a TV/DVD player for that, and I threw a super bowl party this year and it was nice to have a relatively large screen, as compared to my friends’ tvs which tend to be around 20".</p>
<p>That being said, a large part of the semester, it goes untouched because I only have time to watch shows on my computer when it fits into my schedule.</p>
<p>I guess my point is not everyone needs a tv, but it’s nice to have a friend or two with one.</p>
<p>My roommate brought a TV and we hardly ever used it. You can always watch shows online, although it was nice to be able to watch sports, talk shows, news, or to just have it on as background noise.</p>
<p>I brought a lot of random things from home that I thought I would like to have just to remind me of home, but they kind of just got in the way. But there will always be those few things you’ll always want with you for no particular reason.</p>
<p>I also brought a lot of decorations that I never ended up using, and a lot of clothes that I never wear at home but for some reason thought I would wear at school.</p>
<p>Basically, if you don’t use it at home, don’t bring it to school!</p>
<p>Extraneous amounts of clothing and shoes… getting all of that home/in storage at the end of the school year sucked. You’re more likely than not going to go shopping while at school and just fill up your closet with even more things, anyway. </p>
<p>I agree somewhat on the TV thing. But I guess it all depends on how much you watch personally (obviously). My roommate brought a TV and I turned it on probably a maximum of 5 times during the year, and I never actually once sat down and watched television for a set period of time. But one of my best friends at school loved watching movies and those horrid MTV reality shows, so she had her TV on all the time.</p>
<ol>
<li>Yearbook</li>
<li>Letterman’s jacket</li>
<li>Stereo system</li>
<li>Winter clothes if you’re gonna be visiting home before winter</li>
</ol>
<p>For the TV thing, I’m a huge sports fan so I actually use the TV pretty often. But yea if you just watch TV shows or movies, then you’re probably better off just watching it online.</p>
<ol>
<li>Yearbook</li>
<li>Letterman’s jacket</li>
<li>Stereo system</li>
<li>Winter clothes if you’re gonna be visiting home before winter</li>
<li>TV/DVD Player (debatable…) I’m going to check with my roommate and if she is okay without them we won’t bring them.</li>
<li>Weapons</li>
<li>Anything Huge (recliners, queen sized waterbeds…?)</li>
<li>Things you don’t use/wear at home (especially clothing)</li>
<li>Lots of Decorations</li>
<li>Bike (debatable/depends on your campus) I’m not bringing one.</li>
</ol>
<p>At the end of the semester I saw someone loading a truckload of furniture. I’m not sure how they managed to fit all of that into the elevators, let alone inside the dorms…</p>
<p>If you’re sharing a room with someone you’ll have to be very careful about space. If you don’t live too far from school, only bring some stuff at first so you can see how it all fits. Then if you really want something that’s still at home you can go back and get it later.</p>
<p>I hardly ever use 3-ring binders or folders, but I do use accordian folders. I have never needed a hole punch, and unless you are a physics or engineering major you do not need a calculator any more sophisticated than a regular scientific calculator and unless you are taking pre-calc or calc you do not need a graphing calculator (and don’t spend money on a TI-83 or 84, get the dirt-cheap TI-82 used and spend the money you save on something else).</p>
<p>One thing I never ever needed was the newest edition of the textbook. The difference between the most current version and the previous edition can be more than a hundred bucks, seriously. Whatever book the syllabus says you need, look for it used and get it if it’s reasonable ([BIGWORDS.com</a> | Buy Textbooks | Sell Textbooks | Cheap Textbooks | Cheapest Textbooks | Compare Textbook Prices | Used College Textbooks | New College Textbooks | Textbook Price Comparison | Textbook Buyback | Textbook Price Bot | New and Used Music |](<a href=“http://www.bigwords.com%5DBIGWORDS.com”>http://www.bigwords.com), search by ISBN) but you are probably better off buying the previous edition. If you are supposed to have the 13th edition, look for the 12th or even 11th. In some classes it may not matter at all what book you have (like if they never collect homework assigned from the book), you could get away with just about any decent calc book for a calc class, just about any C++ book for a C++ class, etc. Even when you supposedly <em>need</em> the newest edition for the online content, you can get an older edition of the book dirt cheap, and then buy an online passcode from the publisher for much cheaper. But I eschew online classes because of the higher monetary costs associated with them.</p>
<p>Oh, and I found this article:</p>
<p>[12</a> Things College Students Don’t Need](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2009/08/10-things-college-students-do-not-need.html]12”>11 Things College Students Don’t Need | Kiplinger)</p>
<p>I took a ton of favorite books and barely had any time to read them… I would stick to just taking a select few since books are heavy and there will be PLENTY to read in college anyway. If you find yourself with a lot of spare time, you can have parents ship you additional books (media mail with USPS makes shipping really cheap) or go to a bookstore and buy some.</p>
<p>I personally disagree with those who said don’t bring a lot of decorations. I just really like having stuff on my walls and if you buy one poster tube, you can usually roll them all up together and fit them all in there. It is good to acquire more posters wherever you go though (my school had a poster sale each semester where I got some really cool ones.) But of course, that’s a matter of personal preference. I’d just hate having bare/bareish walls.</p>
<p>One of my roommates brought his recliner. It was the greatest thing we had in our suite. Ha ha.</p>
<p>I would say don’t take many or any irreplacables. By that, I mean Grandma’s heirloom ring, yearbooks, etc.</p>
<p>What about sports gear like basketballs, gloves, tennis rackets, and balls? Do most state colleges provide the gear and the balls in like a rental place? Did any of you have time to play the sports you played in HS?</p>
<p>Most universities do have some sort of rental place where you can get gear. But it will probably be low quality, used equipment (if your sport is tennis or golf or baseball where the quality of equipment matters a lot). If you play one of those sports then you’d probably wanna bring your own gear unless you don’t mind using lower quality equipment.</p>
<p>Reading the posts about television is making me re-think bringing mine. I mean, I’ll probably still take it because it’s a flat screen and doesn’t take much space but my mom and I were just talking about how much of a pain it’ll be to bring all of my stuff down to school–that’s 5 hours away. I’ll probably still take it…I prefer movies on a television screen as opposed to a computer screen and I don’t want to miss my favorite shows (crappy MTV reality shows included).
And I’m not too sure bikes should be on the list. I’m taking mine because I won’t have a car (!) and it’s faster to get around Oxford and the campus than walking.</p>
<p>But anyways, I wouldn’t bring a lot of books. I have a Kindle so I’ll definitely take that, but I’m not sure I’d bring more than 5 physical books.
I’d say add a car to the list if you’re a first- or second-year or go to a school with either really high parking costs, or in the city or if you aren’t going home often. Two of the four (?) universities in my city all have fees for public transportation added into the yearly costs so you can ride free as long as you have your ID.</p>
<p>I brought a TV to use with my PS3. It worked fine since I could also watch live sports and news. People say that you’re wasting your time watching TV at college, but it’s always nice to relax in your room from time to time. Plus on weeknights you probably wouldn’t be spending that much time with friends outside of your floor.</p>
<p>^^Especially if your school is in the middle of nowhere and there’s not much to do on a Tuesday night when you’ve finished all of your studying/homework for the day (other than start on the next day’s…but…)</p>