Check List for Freshman Year of College

ByJeanne

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Photo of Royce Hall on UCLA's campus taken from the quad. Photo is part of an article on check list for freshman year of college.

Having shuffled 4 kids to and from college I’ve learned a few things about efficiently moving students and what they need to bring. Several years ago my neighbors who were about to ship kids off to school asked me to write a Check List for Freshman Year of College. I put one together and now I’m sharing it with you. This list was written after I’d moved my son and for my neighbors who were also moving sons, thus the use of “he” pronoun throughout. However, everything in here applies to daughters too.

While there are check lists of supplies your student needs to bring to college on move in day, most of the important work will be done before you ever head to campus: ordering the supplies your student needs (see lists below); paying dorm, tuition and registration fees; setting up bank accounts; removing all packaging from the new items; washing the new bedding and towels; and paperwork. Once you arrive on campus for move in, you are actually in the home stretch.

Pre-move Preparations

I read a really good article once that said a student should not be living a better lifestyle in college then what he can afford on his own earning the average new grad salary.  Wise words in my opinion, please keep them in mind while you are outfitting your student’s dorm room.

Don’t bring too much. Every thing packed in has to be packed out on move-out day.  Unfortunately, move-out day generally falls immediately following the last day of finals, so your student won’t have much time to box everything back up. 

  • Get your student’s haircut just before he leaves. Have him find where he will get his haircut at school and MAKE THE NEXT APPOINTMENTS ASAP.
  • Create a budget with your student.  Make sure he understands the budget and how much he has to spend each month. If you’re providing spending money, transfer weekly amounts at least until the end of the first quarter. Switch to bi-weekly transfers the next quarter when your student has learned to not run out of money. Eventually, monthly transfers should suffice.
  • Set up a banking system which allows you to instantaneously transfer money to your student’s account.
  • Show your student how to use a weekly planner.  Planners that show a week at a time with each day broken in to hourly segments work best. Have him fill in his first quarter class schedule;  block out study time, meals, and 9 hours of sleep and lastly have him schedule a day and time at least every 2 weeks to do laundry.
  • Photograph the front and back of all insurance cards: Health, dental, eye and car.  Text the photos to your student so he can save it to  an “Insurance Card” album on his phone.
  • Advise your student to make friends with his professors and TAs so they know him by name.  It is easy for a professor to give a bad grade if he doesn’t know the person attached to the schoolwork.  A professor is more likely to at least give partial credit, if not MORE partial credit, when he knows and likes the student whose name is on the paper/test.
  • Your student’s professors are who will be providing recommendations on job applications. Every day in class is an interview for an internship or job, he should dress and behave accordingly. 
  • Have your student read A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley. He’ll learn scientifically proven methods that are best for learning new material and avoid common habits that are useless..
  • Make your student purge his bedroom at home before leaving. Your student will hopefully have a job offer before graduating from college and may move directly from school to a new location.
  • Remove all packaging material from new items. It will make room set up go much faster.
  • Wash all bedding and towels at home before you leave.
  • Set up a ride share app for your student if he won’t have access to his own vehicle. It doesn’t have to be for regular use, but it’s important in an emergency.
  • Set up a student Amazon Prime account for him.

Move In Day

Move in day can frazzle nerves. Parents jockey for good parking locations. Students worry they will lose their dorm room key card. The elevator system is overwhelmed or worse… broken. People get hangry. Everyone and their parents are using the bathrooms and they quickly run out of toilet paper, true story.

Be prepared (which includes having your own roll of toilet paper) and accept that move in may be a long, frustrating ordeal. Keep the vibe positive. Stay relaxed. Your student could already be stressing over their move and he doesn’t need your emotions piling on. Which brings me to step one.

Your student does not need to be the first one to check in on move-in day. Just because move in time starts at 10 am, doesn’t mean your student needs to be there at 9:00 am or even 10 am.. There is a benefit to waiting until the end of check in time. when there will probably be less elevator congestion and fewer frustrated parents.

Secondly, If you do get there early, be aware that most colleges have giant rolling bins for students to wheel their belongings from their car to their dorm room. All those bins get bottlenecked at the elevators while everyone waits for it to stop at multiple floors. Pack your student’s items in cardboard boxes small enough to hand-carry up stairs if the wait times get too fierce. 

Consider bringing a hand dolly if you have room.  If you end up having to hand-carry boxes upstairs, it will be nice to have a dolly to wheel the boxes on the flat surfaces. Keep scissors available and handy on move-in day.  Break down the boxes and store them with a roll of packing tape in the back of your student’s closet for move out day.

So what should your student bring? My checklists below are a good starting point. I have included some Amazon hyperlinks to low-priced, but well-rated items to make shopping easier for you. Your student’s needs may vary based on their major or personal situation.

School Supplies

  • Pre-purchase all required textbooks asap.  Have your student start reading them. A lot of students prefer digital/online versions which is all well and good until their internet goes down.
  • Laptop/ipad and charging cable
  • Printer
  • Extra printer ink
  • printer paper
  • Ethernet cable
  • Zip drive
  • Mouse
  • Power strip x 2 – Dorm rooms notoriously lack enough outlets. It’s a good idea to get at least one power strip with a longer cord incase the outlets are not near their desk or bed. Also, a flat plug head will fit behind furniture pushed against the wall better than a traditional plug head.
  • Spiral bound notebooks – For note taking. Start with at least one per class. Physically writing notes is better for memory retention than typing on a laptop or iPad.
  • Binders
  • Mechanical pencils
  • Ballpoint pens
  • Backpack with a laptop compartment
  • Sharpie for labeling belongings
  • Phone charging cord x2 (a 10′ cord is helpful if an outlet is not near their nightstand or bed)
  • Weekly planner *****  VERY important
  • Cork board
  • Pushpins
  • Command hooks to hang coat, robe, and towels on the wall.
  • Scissors (do not pack these, carry them in your car on move in day)
  • Scotch tape
  • Duct tape
  • Stapler
  • Packing tape (for move out day)
  • 3-hole punch
  • Kitchen garbage bags – there will be messes
  • Desk light
  • Desk fan

First Aid box

Fill a plastic shoebox with first aid items. Your student will definitely use the cold medicine because colleges, like kindergarten and daycare, are a cesspool of viruses. Many of his classmates will be from different areas of the state, country or world than your student. It’s doubtful he’ll have immunity to the viruses they might come to school with. 

Eventually your student will get sick in the middle of the night and he’s going to want something to help him sleep so he can get to class the next day.  That’s where the first aid box comes in. At night, nothing will be open on campus and he’ll be stuck getting a Lyft to take him to a 24-hour store if he doesn’t have a car.  At which point, he’ll probably end up missing class the next day after being up half the night. The First Aid Box costs less than the Lyft roundtrip and will be one of your best Return on Investment items.

Bed

Dorm beds are almost always Twin XL and poor quality. If the beds aren’t bunked, they may sit high so drawers can fit underneath. Shorter students may need a step stool to easily climb in to bed.

  • Flat sheet
  • Fitted sheet – Sheet sets where the flat is physically attached at the foot of the fitted sheet are ideal for bunks. 
  • Blanket
  • Comforter
  • Pillow(s)
  • Pillowcase(s)
  • Water-proof mattress cover
  • Memory Foam/egg carton cushion to go under mattress cover

Bathroom

My son contracted MRSA his first quarter at college.  He was deathly ill.  My friend who’s an infectious disease specialist said that MRSA is endemic in daycares and college dorms, specifically the bathrooms.  My son’s towel had been hanging up to dry in the shared bathroom where it could have easily been knocked to the floor and was most likely the source of his infection.  Make sure your student takes his towels back to his room to hang up and dry.

  • Towels 3-4 minimum (bring enough so laundry can be done every 2 weeks)
  • Washcloths – x14
  • Command hooks to hang towels. 
  • Good quality toilet paper – for those times when your student has a GI bug and is going to the bathroom a lot. My daughter’s dorm frequently ran out of toilet paper in all the stalls by Sunday evening each week.
  • Liquid soap
  • Clorox bleach wipes  – when the roommate had too much to drink and puked all over the toilet…

Toiletries

Send enough of everything to see your student through until their first quarter or semester break.  It’s very expensive to buy toiletries on campus and difficult to get somewhere far enough away from campus to find it cheaper.  Plus shopping sucks time away from studying.

  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Soap – liquid. Bar soap is too likely to get contaminated in a shared bathroom
  • Deodorant
  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Floss
  • Shower Caddy
  • Razor
  • Extra Blades
  • Shaving Cream
  • Q Tips
  • Contact lens case
  • Saline solution
  • Glasses
  • Flip Flops to wear in the shower – Show him pictures of Plantar warts and MRSA infections.

Clothes

Packing for college is a good time to go through your student’s closet and toss everything that is too small or he doesn’t like.  Pull the items he isn’t wearing, but is keeping for sentimental reasons and box those.

  • Bring everything your student is willing to wear.  It gives him more time to go between laundry trips.
  • Coat
  • Minimum 14 pairs of underwear
  • Minimum 14 pairs of socks
  • At least one dressy outfit for department dinners, internship interviews, etc.  Make sure it is new and fits.  My son’s college actually had a school formal.
  • Bathrobe
  • Umbrella

Laundry

Washing clothes and bedding is an arduous task at college unless the school is contracted with a laundry service.  Your student needs to stay with his laundry or else someone might pull it out of the machine and pile it somewhere.  Items can also go missing.  These are commercial machines which can take two hours to wash and dry a single load.

Laundry hamper – My son preferred one with wheels and a handle to pull it by. Plastic worked better for sweaty soccer jerseys and wet swimsuits.

Detergent – (preferably pods so he doesn’t have to lug a whole jug to the laundry room)

Iron & board OR portable steamer

Kitchen & Food

  • Brita Water filter pitcher
  • Refillable water bottle
  • Mug
  • Paper towels
  • Dish drying pad/rack
  • Dish soap
  • Ziplock bags
  • Chip clips
  • Paper plates & bowls
  • Disposable cups
  • Flatware
  • Prepackaged snacks he can carry on campus when he has a long day.
  • Each college has their own rules about what kind of kitchen appliances are provided and what kind a student may bring in.

Although, it is impossible to write an exhaustive list since every college has its quirks, I hope you have found my Check List for Freshman Year of College useful. Good luck to you and your student as you both enter this new season of life!