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What to Bring to College

An exciting but sad day. Packing the stuff in your room to take to your new home - college. As simple as this seems it is quite a challenging process. We at CollegePrep-101 have seen many residence halls and Greek rooms overflowing with junk that will never be used and several students who have to borrow everything from their new neighbor (except underwear, that's where you have to draw the line and go to Wal-Mart).

So, what should you bring?

First thing you should do is call your roommate and coordinate what each of you is going to bring. There is nothing worse than having two refrigerators but no TV or, even worse, two of everything!

Here is a list of things that will likely come in handy during the year.  Not all of them are a must, but they all turn out to be pretty useful :

• Television 
  
• VCR (for those nights you can't watch TV because you are studying)
  
• Microwave
  
• Refrigerator
  
• Stereo (with headphones)
  
• Computer (if available)
  
• Three prong extension cords
  
• Power strip/surge protector
  
• Sega/Nintendo/Playstation
  
• Sports equipment (football, volleyball, basketball, and any other type of ball)
  
• Desk Lamp
  
• Alarm Clock
  
  
• Laundry bag (or basket)
  
• Laundry soap
  
• Laundry money (ask mom for her quarters)
  
• Needles and thread or safety pins
  
• Eating utensils (preferably plastic)
  
• Bedding (bring a good blanket because gets cold in the residence halls sometimes)
  
• Anything to decorate your room (photos/posters)
  
• Iron and Small ironing board
  
• Organizer or planner (calendar)
  
• College clothes (leave the high school T-shirts and letter jackets at home)
  
• Bike and bike lock
  
• Fan
  
• Bath towels, soaps, robe, etc.
  
• Can-opener
  
  
• First aid kit
  
• Band aids
  
• Tylenol or pain reliever
  
• Personal hygiene items (toothpaste, deodorant, etc...)
  
• Shower shoes
  
• Umbrella

• Pets (Fish are usually okay)
  
• High school memorabilia 
  
• Full size refrigerator (rooms are only so big)
  
• Fire arms
  
• Expensive clothing and jewelry (This is the real world, theft does occur)
  
• Off season clothes (your closets are only so big)
  

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  QUESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION
  1. What do you think is something you really need to bring to college? Why?
  2. What do you think is something you could leave at home? Why?
  3. What is something you may want to ask your new roommate about before bringing it to school? Why?
  4. Why do you think it is important to coordinate with your new roommate?
  5. How do you find out what you can and can not have in your resident's hall or greek house?
  6. Why is it important to check out the size of your living space before packing for school?

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