COLLEGE TIPS

• What to bring:


1. Underwear and socks are the first things you’ll run out of. Bring lots!
2. Bring a bathrobe, a pair of shower shoes, and a shower caddy for that long walk from the showers to your dorm room.
3. Bring your favorite sports equipment: tennis racquet, baseball mitt, roller blades, etc. Don’t forget helmets or shin guards.
4. Is the school’s climate hot or cold? Will you need thermal underwear, gloves and hats or sandals and extra bathing suits?
5. Adhesive hooks are ideal for putting up posters without damaging walls.
6. Use bed lifts to raise your bed, increasing storage space underneath. You can also use cinder blocks to stack boards at intervals for extra shelving.
7. Bring earphones for your iPod player and TV so you and your roommate can keep your entertainment to yourselves.
8. Taking photos captures all the fun college moments, but you may want to just use a cell phone with digital camera capabilities rather than bringing along a separate camera. That’s one less piece of expensive technology to worry about.
9. Keys: be sure to have an extra set, including car keys.
10. A roll of duct tape can be indispensable for securing and fixing almost anything.
11. Take along spare pairs of glasses or contact lenses and copies of the prescriptions.
12. Stock up on individual packets of sugar, sweetener, ketchup, mayo and mustard to keep in your dorm room for those midnight snacks.
13. Rolls of quarters are a hot college commodity, needed for laundry, soda, snacks and meters.
14. Take a supply of your regular medications, prescriptions, and your doctors’ phone numbers.
15. You can never have enough batteries, in all sizes.
16. Stamps come in handy for letters home or paying bills.
17. Bring along framed photos of those you love so your dorm room will feel more like home.
18. Don’t forget a well-stocked first aid kit.
19. Let there be light! Remember extension cords, power strips, surge protectors, lamps, and extra bulbs.


• For more information on all of your dorm needs, check our Bed Bath & Beyond checklist.


• What to do:
1. Since you will be living on your bed, your comforter needs to be washable. Check the tag, most are.
2. Sign up for frequent flyer programs with your favorite airlines. Many are affiliated with credit cards that give you mileage for purchases.
3. Put a dry-erase message board on your dorm room door so others can leave messages for you.
4. Make two photocopies of everything in your wallet and your important papers. Keep one copy at home and one at school in a safe place (like dorm safe).
5. Memorize your social security number. It will come in handy more times than you can imagine.
6. Keep a running list of all your extracurricular activities. Someday soon, you’ll have to write a résumé.
7. Assemble a small sewing kit with pre-threaded needles, extra buttons and safety pins.
8. Many people have similar-looking clothes (like socks). Write your name or initials on them with a laundry marker.
9. Apply for a passport now. You’ll probably need it for that Study Abroad Program or Spring Break trip.
10. Know what you are allergic to – the specific names and types of drugs. When did you have your last tetanus shot?
11. Bring a small tool kit with all the essentials. Put your name on these items; they will be borrowed.
12. When you buy luggage, remember that it has to be stored, so collapsible bags are best. Almost everyone has black luggage so put some unique identifier on the bags.
13. Get your parents a subscription to a local newspaper or the school paper.
14. Creative? Make a poster size photo collage, full of memories, to hang on your wall at school.
15. Keep your laptop under lock and key at all times! Literally. A laptop lock secures your computer to an immobile object such as a desk, bookshelf, or bed. Also, don’t leave your laptop unattended when it is on, and make sure to create elusive passwords so no one can access your computer files or e-mail account.