valinsv, we were shopping this time last year for these exact things. We delivered our daughter halfway across country (from the deep south to the upper east coast). We did buy a bed bug mattress protector, a 3 inch memory foam topper and a lightly quilted topper to go over all of that, as well as t-shirt knitted sheets. We packed it all up in one of those Jumbo Space Saver Totes that you suck all the air out of (for about $20 at Wallymart). We even got her pillow, comforter and blanket and towels in there.

Regrding the mini fridge and microwave, check to see if the school dorm offers a deal to rent. Ours did for only $125 for both semesters (micro AND fridge). But the other 2 roommates decided to buy them. Unfortunately, at the end of the school year, they left them in the dorm and we all got charged with a take-away fee. We did buy a printer after we got to the school for prep week and my daughter just gave it away at the end of the school year (it had been well used by 3 roommates and others). We will buy her another one this fall as they are so inexpensive and easier and cheaper to buy than ship/store.

If you have any other questions, please ask....I feel like I could write a book on what we did right and what we did wrong. :-)

Oh, by the way, BB&B has a great service where you can order items from your local store and pick it up at a store close to your school. You pay when you pick up and don't have to buy all if you don't want to. We did this and it was great!

You might want to check with the dorm rules on items that heat up. The University where my son goes did not allow microwaves, coffee pots in the dorms. His fridge cost under $100. There are a lot of sales anytime now.

cia1953 is right on track.

Another tidbit of info I will offer to you is to compare textbook prices online & on Amazon, before buying. The schools bookstore will be sky high.

My DD usually gets hers at Amazon, and also sells them back to Amazon. She gets a much better price all the way around.

Congrats on your fledgling!

Val, check the school website about what is actually furnished in the dorms. At my DS's school, the school provided a combination microwave/fridge in each room so there was no need for us to purchase one.

One other tidbit I realized with my son. When we moved him in, I made up the bed for him. When we visited him about a month later I noticed that the bed looked exactly the way I left it when he moved in. I found out that he always slept ON TOP of the bed! So of course I had to remind him weekly to wash his bed linens even if he slept on top :-)

Also check out textbooksdotcom. There prices are often better than the college bookstore.

Have you had an opportunity to see and review both the singles and the triple rooms? You will find that realistically that there is not much difference size wise for either room.

We purchased a small tv for his room, an ottoman that functioned as seating and storage and one of those papasan(SP)type chairs for him to sit in. Finally, we had an opportunity to check out some of the other dorm rooms particularly upperclass students and you will be surprised how creative the kids can be with rearranging the room for more space and storage.

Oh the memories! I can't believe it's been 9 years since we moved our "baby" into a dorm. I think you're wise to wait to see the room and to meet the roommates before you buy everything. Our son's roommate brought a futon and a TV and our son provided the mini fridge, microwave, coffeepot and printer. We always said he furnished the kitchen and the other guy furnished the LR. They lofted their beds, of course, and put the futon under one and the "kitchen" along with several totes for storage under the other.

One thing I might mention from a son's mom to another son's mom: get dark colored sheets and towels. Washing often isn't very important to them and at least they don't see the dirt as much with dark colors. Of course, back then we didn't hear anything about bedbugs like we do now, so maybe just hearing about that will encourage frequent laundry days.

Good luck to your son; he's going to have a blast!!

here is a link that is very helpful:

https://www1.salliemae.com/content/pdf/library/sm%20what%20to%20pack%20for%20college.pdf

i have been through it twice & this list is great!

Here is a link that might be useful: college packing list

You are wise to wait until you're sure of his room assignment. My son was told he had a double and when he arrived on campus he found out he did have a double except there were 3 guys in it. His university had a larger than expected first year class and they had to stuff students in everywhere. My DD had 3 other room mates- same story with her college and a larger than expected freshman class. But at least in her case they converted a lounge into a dorm room and they had a corner room with a private bath, huge windows overlooking Broadway and the Columbia campus and lots of space.

Here's a suggestion if you buy a printer and your son has room mates who don't have their own. My son was the one with a printer and his dorm mates used it for all their work. But my son didn't want to ask them to share the cost of the ink and you know how expensive that can be. He was buying $28.00 ink cartridges monthly. I tried to tell him that his room mates needed to pay their share or they could each buy their own ink cartridge. But it took a few months to realize that his new friends weren't going to offer to buy one and by that time he was too embarrassed to ask.

If this happens to your son at least they could start off the semester with an understanding about cost sharing.

In most cases your Homeowner's insurance covers your students while at college. However we did add a rider to our policy listing his computer as a scheduled item. I think it only cost about $20.00 and it covered the laptop for full replacement rather than having the $500 deductible.

Try overstock.com for memory foam mattress toppers then add a quilted mattress pad to keep the "heat" away from the body.

Target has a nice xl twin egg crate topper. Both my girls have loved their and say they make a huge difference. They are not expensive...around $20 bucks.

Suggest not "splitting" cost on dorm items, but each person owns outright what they bring, (TV, futon, etc) with shared use. (saves conflict at end of the year or if roomies change)

Ink is what is a good idea to have a shared cost. Try to get a printer that has easy to find ink. If you have PCs and Macs, need to make sure printer is compatible with both.

Bed lifts (or cinder blocks) to elevate the bed to create storage underneath. Many dorm bed frames only have 6" clearance under them. Usually there's dorm regulations controlling how high a bed can be elevated, but 12" is typically allowed. Once you know how much clearance you have, get large lidded storage totes to slide under there. They can hold spare towels, bedding, reference books, really anything that needs to be stashed.

I just have to say your title "essentials"??? Much of what you are asking about are LUXURY items..not essential. Many, many college students have gotten through, become successful, thrived without much of what is being discussed here. Been there, bought the t-shirt as they say; how well I remember.............

One think not mentioned is things like a small hammer, both a phillips and a regular screw driver, small tacks or nails, some sort of a wrench or pliers, a flash light and a roll of duct tape.

Lots of good ideas already listed.... I got a small rubbermaid type tote with a hand that had a lid in it, maybe 6x8 inches, and 6 inches high or so. I put Tylenol, Maalox, Pepto Bismal, bandaids, neosporin, things like that in it.

We bought my niece things for her graduation...

We were very concerned about the security of her items - iPod, laptops, television...There are locks that can lock items to bedframes and such...

I believe we got them from collegedorm.com

val my son's best friend went to UCSD last year. He was put in a double that was tripled (1 regular bed + 2 bunked beds). Very close quarters but he managed to get in a small fridge and a printer, plus a body pillow.

My 2 sons are in college and I bought both the egg crate mattress topper for their beds at BB&B. They both liked them. You're smart to get the sheets this early as they were hard to find by the end of August when my older DS got around to thinking about his dorm room.

Here is a link that might be useful: This is an old thread but has some good info

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions and feedback. It sounds like either the egg crate or memory foam would work, then a mattress pad goes on top of both and then the sheets.

Cia1953: Good idea about the rental of the fridge+micro. As next year, most likely he’ll go in the apartment style housing I think he’ll need them only for one year. I’ve heard about the BB&B service which is really a great option for kids who fly in. As we live in Nor Cal. we plan to drive down for move-in day.

Arcy: DS and I attended orientation last month and it seemed pretty much routine that everyone got the refrigerator and micro; though most likely I think he would purchase then in San Diego��"or rent like cia suggested. I’m not quite sure what you think is a luxury item, though. Certainly not the bedding? I got the impression from most kids we spoke with that the ref+micro was in lieu of a more expensive meal plan (which is how I see it for my DS too).

Pudgeder: DS went to private high school so we’ve been using Amazon for years for textbooks, though the university was promoting their service where we pre-order books from them and they will deliver in a box to their dorm. I’m just wondering if his debit card works with Amazon or he should get his own credit card? Usually, he puts everything in the shopping cart, then I enter my CC and place the order, but I think he needs to have his own card to order books and stuff.

Deborahnj: ha!ha! on the bed. I can totally see myself doing that too, making up his bed. We had a tour last month at orientation and DS spent a night in the dorms. The triple, like Ann mentioned, is really a double sized room, they added another bed to squeeze in more kids. So one side is bunk beds and the other a loft bed with desk below. Really no space at all. But they do have the common room that the 6 rooms in the suite all share. So, DS requested a single as he will still have lots of social opportunities since it’s a suite, but I’m not too optimistic he will get it.

Betsy: Totally agree about the dark sheets and towels!

Chefmom: Thanks for the list. I’ll check it out.

Marie_cate: That’s exactly what the triples are like. One of the recommendations we’d heard, esp. if he is in a triple, is that they get one printer and share the cost of the ink. That is so inconsiderate, though, to use someone’s printer all year long without offering to share ink/paper costs, but I’m sure it happens all the time.

Alku: I’ve seen the bed blocks at BB&B and great idea to store things below, but won’t work if he has a triple with the bunk and loft bed. I guess they have to bring a storage bin and store in the closet (which looked about 18” wide).

Juliekmco: I saw the egg crate toppers at Target, good to hear your DDs liked them. I didn’t see the XL size, but I’ll check another location. Yikes, I guess I better decide soon before all the XL stuff is sold out.

Lindac & Bestyears: Great list of repair/first aid. Definitely I’ll add that to the list.

Divastyle: I’m sure your niece was thrilled with her dorm package. I’ve heard about the frequency of thefts so will talk with DS about some way to secure his valuables. I have some notes from orientation when campus police spoke to us….need to refer back to that. It was definitely a case of information overload.

Annkathryn: Yes, that is what they have at UCSD. The triples were all originally doubles, so very tight quarters. When I was at BB&B they were also selling this room deodorizer; as my good friend whose DS goes there said the whole suite smells like a locker room!

Guess most recommend a body pillow over the armchair type pillow?

So far I bought him a comforter set with sheets, an extra set of sheets, 2 towels, 2 washcloths, 1 face towel. He’s telling me “Mom I won’t have a lot of space” But I figure you need one to use, one to wash.

About the ink cartridge- if anyone balks at paying their share for the ink just take the cartridge out of the printer and the other guys can each buy their own.

I have 2 in college right now and they both agree that the best thing we got for their room was a "mattress" from Ikea to place over the mattress at school. It's all of 3-4" thick MAYBE, but seems to make a world of difference. Each of their roommates admit that they sleep in their beds when my kids are home or away.

The other thing I did for my son who is considerably less organized is get a shower caddy and ALL of his bathroom/shower items stay in it. He carries it to the shower and brings it back, all together - shampoo, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, rubber flip flops (fungus IS an issue in many dorms!!, shower wash (no bar soap).

Good luck!!!

You've gotten great ideas. I just heard a piece on talk radio about buying plastic mattress covers for the bed bug issue. So you are ahead of the curve on that one.

DD had a triple dorm during her freshman year. It was really tight, but the girls made it work. We did have to put the beds up on the highest setting and purchased plastic drawer units from Target as the triple room didn't have 3 dressers. What they did have was a study suite across the hall which housed all of their desks, refrigerator, coffeemaker and stuff like that. A place to hang out late and allow your roommates to get some sleep if they are so inclined.

For DD's dorm bed (which btw is not the XL mattress you would normally see in dorms) we put a plastic cover over the mattress, then a twin memory foam from Kohl's, twin down feather bed topper. All of that is contained inside of a matress cover with a zipper. Then the usual bedding.

Everyone at school remarked how great it is that DD's bed is always made ~ she was so neat. What they did not know is that she doesn't sleep under the covers at school. She has alot of fleece and other throws which she uses to cover up. Gets up in the morning and voila, bed is made. Just has to fold up the throws and put them at the end of the bed.

The first week of classes freshman year, DD emailed me a few pics of their dorm room. I was so impressed with the fact that her bed was made, as her roommates beds were unmade and full of "stuff". DD's was so neat. Joke was on me. She never slept under the comforter the entire year, and carried that practice through her sophmore year as well. I am assuming that will be her MO for the next two years! LOL

I hope your DS has a wonderful first year away!

In my early 20's I worked as a ski instructor and found that rented cabins don't always have washing machines/ dryers. On my days off, digging out my car and/or trudging through the snow to go to the laundromat was kinda low on my priority list, so I improvised!

I recommend a *SALAD SPINNER!* These make for really handy DYI *washing machines!* A salad spinner works great for small things like: underwear, bras, polypropylene layers; pillow cases (especially if you've got acne!) and hand wash items like wool or cashmere sweaters.

i used the following steps: soak with warm water with liquid detergent with both the outer bowl and inner strainer in place; remove and attend to dirty areas with a soft carpet brush, soak again if you like, then, rinse using strainer only. After suds are gone press fabric against strainer to hasten water removal. Place strainer back in bowl, put on lid, then spin out remaining water. Hang to dry. If dying time is critical, before hanging one can use a wet/dry shop vac with a pet hair attachment. All in all, it's really very simple and should take only 10-15 minutes.

Years later, at a time when my sturdy but aging washer "suddenly" developed a leaky hose, I employed my old *salad spinner* again; It worked impressively well cleaning my sons white baseball pants before a game!

*Tip: If you should you have a stain, remove the inner strainer basket, turn it upside down and drape fabric over the dome for a washboard.

Hope this is useful. :)

Oh, as for shopping lists another great thing to have is a mini wet/dry shop vac. Think of all the crumbs, beer pong spills and general mess that happen regardless of intentions to be tidy. ;)