While there are many items that are completely useless for college, there are some that are essential. Here, I share the Most Important Items For College. They help make life easier and less stressful and, as a college student, the less added stress the better.
The Most Important Items For College
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Water Bottles
Water bottles are really important for any student. It makes it easy to keep water with you and stay hydrated at all times. My campus has water bottle filling stations that make it easy to refill my water bottle while studying. Without water bottles, you have to search for your nearest water fountain every time you are thirsty. With a water bottle you have water on you at all times.
3M Command Hooks And Command Strips
In most dorms, using nails on the wall are a big no-no. Command Hooks and Strips are the saving grace that help students make their dorm feel more like home. You can use them to hang up art, tapestries, whiteboards, coats and a lot more. Buy a big pack of each and go wild. The options are endless. I use Command hooks and strips in my dorm for my keychain, framed art and wall calendar.
Lanyard
I have a lot of things that I need to keep track of in College. This includes my dorm room key, a couple other keys and my University ID card. Being able to put all of these things on one lanyard makes it easier for me to keep track of everything. Plus, it’s fun picking out a lanyard too. The options are endless.
A Safe
I brought a safe with me to college to help protect my things. I live in a traditional dorm hall with a roommate. That means I don’t know everyone who lives around me, who’s in my dorm building at all times or even who my roommate invites to our room. Locking up my valuable stuff while I am gone provides a sense of security. The safe I have is practical too. Its fireproof and small, so it fits under my desk. Bonus, it has a cord attached to it that I can attach to a large piece of furniture. I attached my safe to my desk so it is harder for someone to try and steal.
Rolling Cart For Storage
In my dorm room, I have a stand alone sink. There is a perfect spot right next to it for my Ikea Raskog utility cart. I can put my washcloths, toothbrush, shampoo, lotion, hairbrush and a lot more it in. This provides easy access for all the things I need when using the sink. It also rolls so I can easily move it around the room to clean or rearrange.
Thick Coat
Even if you have a car, chances are you will be doing at least a little bit of walking on your campus. Between classes, from the library to your dorm, or to an outdoor soccer game. Unless you live in the middle of the Sahara dessert, it is likely it will get cold during winter. I have spent many nights walking from my friends’ dorm hall back to mine absolutely freezing. Unless you want to become friends with hypothermia, a thick winter coat is a must.
Vacuum
Sadly, in college there are no parents to help clean up your messes. A vacuum helps keep everything clean and dust/crumb free.
Planner
Syllabi are worshipped in college. They are the holy grail. They have due dates for homework, quizzes, tests and papers. In college it is hard to keep up with all the assignments listed in each syllabus. Getting a planner helps to organize everything in one spot. It also makes it easier to see all your assignments together. So, if you have two tests on one day, you can see it easily and plan accordingly.
Wall Art
Dorm rooms come with ridiculously bare walls. If you want your room to feel more like home and less like a jail cell, I recommend getting some wall decor. This could be pictures, posters, paintings, anything that you can put on a wall. I got a couple pieces of art from Ikea that were cheap and easy to put on the wall. We attached them to the wall with 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips. They’re kind of like velcro.
Mirror
A full sized mirror that you can easily hang up is ridiculously helpful. You can easily see your outfit before you head out the door. It’s also great if you just need a place to check if you have any microwaveable food stuck between your teeth.
Disposable Dinnerware
If you just aren’t feeling like socializing and going out into the world, it’s nice to have dinner in your dorm room. This is made easier by having plastic utensils or reusable ones, on hand at all times. You can heat things up in them, or have a cold bowl of cereal.
Twin Mattress Topper
The mattresses in dorm rooms are practically plywood. If you want your bed to be a comfy heaven after a long day of hard work, I suggest investing in a mattress topper. These bad boys make college mattresses ten times comfier.
Flip Flops
Community bathrooms in colleges are not state of the art. They’re gross, and full of hair. If you want to protect your feet from fungus and Lord knows what else, get some flip flops to wear in the community showers.
FRAKTA Storage Bag from Ikea
Ikea’s giant blue bags are perfect for hauling your stuff into your dorm on the first day or to bring your stuff back home for breaks. They are large and easily fold up to fit under everything in your closet/wardrobe.
Fan
Dorm halls do not know how to regulate temperature. It’s either too hot or too cold, they don’t know a happy medium. You can easily add more layers when it is too cold in your room but a fan really helps when your room becomes hotter than Death Valley.
