* Make sure what size beds you have, whether you'll need the extra long twin sheets or just regular ones. I prefer jersey knit sheets for the dorm b/c there wasn't any temperature control beyond "open the window/shut the window". Jersey breathe well, and you can throw a heavy blanket or two on top if it happens to get anywhere below 100* in your dorm. (Mine never did, except the year I lived in the basement.)
* Get Big Towels! Even if you're in an all girls no co-ed bathrooms dorm, you *will* be surprised by a guy wandering through the hallway while you're on the way to/from the shower. Take soccer sandals or shower shoes, and find a plastic basket with holes in the bottom for your shower and bathroom stuff, so you can take it right into the stall with you.
* Don't forget curtains, and a floor mat or rug for near the door to keep wet shoes and snow away from where you walk around in your socks. (I *hated* stepping in the side walk salt I'd track in with bare feet!) An inexpensive rubber-backed one from a Dollar Store was sufficient for us.
* Milk crates and tupperware storage containers are a god send, especially small ones that will fit under the beds or in the bottom of the closets. Go to the Dollar Store for them, you'll probably save a ton.
* Tool kit should include: Zip Ties, duct tape, packing tape, scotch tape, tweezers (for splinters), phillips head screw driver, flat head screw driver, and a wrench or ratchet for putting the beds together. You might also need a hex key, depending on how your beds are made. When I was getting ready for college (waaaaay back in the summer of 2000
) K-mart had a tool kit with all of this stuff in it for about $12. Between having that, a first aid kit, and a package of Hershey bars in my fridge, I was christened "the floor mom" for being the most prepared for dorm life of anyone on my floor. And I lived with sophomores and juniors who'd been there, done that before me.
* If you don't already use a bank and a pharmacy with branches in your college's town, do the transfer stuff now. Make sure your birth control, allergy medication, etc. have enough refills to get you until Thanksgiving or Christmas break if you'll need to see the doctor to get more. If you're on a controlled medicine like for ADD, you might actually have to get a doctor in your college's town to get the prescription monthly. Check with your insurance if you do.
* Do you know how to do laundry? Time to learn if you don't, and don't forget to pack laundry soap, and maybe a drying rack for bras and stuff that shouldn't go in a hot dryer. Same with how to pop popped corn (you'll laugh, but we had a number of false fire alarms from people messing up microwaved popped corn) and other simple cooking skills, and read a bus schedule so you can get to stores etc. if you don't have a car. If you're taking a computer, it's not a bad idea to know how to reboot from a restart/backup disc and how to clean out the cache/cookies and run disc clean up, if you don't already know. And have *good* antivirus software. I'm partial to Avast and Spy Ware Doctor, but your school's network might have something specific they install as well. I used a back up anyway, because I was friends with the campus computer geeks who knew the kind of crap that still got through the school fire wall and antivirus protections.
* I used both kinds of bag you mentioned while I was in college, and I found the messenger bag style was better for me. Your mileage, however, may vary. You might end up wanting one with wheels if you're on a big campus. I wasn't, so lugging 30 pounds of books in one bag wasn't a big deal.
* I still use 5-subject notebooks for stuff, and I've been out of that #&!!hole since 2005.
They're addictive, since with the pocket folders, you can stuff your syllabus and assignment sheets right in with your notes. Once you're done with a class, though, unless it's something for your concentration, recycle the suckers!
* On a little more personal level, if you're going in with a declared major, don't be afraid to move out of it. The sales pitches you get before you're actually a student are just that: advertising and propaganda. It's not until you're sitting in an 8 AM class that repeats almost verbatim what your 9 AM class went over the week before that you realize what you're really getting for all that money you and your folks are shelling out. Don't be afraid to change majors, or transfer to a different school that's a better fit for you if you're there for a while and realize it isn't what you thought you'd be getting. I made that mistake, and it's my biggest regret about my years in college. I could have been much better off at a different school, even though I finally found a major I loved. Most of the stuff you'll learn in college doesn't come from a classroom anyway. The stuff you pick up outside of class from living and working with other people ends up being more valuable in the end than an ugly piece of paper to hang on the wall. Most of my friends that have their "out in four" t-shirts and all that, are working regular minimum wage jobs anyway.
* This dorm is going to be your home for at least the next year; make sure it feels like one to you. If you're allowed, take a pet. Bettas are the dormitory standard and can be a great stress reliever. I'd be glad to PM with you about setting up a tank if you don't keep fish already. A small plant can help a lot with atmosphere and keep the air in the room cleaner. Peace Lilies are very good for that. Also, decks of cards (don't forget the UNO!), a couple of good board games like Clue, Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples, Scrabble, and Trivial Pursuit (great for setting up in a lobby or lounge and getting to know people in the hall), and if you have one of your own, a video game system or DS. A lot of weekends in one of my res. halls were spent having X-box and PS2 tournaments in the basement rec room, and now that the Wii is as wide spread as it is, you might just be able to get away with taking the peripherals and a couple of favorite games to play at a friend's room or something. Contrary to what a lot of school employees say in front of parents, you *will* have down time, and not even the most obsessive student uses all of it to study. Make sure you've got ways to have fun. It makes it a lot easier to survive.
