Links
HomeMaking the Choice
Scholarships
The Applications
Financial Aid
Waiting for Decisions
The Final Choice
College To-Do
High School To-Do
The Bank Account
Choosing a Computer
Communication Plan
Clothes and Supplies
Orientation
Class Registration
Buying Textbooks
The Roommate
Handling the Move
Saying Goodbye
The Empty Nest
Clothes and Supplies
This conversation doesn't apply if you have a daughter going off to college. For boys, you can give them a backpack with one pair of underwear, one torn shirt, and a pair of shorts that he wore in middle school, and he'd be all set for the entire school year. Girls generally require a fully-furnished house (complete with stocked walk-in closets) to be transported to the dorm - so I'm told.So if you have a son, shopping is a breeze. The phrase "less is more" applies here, since whatever they end up needing that they didn't bring with them can either be sent to them, purchased on campus, or picked up on a weekend trip home.
Make sure to find out how your child's dorm handles the laundry situation. There are some companies that offer laundry services to residents, but it's cheaper to use the on-site machines. These machines take the student's ID card for payment, so they don't have to always have quarters around for washing that one pair of underwear (if they wash them at all).
For supplies, the most important thing is a backpack. In high school it was important to have a heavy-duty backpack because they had to lug all their books around with them everywhere they went (unless they were lucky enough to have a central location for their locker), but in college they'll probably only have to carry the books for one or two classes at a time, so "heavy-duty" is no longer required. If they'll be taking their computer with them to class, then "heavy-duty" may still be important.
After the backpack, the next important things are a calculator (appropriate to whatever math class they'll be taking), some highlighters (that they will never use because who actually studies?), and some college-ruled paper. Beyond that it all depends on how organized they want to be, which in our case was "not at all."