Hey, I'll be leaveing to go to college in about 3 weeks, and I am getting over whelmed with getting ready to go away to school. I have been going to a local community college for a year now so I have a handle on balanceing a school schedual and buying books and stuff like that, but I am not sure what I need to buy and bring with me to college. By going to a local community college I didn't have to leave home, but now I will be 5 hours from home and the college I will be going to is in a rural area and the nearest supper center is a half hour away so I have to bring everything that I need with me. So with that said is there any advice on what I realy need to buy for a dorm room or what I don't need to buy ?

Bed Sheet, Linens, a couple milk crates are good to store stuff in or stack on top of each other. a TV, a Laptop or desktop (whichever you have!), a surge outlet, all of your toiletries, hangerssss! (lots of em!), laundry bag/hamper, any of your hair electronics, extra hair ties because your roommate will undoubtedly always run out of them!

If you have a kitchen, basic necessities like food! LOL, and healthy stuff!

College is a blast, make sure not to forget your phone charger =)

Just go to Target, check in their back to college section, every year I did this and every year I was majorly prepared!

I'm going to chime in on the OTHER end of the spectrum - bring all the stuff Krizstyling mentioned, but don't bring TOO much otherwise! My roomie and I ended up doubling up on SO much out first semester that there was hardly room to move! Plus it's fun going out shopping to Target/Walmart etc the first or second weekend when you can spare the time and once all your "essentials" are in place to get the rest of the stuff.. storage, knick-knacks, etc.

Definitely try and message your roommate on Facebook and see what she'll be bringing, as Chantelle said it is very easy to double up on stuff!!

Thanks for the advice, I don't know who my roommate will be till I get there but I figured I'd hold back just in case . The dorm that I'll be living in is acctually really nice it has 2 bed rooms which is shared by 4 people and it has a small living room and a little kitchenet that has a full sized fridge so I don't realy need to worry about any appliances anyway. The living room already has a sofa and a couple of chairs and each bed room has 2 beds, 2 desks and 2 bureaus so I don't have to worry about furnature.

Just bring whatever is in your room that will make you comfortable, and what you usually use in the bathroom. Most dorms provide toilet paper, but not sheets/towels/blankets. A desk lamp would be useful, as would a fan if the dorm doesn't have AC. You should get a letter or email from your school soon giving you contact information for your new roomies.

Good luck! You're going to have a great time!

back when i was in college, several hundred years ago, we didnt know who our roommates were until the very day we moved in

although my mom and i packed up everything we thought i'd need, the one thing we didnt pack was ANYTHING to eat or cook with, nothing, not a fork, not a plate, nothing...which i then realized that very first night when i got hungry...i had no food and nothing to eat it with LOL! i walked to the store at midnight and bought a cheap pizza and plastic silverware...then baked the pizza on the cardboard flat it came on...then realized you're not supposed to bake it to the cardboard!!

Wow Abigail! LOL Sounds like your dorm room is exactly like mine was! We didn't double up on anything (cept a microwave) because we each had our own space. The two bedroom thing really works out well!

I did get some plates cups and bowls, I went to wally world and got 4 piece plastic picnic plates/cups/bowls sets for like $2.50 =P. Also got some cheap sliverware for like $3. I'm not worried about cooking because @ my school you are required to buy a meal plan if you live on campus and the smallest meal plan is almost as much as the largest so I will be eating all my meals in the cafateria. Fortunatly there meals are pretty healthy and they have a salad bar.

Alaskanlaughter: my mom and I baked a pizza with the cardboard once, it curled up like a taco! lol

I loved my college years! I brought my own mini-refrigerator for my room because my room mates kept relying on me for groceries. Just a thought....

You're probably not going to need half the things you think you will.

Before my freshman year I was SO anxious that I wouldn't have everything I needed. I found every "packing" list I could and went nuts at Walmart and Target. I didn't use most of it.

I think it's easier to take a minimalist approach then a week or 2 later take the half hour trek to the store. You'll probably need to go anyway b/c your bound to need something you didn't think of.

Also I'd hold off on buying your books. Alot of professors teach only from powerpoint slides and the book is more of a reference. The test questions are taken verbatum from the notes and you don't open the book at all. Also at my school there was a "reserve reading room" at the library where most course books were available but couldn't leave the room. I would wait a week or so to get a feel for which books I actually needed and which ones I could get by without. I would have saved SO much money if I figured this out sooner.

Scarlett: That will be good to keep in mind, I have bought most of my books although most of them are Nursing books which I would not want to be with out! But that will be good idea for some of my supporting classes !

Yes, don't forget the kitchen stuff like hand towels and wash cloths (even if you just have a sink in your room). I remember getting there and realizing that I forgot little things like a travel coffee mug. I would not take your entire movie collection. Maybe just a few favorites. Take a trashcan, lamp, and stapler.
Good luck at school! Make some good memories.

Get a George Foreman mini grill! They let you eat "normal" food from time to time when stuck in a place with limited cooking options. You can make a lot of different things on them, and they're fast and easy to clean, and the smaller ones take up no space at all.

Get a privacy curtain or a cheap room divider of some sort. Sometimes when you're in a dorm, you just want 20 minutes where someone isn't all up in your space. Privacy is valuable, at least to me :P

Get a mattress pad!!! Memory foam, at least 2" thick. Poor quality of sleep can really ruin your classwork, and there is a 98% chance your bed is going to SUCK without a pad. They're a little pricey (mine was $70) but sooooo worth it, and if you're going to be living in a dorm for several years, definitely the way to go.