College Freshman/Dorm Survival Kit for a Male

My boys loved their wireless speakers they got for graduation, they used them every day. Now that they are home for summer, they still use them everyday, I just get to listen to loud rap music, yuck!!!

Janell

I would leave out the roll of qt's. Most colleges have laundry free now, and the extension cords. If he can't have a microwave in the room, ext cords will most likely be a no no also. Though most kids DO use them, they just hide them during inspections.

I make a small survival kit for graduates every year, usually what I put in mine is.

paperclips, duct tape, command strips, band aids, triple antibiotic, ace wrap, Tylenol, ibro, small sewing kit, alligator clips, scotch tape, rubber bands, Tums, and a scissor

Nix the quarters - dorm machines are card based now.
A set of silverware for eating food in the room when the dining hall isn't open. A mug/bowl is useful too.
Dish soap for cleaning dishes and silverware.
Wall safe tape or poster mounting squares.
A doorstop for propping open the door to the room to get ventilation and visitors.
Zout for treating stains before clothes go in the hamper - makes laundry day easier.
A small fan if the rooms aren't air conditioned.

Perhaps not, but having that message sent is always good.

If it were my son, I'd substitute plastic eating utensils rather than silverware because he is a slob & would never ever clean the eating utensils.
(I did not raise him that way, it was some sort of gene mutation).

Extra aux cords are nice to have on hand.

Wow! I'm a college professor and this still blows my mind.

I would send more medicine - stuff for fever, cough, colds, and stomach virus.

Instead of quarters, I would send a gift card to like sonic....call it his emergecy drink money.

My son just finished his first year at UT Austin. In addition to the things already mentioned, we got him a hulu account. Otherwise, he didn't have anything to watch and could watch TV on his laptop.

Wal-Mart has those rapid ramen cookers for about $3. They're by the microwaves. I bought one of those, a microwave brownie cooker and a Mac and cheese cooker with boxes of the ingredients to make the stuff for some of my students for graduation! Those were my favorite gifts to give!

An alternative to the Ikea bags are the huge Ziplock bags made for sports equipment. They didn't stay closed at all when carrying them, but did when they were just sitting in the car. And they fold down into almost nothing.

DS was a freshman last year. I bought a small tote with the handles that lock the lid down, measuring it to make sure it would fit on his closet shelf. And I filled it with things like above--be careful. Dorm rooms are small and most guys don't care about a lot of stuff. I agree with a basic supply of meds. Living on top of each other makes for more illnesses. A doorstop is good--DS propped his door open when he wanted company and guys would just wander in. And just disposable dishes/plastic ware; ditto on the Tupperware. I never use them at home, but DS would have had to go down the hall to wash them in the bathroom sinks. Gross, plus they wouldn't get washed. I did send a set of dishes/silverware in case DS felt bad about tossing it all in the trash, but he never used them.

Spring for a good long charging cord--the $10 ones take forever to charge.

DS also brought his tool kit. It was just Dollar Store tools like a hammer, pliers, screw driver, etc that he had gotten years ago. But a lot of the boys borrowed it and he used it within an hour of moving in to repair one of his dresser drawers. And dollar tools meant that if they were not returned or broke, it wasn't a big deal.

I highly recommend buying a refrigerator over renting one. It was $160 per year to rent a fridge from a company that works with the school and I bought a fridge/freezer combo at Walmart for $140. Bonus that the freezer was separate and actually froze stuff--good for home cooked meals that I sent back with him and popsicles when he was sick with a sore throat.

Don't go too crazy on stuff. My son had a lot of that stuff and brought 90% of it back home after the first year and it had not been touched.

One thing all three of mine have commented on, as being a great thing to have in the dorms and/or apartments are USB extension cords. I got them 6' ones, but you can go up to 15' long. They can plug in and charge, but still use their device, since the cord is longer with it.

A small fan and small desk light are nice too.

My 18 yr. old daughter is going to be a sophomore and you have great ideas on your list! She pretty much took some of what was on your list. She didn't have a lot of space (3 girls in s small double) so she only took what was absolutely necessary and did without most stuff that she would have taken with more space.

She didn't have a closet, so we bought her a steamer after the first semester. She only used it when she was going out, didn't really use it for everyday.

Ping pong balls, deck or two or cards, Air freshner (both wall and spray), nail clipper, tweezers,flu meds, bandaids, some candy, gum and breath spray...a small safe, they make one you can use a pattern to open.
My bosses son loved his and used it often.