Anonymous wrote:What is all the stuff to buy? Some bedding, towels and blu-tak. Maybe a shampoo caddy?

Twin XLong sheets, blanket, mattress topper/egg crate, pillow(s).
Towels
Clothing (kids like to reinvent themselves when they go away to college)
Shoes
Under-the-bed-boxes
Posters for the walls
Alarm clock as backup for iPhone running out of juice
Laptop
School supplies (pens, pencils, calculator, stapler, staples, scotch tape, fun-tak, whatever else)
Shampoo
Conditioner
Soap
Razor
Bowl
Fork & Spoon

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the idea.

Anonymous wrote:What is all the stuff to buy? Some bedding, towels and blu-tak. Maybe a shampoo caddy?

The big thing for my DS is a new lap top.

Anonymous wrote:What is all the stuff to buy? Some bedding, towels and blu-tak. Maybe a shampoo caddy?

for boys, yes. for girls, no.

DD ended up going 1000 miles away. We bought nothing until we got to new college city 4 days before classes started.

What is all the stuff to buy? Some bedding, towels and blu-tak. Maybe a shampoo caddy?

OP, do what you need to do to help with *your* transition.

No shame (though you aren't likely to get much empathy here)

I'm going to guess that a DD will want to pick out her comforter. Some decisions like this fall under the decorating category, and with a DD, she will want to make these decisions (sheets too? maybe) Girls often coordinate the look for their room once they start communicating with their new roommate-to-be. Too early for this - decorating. That will probably be July/Aug.

But Mom, I totally "get" you wanting to buy. You may have very practical reasons. For me it was more emotional. It was a transition-thing. It was fun. Fun when other aspects can be a bit bitter sweet/sad.

I bought a lot. So much that I could have furnished several college kid's rooms. Even though I had bought, I didn't force - in August, because it wasn't till then that the kids would focus on it - in August, they choose to take a lot of what I bought but not all. I returned some, donated some.

Now with my later child, a DS, I think buying ahead of time for college was almost like providing a "hope chest". Every purchase was based on the hope that he would be bound for college. I was willing-it along.

You definitely don't need to do it junior year. It's just not that hard to buy college supplies. You can mail order most of it, and buy other odds and ends at Target when you get there. Targets in college towns have whole aisles devoted to dorm necessities - from Command strips to microwaves to pillows to very inexpensive rugs.

I agree with the previous poster who suggested not buying anything until you know where your child is going in case it would be cost-prohibitive to ship. Also, lots of places have big sales on college stuff (bedding, supplies, etc.) in the summer before kids leave for college, so you might be better off setting aside the money you would spend all year buying things slowly and waiting for the sales.

Anonymous wrote:This is crazy. Your child is a junior and you worry about college supplies??? Don't you have other things to worry about re. DC's college app process?

OP here. I know, right! CRAZINESS! Actually, thinking about the entire process stresses me out! This one just happened to be the one I thought about today. LOL

My parents made me buy my own stuff (with my own money).

If you want to pay for DD's supplies, and if DD is a responsible person with a good head on her, I'd give her the cash and make her get her stuff herself -- even consult with her to make a spreadsheet of "needs" and "wants," but send her off to Target on her own. I think there's actually good reason to wait until the beginning of the school year (sales, you don't know what her roommate(s) will be bringing, etc) but that doesn't mean that you have to physically brave the crowds.

This is crazy. Your child is a junior and you worry about college supplies??? Don't you have other things to worry about re. DC's college app process?

We waited until my kids knew where they were going for sure. We had to take into account climate, etc.

You could buy some in May, some in June, some in July?

My kids both went across the country for school so I didn't want to pay to ship. They started looking after they decided where they were going, but we didn't buy anything until August.

Container store has a 25% off sale in the summer for college stuff. We are waiting for that.

Every year in the Summer, swarms of college students and parents are buying up Target, BBB, etc. Frankly, that gives me a bit of anxiety. Has anyone starting buying bits and pieces early and just store them in plastic bins? I saw some good deals on bedding a few weeks ago and it made me think about it. It does seem like an exciting time doing the buying spree, but the idea of dropping in excess of $500 on supplies freaks me out a bit. If you have bought early, what types of things are best and does DC feel like they "missed out" on the buying frenzy?

TIA
-mom of DD Class of 2016