Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With next day shipping, just get the bare basics and let them fill out based on what they need or really want.

You obviously don't have a college freshman. "next day shipping" does not work on college campuses, espcially for the first few weeks of school. Most colleges have a centralized mail room and it can take several weeks for the packages to get organized.

Overall, though, anything other than the essentials (sheets, towels, hangers) is possibly not going to get used. The extra throw pillows and storage ottoman were among the MOST nonessential!

We have never had an issue with this at my kids schools (small sample of course). Textbooks come by mail. I shipped a mini fridge to arrive when we arrived as it would not fit in the car. All took a very reasonable amount of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unused: hand soap (we thought she might need her own during Covid—threw out unopened after 2 years); top sheet; extra set of sheets (already had at home so luckily, did not purchase). Most other stuff was used. Ugh Slippers, which I thought she would not want, are beloved and especially came in handy during a middle of the night fire alarm/evacuation.

DD went minimal and purchased a bit at stores nearby, then ordered stuff online. She did not do the whole theme thing, but ordered posters and little framed prints of things she likes. It’s all small and portable. She does have one giant bolster kind of pillow that we got on Amazon. She uses it a lot for working on her bed (leans against it). No throw pillows, etc

Did not use a top sheet?

Do you have an actual college student who does? My kids hate them. Just set up college grad in first apartment. Bought only bottom sheets, pillow cases and 2 blankets. They hate comforters as well---and blankets are much easier to wash without them falling apart (and boys are not likely to deal with a duvet cover)

Yup! Much easier to wash a sheet then the whole comforter and if the room is warm they just take the comforter off. I assumed this was almost universal...which is why sheet sets have 3 parts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unused: hand soap (we thought she might need her own during Covid—threw out unopened after 2 years); top sheet; extra set of sheets (already had at home so luckily, did not purchase). Most other stuff was used. Ugh Slippers, which I thought she would not want, are beloved and especially came in handy during a middle of the night fire alarm/evacuation.

DD went minimal and purchased a bit at stores nearby, then ordered stuff online. She did not do the whole theme thing, but ordered posters and little framed prints of things she likes. It’s all small and portable. She does have one giant bolster kind of pillow that we got on Amazon. She uses it a lot for working on her bed (leans against it). No throw pillows, etc

Did not use a top sheet?

Do you have an actual college student who does? My kids hate them. Just set up college grad in first apartment. Bought only bottom sheets, pillow cases and 2 blankets. They hate comforters as well---and blankets are much easier to wash without them falling apart (and boys are not likely to deal with a duvet cover)

Top sheets are not like underwear -- they're not the mark of a civilized human being. We use a bottom sheet and a duvet with a duvet cover and wash the bottom sheet and cover. I hate top sheets and have never used them -- they get tangled up. There's no point as long as you're washing the bedding that touches your actual body.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unused: hand soap (we thought she might need her own during Covid—threw out unopened after 2 years); top sheet; extra set of sheets (already had at home so luckily, did not purchase). Most other stuff was used. Ugh Slippers, which I thought she would not want, are beloved and especially came in handy during a middle of the night fire alarm/evacuation.

DD went minimal and purchased a bit at stores nearby, then ordered stuff online. She did not do the whole theme thing, but ordered posters and little framed prints of things she likes. It’s all small and portable. She does have one giant bolster kind of pillow that we got on Amazon. She uses it a lot for working on her bed (leans against it). No throw pillows, etc

Did not use a top sheet?

Do you have an actual college student who does? My kids hate them. Just set up college grad in first apartment. Bought only bottom sheets, pillow cases and 2 blankets. They hate comforters as well---and blankets are much easier to wash without them falling apart (and boys are not likely to deal with a duvet cover)

Anonymous wrote:With next day shipping, just get the bare basics and let them fill out based on what they need or really want.

You obviously don't have a college freshman. "next day shipping" does not work on college campuses, espcially for the first few weeks of school. Most colleges have a centralized mail room and it can take several weeks for the packages to get organized.

Overall, though, anything other than the essentials (sheets, towels, hangers) is possibly not going to get used. The extra throw pillows and storage ottoman were among the MOST nonessential!

As parents we need to do better.

Anonymous wrote:Unused: hand soap (we thought she might need her own during Covid—threw out unopened after 2 years); top sheet; extra set of sheets (already had at home so luckily, did not purchase). Most other stuff was used. Ugh Slippers, which I thought she would not want, are beloved and especially came in handy during a middle of the night fire alarm/evacuation.

DD went minimal and purchased a bit at stores nearby, then ordered stuff online. She did not do the whole theme thing, but ordered posters and little framed prints of things she likes. It’s all small and portable. She does have one giant bolster kind of pillow that we got on Amazon. She uses it a lot for working on her bed (leans against it). No throw pillows, etc

Did not use a top sheet?

My daughter took too many shoes. Her dad bet her a dollar she wouldn’t wear them all. She did eventually for date nights, formals, and other sorority functions, but otherwise wore the same three pair of shoes.

On her school’s FB page, parents are selling every thing from pillows, comforters to full sized headboards and built in organizers to sit on the desk. Social media makes things so fake because even my minimalist daughter’s room NEVER ever resembled some of the over the top layouts I have seen.

Unused: hand soap (we thought she might need her own during Covid—threw out unopened after 2 years); top sheet; extra set of sheets (already had at home so luckily, did not purchase). Most other stuff was used. Ugh Slippers, which I thought she would not want, are beloved and especially came in handy during a middle of the night fire alarm/evacuation.

DD went minimal and purchased a bit at stores nearby, then ordered stuff online. She did not do the whole theme thing, but ordered posters and little framed prints of things she likes. It’s all small and portable. She does have one giant bolster kind of pillow that we got on Amazon. She uses it a lot for working on her bed (leans against it). No throw pillows, etc

My DD told me she never saw a dorm room look like the ones in the ads. Most people were pretty minimal.

My kid did not use the steamer, drying rack, extra set of sheets, and plates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising Junior was a Freshman with lots of Covid rules. He had to carry all of his things with only 1 trip. No help from family No going back to the car. It is amazing how little you really need. And now, with shipping so easy, just wait till they are there and fill in later.

Yes---shipping/amazon is huge versus when we all went to college. You can get almost anything delivered easily. Go with less and then add as needed. Dorm rooms are much smaller than you think

At my daughters school, sadly it took almost a month for the mailroom to get through the flood of packages. You couldn’t send to the dorm but a central mailroom which was overwhelmed. Since my daughter had a car which was allowed at her school, we found there was an Amazon acceptance place near the school. No Amazon lockers in the small town, but this worked. It was also open 7 days a week whereas the mailroom was only open M-F

Yes, the first 2-3 weeks are rough for amazon delivery at most schools. If your kid's school has amazon lockers nearby it is definately better to use them, even after the first 2 weeks.
Since my kids have chosen schools 2-3K miles from home, I have amazon'd/shipped stuff to the hotel we stay at for 2 days before move in. Hotels are happy to hold it for 3-4 days before arrival. And then I stick around 1 day after move in for the "last minute needs" and run to target/BB&B/etc to get anything major that's missing. But after the first 2 weeks or so, it's easy to ship stuff.

I'm just recalling that the town I went to college in had not even a drugstore in "downtown", so it was 1.5 miles to the Grocery store to get real supplies. I had a nearby relative who drove me 1-2x/semester to get supplies or we walked with a group and pushed a cart back filled with our stuff. Would have been so nice to be able to amazon Laundry detergent, snacks, etc.

Second set of sheets. But it is good to have them in case of a spill right before bed

Make a list. Then eliminate 40% of it. If they need it they can order it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising Junior was a Freshman with lots of Covid rules. He had to carry all of his things with only 1 trip. No help from family No going back to the car. It is amazing how little you really need. And now, with shipping so easy, just wait till they are there and fill in later.

Yes---shipping/amazon is huge versus when we all went to college. You can get almost anything delivered easily. Go with less and then add as needed. Dorm rooms are much smaller than you think

At my daughters school, sadly it took almost a month for the mailroom to get through the flood of packages. You couldn’t send to the dorm but a central mailroom which was overwhelmed. Since my daughter had a car which was allowed at her school, we found there was an Amazon acceptance place near the school. No Amazon lockers in the small town, but this worked. It was also open 7 days a week whereas the mailroom was only open M-F

Agree with the poster about excess clothes - my DD took way more than she needed.

However, my DD did use the storage ottoman and recommends it to others. The beds in her dorm had a slight lift, and in addition to holding her laundry detergent, dryer sheets, etc., she used it as a step stool. Also extra seating when friends came over.