DS off to uni - what does he need

[Pamelaaa]

So as the title says DS is off in the middle of September after successful results today. He has got a room in halls with a shared kitchen etc. So I am now trying to think about what he will need to take. Can anyone offer any advice with the list? Please include the basic and the obvious as am not sure where to start.

Also is there anything we need to find out about with regards the accommodation and what is covered?

Thanks everyone.

Bedding, towels, stationery, case of decent red (plus glasses bottle opener/corkscrew), couple of mugs and cafetière and/or teapot.

And a wilko gift card (or two or three of different values) so he can equip himself once he knows what he needs. And if that's the biggest ever pick n mix binge, just see it as a earning experience....

Some Unis have bedding packs that you can order in advance at a reasonable price if you don't want to cram too much stuff into the car. DS had a 4ft bed last year which came with a mattress cover already on it. 4ft fitted sheets and matress covers are available at a reasonable price from Dunelm.

DS took some of our old/surplus pans - they didn't come back so glad I didn't buy new ones!

On MNers advice I bought DS a door wedge. It was on his book shelf in his room and was spotted during a room inspection - he got told off as you are not allowed to prop fire doors open.

Hoovers definitely available - I know 'cos I hoovered DS's room the day he moved out for the one and only time in 9 months

Bottle opener and corkscrew are a must!

Minimal crockery and cutlery as a)it will go missing and b) they will be encouraged to wash up on a regular basis if they don't have spares!

Room:

Bedding
Toiletries (loo roll you never know when some will run out!)
Desk storage (files, folders)
Extension leads maybe.

Kitchen

Cutlery
Cooking utensils
Pots/pans
Storage pots (pre cook food)
Lunch boxes

The most useful thing I brought that none of my 11 flat mates had was tin foil - very useful for many non cooking things like fancy dress!

For those saying buy when you get there - I’d get the basics first because lots of people have the same idea. If it’s a major city, Ikea etc will be sold out.

A flat mate got a distinctive novelty mug as a present. He drank everything from it (tea/beer/wine etc) and that ensured it was never stolen!

Agree that a large holdall/rucksack is a good idea. I remember filling mine with dirty clothes on visits back home.

I was packed off with a hot water bottle & thermals because "it's cold up North". To be fair these were useful once I'd moved out of the luxury of university owned accommodation.

Also agree that a gift card so that they can buy little bits to make their room more personalised & comfortable.

One thing my boys really appreciated was a little photo album with a few snaps of family. They have snaps of their mates on their phone but don't usually have pics of their gran etc. and it's comforting to have if you're feeling a bit homesick (although they'd never admit it).

Whoever owns the toastie machine makes the most friends. There's nothing more bonding than cheese toasties after the pub.

Following with interest, my DD has refused to buy/let us buy anything until she knew for sure she'd been accepted. so now we've got a mad rush to get it all!

There's a lot to be said for taking the absolute bare essentials and then seeibg what's there when you turn up, what everyone else has brought with them to be shared, working out what's missing and then taking a trip to asda / wilko / ikea to buy what you need. It will be manic in those shops on moving in weekend but it saves there being a load of repeats!

don't worry about the toaster, kettle ect, my halls did that 4 years ago, we had 6 of everything!!!! and they can always go get it from argos once they are there if they didnt have it before! there should be a hoover! we had a supplies cupboard, from what i remember from looking round Solent at the time (wet to Plymouth in the end ) they have pretty good supplies in the flats, but go for the crockery, but not too much as theres never any storage space in the kitchens!!! i had most of mine in a box in my room during my time in halls!
stationary,
bedding,
laptop, printer, ethernet cable, not all halls had wifi, plus the speed was better on the cable- though they didnt provide one!
iron 0 halls had an ironing board but no iron!
if he wants decent knives- take thouse- but keep them in the room or else they will probably be made blunt in a week,
speakers?
rubber shower mat, maybe a fluffy one too,
clothes airers,
hangers
pegs
boxes (plastic stackable)
canned foods! - our fridge was a half sized on- 3 shelves between 6 of us, with a freezer draw at the top!!! so canned/ dried foods,

extension leads/multi plugs
door stop
tea towels- cant ever have too many tea towels
washing basket, and washing stuff
shampoo and toileries, loo roll, had soap, washing up liquid, fully stocked first aid kit- heavy on the cold and flu medicine- freshers flu is a PITA regardless if you aren't the going out type or not- you will get it anyway!
good luck!!!

We had notebooks and a pen hung outside our doors so people could leave messages. Presumably no longer required in the days of mobile phones!

DS1 is still waiting to hear what accommodation he has been allocated.

I have been buying him some bits and pieces each week that will hopefully be useful in any type of room.

Mattress toppers for plastic covered beds - yuk

I had some big pillows which were good for sitting on beds when you only have a desk chair in the room.

Good stuff of medical stuff for freshers flu, been there

Ikea bag for laundry and a small drier - trying to get towels dry every day was a pain.

Are they all en-suite now? Otherwise something to carry things to the shower in. And a good dressing gown.

I always started the year with a stock of easy food, tinned things and packet stuff as standbys.

Wow, when I went to university (hundreds of years ago) I think I took a couple of old pans and mugs and some clothes and notepads and the likes.

How often are room inspections? Never had them in my day.

Btw, I will be sending mine with old pans from home as they won’t be looked after and I can buy nice new stuff for Home. I also think it will be nice for them to have stuff from home for ‘memories’.

I think room inspections were once per time but I wasn’t in “nice” halls.

Yes don’t buy anything that you expect to last beyond the year. My Tesco value pans didn’t do very well! I brought 2 each of side plates/dinner plates/bows from Dunnes (Irish department store). I actually still have them 11 years later! They’re plain white and when I graduated they still had the range so I bought enough for 4 of everything.

If it’s not ensure, flip flops to either wear in the shower, or as I did, to step out of the shower onto rather than the disgusting floor.

Never had room inspections, I was in a self catered flat rather than traditional halls though, maybe that's why?

I just remembered something very useful - wooden spoons! Lots! More chance of the pans lasting then. We wers always running out in our flat as we only had a couple between five of us.

www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/house-garden/kitchen-accessories/best-kitchen-starter-sets-students-essentials-kit-cookware-packs-reviews-university-a7919531.html

The Argos one seems good for the price, basics but they’re so cheap that it doesn’t really matter if they’re a disaster.

I was in John Lewis a few years ago and they had a “starting university” display - including a pair of champagne glasses.

Did someone mention a cheese grater? I took one of those hand held ones designed for Parmesan as it took up less space and easy to wash.

DD is planning on getting a lot of stuff from charity shops to take with her to uni. Recycling and reusing stuff that has a lot of life left in it. Kitchen things will almost all be charity shop finds, mainly from the charity shop my mum volunteers in.

We've bought her one new bedding set, she'll need new sheets as the beds are not a standard size, she's got a couple of newish towels.

And I've got her some Amazon vouchers so she can order stuff as she discovers she needs it. We'll never remember everything she will ever need, but I am well aware that there are shops near universities where students can buy the things they've forgotten.

MenACWY vaccine if they didn't get it at school.

Babyroobs DS who was at Solent says his hall had an ironing board in the kitchen. He says he has no idea why .

Suburban the doorstops were definitely used in the halls my son was in.

I’m not saying no students did the doorstop thing.

Just that others didn’t.

I asked DS about it as I’d read on here that it was a thing. He wondered why anyone would want randoms wandering into their room when they could go to the pub or a party and meet people in the normal way!

Suburban Maybe because they’re not ‘randoms’, they’re the people that they’re going to be sharing a living area with for the next 9 months?

Door stops definitely- have seen them mentioned every time the subject comes up. Flip flops for shared bathroom. Thought this was a good list although not so "basic" www.unibaggage.com/blog/what-to-take-to-university-the-ultimate-packing-list/

www.mumsnet.com/teenagers/university-essentials-checklist

Btw, I will be sending mine with old pans from home as they won’t be looked after and I can buy nice new stuff for Home. I also think it will be nice for them to have stuff from home for ‘memories’.

My mum did that for me.

I still use those four pans as my main set 20 years later.