First child off to uni accommodation - what do we need?

[minerva7]

Just that. First time ever settling an 18 year old into uni accommodation. Furnished room. Shared toilet, shower and kitchen.

Do we label all their stuff in that goes into the kitchen cabinets? Do they keep their toothbrush etc in their bedroom? So many questions!

I would really appreciate experiences/opinions thank you 🙏🏻

I would go further and suggest a Tile or Airtag on the keyring.

One of mine regularly got locked out/dropped the key fob in the laundry/left it in Macdonald's. Game changer to have the key tag plaintively call the phone so they never got separated (well, except for the infamous 'just stepped outside my door in sandals, got locked out, now it's snowing and the nearest spare key is in Munich till Monday' incident. But that wasn't in the first year).

A lot of the newer halls have key cards, not keys.

Somehow none of mine ever seem to have ended up in new halls! Distinct gravitation to the older crumbly end of things.

At one point, we had one child going into a UK first year and one heading off for a year abroad.

One took a crammed carload with roof box. The other took a suitcase and a backpack.

They need less than you think.

Honestly I would take a minimal amount, and let your child buy things when they get there.

It is much easier to unpack a small amount of stuff. So once you drop them off and leave, your child can spend a small amount of time arranging their room. It’s helpful to be busy when you are settling in somewhere new.

Then once they have settled in, they can go and buy what they need - chance to explore the area, and take ownership of what they need, and possibly enjoy a shopping trip with some new friends.

You might find they don’t care about many things that others think are essential. Better to buy things in response to genuinely deciding you need them rather than a whole mountain of stuff “just in case”.

Packing up at the end of term is a lot less daunting if you can keep it minimalist too.

I agree let them figure it out when they are there you have to realise that they will become very independent and fearless quite quickly .
My daughter just finished year one at Oxford and she’s changed so much from the person she was in the first 2 weeks of an extraordinary journey in self esteem growth sad life’s experiences especially budgeting without being able to work as is the Ethos of some colleges in Oxford .
They buy stuff as they go pots pans etc and each time my daughter leaves after 8 weeks some of it stays in her small locker and the rest comes home as they rent rooms out in Oxford

Some universities have household sales from the graduating students or the ones going for a gap year or the ones who can't be bothered to take the stuff on with them at the end or those moving into furnished flats or house shares for 2nd year

Anyway, check out if they can get 2nd hand if they want to save money on brand new pots and pans etc

For all those saying “don’t step in, just let them figure it out” could I politely point out

— there is a difference between a child leaving school in England, where I believe in most cases they will be over 18 with some nearly 19, and those elsewhere. DS will be 16 when he starts.
— I know MN hates hearing this, but some kids are ND and struggle to plan
— some kids ASK for parental help, particularly in combination with the two points above

Well said @JustPleachy

A lot of these posters assume that as soon as a young person reaches 18 they suddenly become mature and responsible adults, and we all know that most of them don't.

That’s sort of the point. They won’t know - this is how they will learn - ND aside.

They usually learn by asking someone though - in this case it is usually parents.

To be fair I did say in my post what have the DC asked for.

If they’re asking fair enough but ideally dont swoop in and just do it. Or give them a bit of time to find their feet then offer to help with what they need.