Best things to take to uni

[ginorwine]

I posted about this before but I can't see it in history - apologies for re post !!
Please make I delve into collective wisdom about what is best stuff to take to uni ? First year .
I Wd also like to do an emergency box in case of illness / homesickness / treats .
Thanks .

A toastie maker. Wine. Biscuits. It's all about making friends in the first year. Good luck and have fun!

The ability to cook meals for your housemates.

A door stop ...so you can
Prop your door open so you can see and chat to others and make friends, a shut door seems unfriendly

Condoms

Gp surgeries and dentists details. I spent free time for the first week of last year helping various people on my course looking up this information!
Vitamin C boost, be it tablets or fruit juice, to help avoid freshers flu. Preferably starting building vitamin C levels now to go with high levels, it's what I'm doing.

Agree with vitamins. When I was at Uni my mum knew I couldn't afford (or wouldn't spend my precious pennies) on vitamins, so she used to post me a little care package every few months with vitamins, painkillers, tissues, usually a treat or two as well, but the best part was a hand written letter from her every time.
I rarely got sick whilst all my friends and house mates were frequently under the weather. It was the best thing she did for me :)

In addition to the excellent points above, I would add some passport size photos for university and NUS ID cards.
Plus, look out for info on freshers week events on social media over the next few weeks. You may be able to buy a pre-purchase a passport which gives free entry to most/all the events. We treated both DS to these so they could choose what to go to once they were actually at the uni. it also meant they weren't stuck without a ticket as popular events sold out very quickly.

All of the above. Also take nice bedding (thick cotton fitted/flat sheets) and a blanket. The mattresses in halls are awful!

Info about how not to get an STI and birth control.

If your dc is staying in university accommodation then a doorstop may not work.

Student rooms will have heavy fire doors which are not meant to be propped open. We'd sent ds with a heavy doorstop but it wasn't strong enough to hold the door open (sometimes you've just got to be able to keep the door open). A rubber stop - the sort you slide under a door - was the only thing that worked.

And do check bed sizes - many are 'small doubles' so fitted sheets need to be 3/4 size.

We knew DS2 was having a single bed so bought him a memory foam mattress topper. His mattress in halls was awful. The floor would have been more comfortable.

I, also, took photos on my phone/iPad over the Summer of the pets, us, him, things he liked and set up a Touchnote account. Every few days after he left I sent him a postcard of one of the photos with a little note to let him know we were thinking of him. It made his room more homely, too.

A student who is likely to get very homesick would be in floods of tears at constant reminders of home! Know your child and don't keep getting in touch. Let them be the grown up and contact you! What to take? Clothes, personal things like phone, computer or anything else that is vital, eg pix of family if they want. Printer may be a good idea. Printing costs can be mega and having your own is a real bonus. Extra coat hangers and decent towels and bedding .

Definitely some sort of first aid stock - painkillers, plasters, antihistamines, lemsips, deep heat, hot water bottle, olbas oil, strepsils, etc.

I remember a year of watching TV on my laptop on a horrible bed with my back against a wall so I'd recommend a few extra cushions/pillows for a makeshift sofa. Alternatively, one of those foldy spongy chairs? That's also a bed...

Definitely agree with the mattress topper but be aware that some uni beds are slimmer than standard singles.

First aid box - I was often having to patch people up at the end of a night
Hang over box - berocca, other handover cure etc
Flu/cold/sickness bug box - cold and flu tablets, Imodium, rehydration salts, tissues, olbas oil, Vicks rub
A bottle opener, lots of biscuits, vouchers for nearest supermarket (I know sainsburys have a system where you can top up money on a card that they can use).
A power bank - very useful if iPad is dying in the middle of a lecture when you're taking notes

Agree with Bojo - don't keep getting in touch and sending them reminders of home! Let them stand on their own 2 feet. If they want to speak to you/think of home they will!

DD was in a fully catered hall in first year. We got most of the bits mentioned above plus a plastic bowl for handwashing/washing up etc, clothes airer, mattress topper (which I ordered online once she was there and measured the bed), plastic basket for clean laundry, basket for dirty laundry, bean bag, printer, some old crockery and cutlery, stationery, overdoor hooks, some basic tools, first aid bits, sewing stuff, an extra lamp, a rug, some cards and board games. She took an animal onesie for dressing up events and a couple of ball gowns.

After two weeks we had to organise a new desk chair for her as she was getting backache from using the one that was provided.

The students weren't allowed their own kettle or cooking things, candles or doorstops. All were deemed to be fire risks.

A clothes airer - invaluable to DS.

Emergency box - include nice biscuits, pack of underwear, deodorant, chewing gum, chocolate and a £10.

Don't take loads of crockery - speak to new housemates to see what they will be taking - do they have a Fb chat going?

Medicines and vitamins!

DS isn't really a party animal, but when he came home last year for a weekend in the Oct, he was in a shocking state. His chest rattled, he had an awful cold, he couldn't breathe. i knew it was Freshers Flu but sent him to the dr's anyway who confirmed that's what it was. He went back well stocked up.

I also agree with Bojo.

DS is/was a very quiet reserved boy. Uni has done him the world of good. He has made some lovely friends and he is now going into his second year in a house share with 7 others - four girls/four boys.

I let him contact me rather than the other way round. I miss him dreadfully but know he is having the best time.

A bag for carrying washing - our laundry was miles away....

Mattress topper (bulky to carry), first aid kit (boring to buy), clothes horse (big to carry) anything you already own and money! Perhaps not if the uni is rural but during freshers my DD went into town so much in the first week, she really would have enjoyed having some money to buy stuff rather than having taken most of it with her.

Door stop
Biscuits
Condoms
Toiletries
Pens and file paper

Can opener! Cans with pull tabs are always more expensive.