Student Survival Kit - what would you put in yours?

[ArtyFartyQueen]

I'm pulling together a guide and also a box full of (hopefully) useful items for DS and looking for some ideas....

What would/have you put in yours?

Corkscrew/bottle opener. Shot glasses and booze. Screwdriver. Door wedge.

Nothing just cash so he can buy what he needs when he needs it.

Imagine your new Uni friends finding a survival guide your mum has written for you.

You'd get ripped to shreds for the next 3 yrs

My dad put together a box of useful things for uni and by far the most useful was a spool of (superstring, kite) string. Still have it 20 years later!

Also included were doorstops, blutack and a selection of batteries. And a cheap/student cookbook (though I think students these days are more adventurous cooks than I was, on average).

Cash
Strepsils, paracetamol etc
Ground coffee
More cash

Super strong string, that was supposed to say 🙂

This

Recipes for cheap filling eats if they’re self-catering and haven’t done much cooking. Even if he has recipes are useful. Does the Grub on a grant book still exist?!

I think that's a little harsh - my DS is autistic and is incredibly nervous about uni so I want to do all I can to support him and make sure he has the things he will need that will support him to thrive at uni

I did this for me wee cousins when they went away. I included…. Amoungst other things….

bottle of favourite spirits
paracetamol
toothpaste
toilet roll
condoms
beans/spaghetti hoops/pot noodle
mini cereal boxes
carton of long life milk
tea and coffee bags
sugar
£10 gift card for the local supermarket
Biscuits
chocolate
chewing gum
peanuts
squash
spare pen
blue tack
drawing pins
cheap iPhone charger from Poundland

basically all the basics you may run out of and need an extra until you can get to the shops!

Or things which may get you through a hangover until you could get to the shops!

Not a survival kit as such but was thinking of sneaking in a gift card or two for cinema, supermarket etc, picture of the family dog, biscuits and tea bags

Door stops is old advice, no longer relevant. Unis tell students NOT to use them as they're a fire risk - the flat doors are fire doors (per fire regulations) so using anything to keep them open is a massive fire risk.

Students don't need to have open doors to make friends, these days they use whatsapp or other online messaging group to create a "flat group" where they can chat to each other and get friendly, also highly useful for arranging flat activities, socialising, shopping, etc.

On my son's first day, him and the other 7 students were busy enough sorting out their rooms with parents, etc. One of them set up a group chat and put the details under everyone's doors, and by the end of the day, they'd all introduced themselves online, and had negotiated a time that evening to meet up in the kitchen ready to go out on a campus bar crawl.

Oooo yes….. washing machine pods!

I took mine to a big Asda a fortnight before he went and we ambled round picking up stuff as we went - corkscrew/bottle opener type things, cheapo cutlery, veg peeler etc. Grandparents got him bigger stuff like pans and a duvet.
I made him a recipe book with all his favourite stuff from home. There were 10 in his flat and he said they all borrowed it at one time or another to make stuff from. It's very tatty looking now but I have a pdf of it so should prob print him another one.

I wouldn’t call it a survival kit as such but maybe for your son if you have a box or similar you could put in various supplies. Say a box of tissues and smaller packets of tissues, Lockets or similar, Lemsips and Barroca (to cope with Freshers Flu and Covid especially if far from the shops). An emergency loo roll, favourite sweets, a list of mobile numbers incase they loose their phone. An emergency tenner. Photo of family and or family pet, recipes to make his favourite foods etc etc.

A mini ratchet screwdriver/ socket set, & if they cycle, bike puncture repair kit / tyre levers, decent mini pump

Ratchet set

A book about communication and making friends and handling conflict

And I was going to type that before I even saw he's autistic! I Had so many issues with living situation and housemates and no skills at that age to communicate or address them

A mum’s survival guide sounds like the sort of thing you might mock when you see your new flat mate with it, then quietly ask to borrow to look up tips on doing your washing a few days later…

I think a door stop is to secure your door when you're in your room, not to wedge the door open.

Ikea toolkit no one else had so much asa screwdriver and they have all been used and stayed with them over the years

He’s already packed his rice maker!

Oh and have a look at Student Beans and UNiDAYS for student discount offers.

Lots of cold/sore throat remedies. Covid tests. Vitamins if won’t eat well. Laundry leaves are fab. Hanging wardrobe organisers if they aren’t good at hanging clothes up (you don’t usually get more than one drawer). Long extension leads. Over door hooks. Don’t buy kitchen stuff they end up with several of everything. Most will get Amazon Prime as it’s cheap for students and get everything they want delivered free next day so it’s better to give them a gift card and tell them to see what they need when they arrive than spend money on stuff that comes home untouched. Do as much admin eg disabled student support / bank stuff / registration etc as poss in advance and make sure organised with log ins / documents. The volume of info is massive and there’s a lot of expectation to keep up with emails and find stuff online. Uni websites often go down at crucial moments in my experience and can be offline for days so screenshot timetables and key info and use notes apps on their phones. This isn’t just for autism btw my NT dc also really struggled with the admin side.