Essentials list for DS starting university and moving into halls

[stripeypoodle]

Hello,

My DS is off to university in September and staying in the student halls of residence. I’m trying to make a list of items that I will need to buy for him if anyone can help with this please?

Duvet/mattress protector/ duvet cover/ fitted sheets/ laundry basket/desk light. Some decorative items for bedroom.

Bathroom bin/ toiletries holder/ toothbrush cup/towels/shower mat.

Cutlery/plates/bowls/utensils/ grater/meat thermometer/ storage tubs.

Laptop which will be his birthday present in August.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks

If it's a campus uni they might have an on site temporary shop where you can get all essentials very cheaply. Worth finding out. Wish I had known this.

Lots of universities ban kettles in your rooms, door stops, Command strips/hooks, blu tac, etc

In terms of clothes airers - these can be useful but halls are often built to a minimum spec these days and the rooms can be pretty small. You wouldn’t want to use a clothes airer more than occasionally as it would take up most of the available floor space and make your room feel damp. So if you get one make sure it is small. On this basis I also feel sorry for overseas students tripping over their suitcases all year - in my day my hall had a box room to store suitcases.

DS’s bed in uni halls was one of those where you lift up the mattress and there is storage under the bed, which was great for storing things you didn’t need on a regular basis

DS had an extending clothes airer from Dunelm which when not extended took up very little room but could still have quite a few clothes on it

Calendar to put all deadlines, etc in

I (and i suspect I'm not alone in doing this!) forgot to pack my winter coat, etc and got my parents to send some things to me

Different unis have different rules for extension cords, airers, what kitchen stuff is needed/ allowed. So get him to check exactly what is in the room/flat and make a list based on the list the uni will give him.
My son's room had no storage except a walk in wardrobe. We had an unexpected trip to Ikea to get him a chest of drawers and some shelves. Take your screwdriver would be my advice.

My DC mattress didn’t lift up but we certainly found underbed boxes were very useful to store stuff under the bed. We packed nearly all DC2 stuff into underbed boxes from ASDA to take with us for this reason. It made moving in very efficient.

I also made up DC beds whilst they emptied the car - it made their room feel instantly more homely and got me out of carrying boxes!

DS moved into halls early September when we were having a mini heatwave I had to remind him to take winter clothes and his coat. He was also very grateful for his fan

When my eldest niece went to uni I made up a 'bag of requirement', totally cribbed from JK Rowling's room of requirement. This was a few years ago so things may have changed. Also I was posting it so it couldn't be too heavy.

It was a weekend bag and it had

A small sewing kit
Emergency Chocolate - it actually comes in packaging that says it is for use in 'an emergency'
Flip flops
A small first aid kit
A hat, scarf and gloves - they go to uni in summer but it soon gets cold
A couple of supermarket vouchers
A USB drive
A very cheap spare mobile phone
A picture frame that looked like a roll of film
Scissors
Screw driver
Bottle opener
Can opener
Corkscrew
Some toiletries

Both DC universities organised trips to Ikea in freshers week. But we found large supermarkets were often better value for small household items.

They are often short on storage for small items so the IKEA Raskog trolley with the wooden lid was really useful for DD's toiletries. It can also double as a bedside cabinet if they don't have one. After 5 yrs at uni, DD has now repurposed hers as a drink cabinet in her flat! Also, go early in the holidays as things like clothes racks were completely sold out at our local IKEA in August. Dunelm were very good and gave a discount for students.

Buy a double duvet as they often end up with a double or small double bed when they rent off campus the next few years.

spare mobile phone? weird

Why?

My DS just bought what he needed when he realised he needed it.

This is especially handy once they move out of halls and don’t have a tumble dryer in the house. In halls they have washing machines and dryers

Useful to have a burner phone for anything illicit I guess!

This is the best advice on all threads like this.

If you arrive at your new halls at 9pm without even a sleeping bag then buying a duvet, bed linen and towel at that point might be rather tricky. You might also find it impossible to buy knives (which includes cutlery) and even scissors due to age restrictions. Plus a bunch of stuff shouldn’t need to be bought as it could be brought from home for free. And of course you might prefer to spend the first couple of days getting to know flat mates/attending freshers events rather than having to take buses into town to find basic essentials.

The point of these threads is really about identifying essentials that would be useful to have the first few days so you don’t have to go shopping immediately and perhaps to help freshers settle in.

Cost (lots will struggle to fund purchases and freshers from loan in one hit) and carrying bulky stuff. Her mattress topper was expensive and heavy for example she couldn’t have carried it on a bus.
I agree don’t overbuy but the do need basics like a duvet and bedding and a plate/glass from night 1. My dd couldn’t get keys until 4pm and there was huge line so didn’t actually move in until evening. They went out first evening, shame to miss because you had to go shopping (and most shops except supermarket would be closed)

There will always be (at least) one person on any similar thread making out we're abnormal for trying to make our young adults lives a bit less stressful during a major transition.

Fuck em 🙂

It is a MN thing that at 18 we should throw them out of the pride.

Yes mine turns 18 soon so maybe I'll start packing his stuff in the car now.

Or make him do it, sorry, slipped up there.

Another issue is while a lot of this stuff is readily available cheaply at IKEA or large supermarkets, a lot of these places exist in large retail parks on the periphery of cities that can be tricky/time consuming/expensive to reach by public transport even if you know where to go. (This can be a cause of inequality in deprived areas more generally).

Stores near university can be striped bare especially if lots of internationals. The only supermarket open on move on evening close ish to dd’s halls didn’t have any coat hangers left. It was a huge Tesco extra but homeware section had been ransacked.