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We are going to assume you are set with things like twin XL sheets, towels, and your a laptop, but here are a few others you might want to consider. The caveat: most items can be delivered with free two-day shipping.
- Unbreakable cups, bowls, and plates for take-out or snacks
- Snacks
- A college-oriented planner for learning time management
- An electric tea kettle, if it is allowed, think hot chocolate, soup, and tea.
- Reed diffuser, no one needs to smell a dorm room
- Brita water pitcher
- A series of legal documents you should have in place after your student turns 18
- A strong fan, unless they have A/C
- A zip-up mattress pad or protector, yep those mattresses are not nice
- A long cord surge protector, the outlets can be anywhere and extension cords are often not allowed
- A door stop, open doors help make new friends
- A lap desk if your teen likes to work sitting on their bed
- A big backrest pillow, see above
- Flip flops, showers can be even worse than the mattresses
- Desk lamp, if it isn’t provided
- A letter from you to leave at drop off
- Laundry basket or bag that travels well to the machines
- Blackout curtains if your teen struggles to sleep with sunlight
- Dorm bed shelf
- Mattress topper, our teens told us this was the best thing we bought them for college after their laptop
- Bathmat if using a shared bathroom
- Rug if the climate is cold
- Air fryer, if allowed
- S hooks for hanging wet towels
- Clothes steamer
- Command strips or hooks for hanging
- Water bottle
- Coffee maker, Keurig makes a slim one
- Laundry pods
- Extra toiletries
- Headboard
- Safe, if your child uses medications
- Extra phone charger
- T-shirt quilt, lots of teens like these
- Posters or wall hangings
- Family photo including the dog
- Raincoat or umbrella
- Lint roller
- Elevated cart to lift a refrigerator off the filthy floor and provide storage
- A wipe-erase board
- Weighted blanket, if your teen prefers one
- Ottoman for storage, friends to sit on, and a step stool onto a lofted bed
- Small flashlight, if there is a power outage you don’t want them using their phone
- Ear plugs, white noise, something to make sleeping easier
More Great Reading:
50 Things to Do Before You Send Your Teen to College
Why you can trust us
The Grown and Flown team includes three moms who have raised 8 young adults and have been working on product lists for over 12 years now, making them experts. When selecting products they survey the Grown and Flown Parents Facebook group of nearly 300,000 parents of teens, tweens and young adults. They do opinion polls, surveys and ask open-ended questions. They search for products that combine reasonable prices with high quality and are recommended by the large following. With recommendations from major retailers, trustworthy publications, and social media influencers, this post selected a range of products, paying close attention to reviews and price tags.
