As the start of another semester draws closer and closer, everyone is spending there money like it's their job to prepare for the new school year. The other day while I was wandering around Target, I saw a girl who I could only guess was an incoming college freshman, arguing with her mother about whether or not she needed bed risers. I wanted to reach out to them, guide them through the absolute Hell that is dorm room shopping for the first time, let them know that, no, you absolutely don't need that shoe organizer, I don't care how many USB ports it has. I am here to help you. If I had a list like this my freshman year, I definitely would have saved a couple bucks.
1. Alarm clock.
It’s 2016. Just use your phone like everybody else.
2. Bed risers.
Your dorm beds are usually already high enough for storage. I would, however, recommend bed risers for your first apartment where you may need to supply your own bed.
3. Laptop lock.
Do not fall for this trap. It is a total waste of money. I’m not kidding. Do not throw your money away. You will never use it and will find it at the end of the school year still in the package it came in, shoved all the way back in one of your desk drawers and still not be entirely sure how it works.
4. A lantern.
My mom got me a lantern my freshman year, an actual lantern, with a handle and everything. It was, she said, “Just in case there’s a blackout.” In my mom’s defense, this was the year after Superstorm Sandy when we had to live without power for nine days, but really? A lantern? And, really, there won’t be a blackout. Every disaster you prepare for will never happen just because you have prepared for it. Even if there was, your campus probably has a backup generator and even then, the dorms will have something prepared for you. You don’t need it. If anything, get a flashlight.
5. Mini-fridge and a microwave.
Actually, you will need this. It’s a really convenient thing to have. My only suggestion is that you check what your school’s policy on this is before you go spending your parents’ (or your own) money. Depending on which school you go to, they might require you to get a micro-fridge, which is a fridge and a microwave hybrid that escaped from a laboratory somewhere in the mountains. It WILL burn your popcorn.
6. Lap desk.
Dorms have desks in them already. Do you really need a smaller, more oddly shaped desk with a cushion on it? Let your laptop rest where it was always meant to: your lap. Do what you need to do to make the desk you already have a cool place to work. Or just go to the library. You will never use this.
7. Closet organizer, over-the-door storage units, shoe rack.
These are things that everyone feels will be a great investment, but you only end up using them the first week before the hard work of school starts to really take its toll on you, and you succumb to your old habits, like just kicking off your shoes any old place and leaving them there until you need them again.
8. Drying rack.
I had a drying rack my freshman year (still have it) and I won’t lie to you, I used it pretty frequently. However, in the long run this becomes something you lug around from dorm to dorm every year that you use less and less. If you really need to dry something, use the back of your chair or just hang it up in your closet to dry. If you’re like me, you will eventually stop caring more and more about laundry and start shoving everything you own into the dryer (no matter what the tag says) and the drying rack will end up never leaving the back of your closet. Save your money on this one.
