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10 Helpful Tips When Packing for College

Benjamin Cohen
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Marah Fields

Marah Fields, a graduate of The Emery/Weiner School, loves to wear her Tulane shirt around New Orleans, especially when she’s on alligator tours.

As a rising senior, it’s crazy to think that I’ll be packing for college in just one year. So I asked current college students – Marah Fields, an incoming sophomore at Tulane University and Drew Levy, a rising junior at Duke University – for helpful tips about packing and move-in day.

  1. Decorating: Drew Levy suggests using command hooks as an easy way to hang posters, pictures, flags and towels, without leaving any scratches on the wall.
  2. Hygiene: Many dorms have communal bathrooms, which is why Drew always packs shower shoes as a way to protect his feet.
  3. Supplies: Drew never goes to class without his backpack; he says the best backpacks are the ones that have strong back support, especially when having to carry many books around campus. If the backpack strains your back or causes pain to carry, it might not be the best backpack for you.
  4. Shopping: If you plan on going shopping while at college, Marah Fields suggests bringing more hangers than you need because eventually you’ll end up using all of the hangers, and might even need to go buy more!
  5. Laundry: As an easy way to get those annoying stains out of your clothes, Marah recommends bringing lots of stain remover; she found it really helpful to always carry around some stain remover wipes.
  6. Cleaning Supplies: Drew recommends bringing items such as Clorox wipes, paper towels and a Swiffer Duster to routinely clean your room because having a dirty room can make it harder to concentrate on studying.
  7. Storage: When trying to find room in your closet to fit all of your clothes, Marah found it helpful to buy a rack from Bed Bath & Beyond as a way to add more room to store clothes and shoes in her already-small closet.
  8. Shoes: Marah and Drew both agree that you need a variety of shoes while at college. Whether you bring tennis shoes, cowboy boots, flip-flops or wedges, they recommend packing about 8 pairs of shoes. Don’t forget the shoe rack as an easy solution for storing all those shoes!
  9. School Specifics: When packing school specific items, it is recommended to reach out to someone who already goes to the same school as you to see if you need anything specific. For example, Drew brought a sleeping bag and head lamp because as part of Duke University tradition, students camp out the night before basketball games.
  10. Move-In Day: When it comes to the hectic move-in day, Drew says that you don't need to have everything with you when you move in. He suggests going to stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond. If you aren’t able to buy something in person, you can always have it shipped to your dorm. Marah also recommends having your parents stay an extra day, if possible, in case you forget anything or need more time to get your room setup.

Drew and Morgan Levy

Siblings Drew and Morgan Levy, both graduates of The Emery/Weiner School, enjoy sporting their Duke and Emory University school shirts when taking family pictures with their dog Zoe.

I also got the chance to talk to a few incoming freshmen – Lauren Rubenstein, who’s heading to the University of Texas at Austin and Morgan Levy, who’s heading to Emory University – about packing for college. Lauren said she’s planning to bring a Magic Bullet blender to make easy, on-the-go smoothies (see this guide to smoothies for tips and recipes), along with a jewelry rack to organize all of her accessories to go with her outfits. Morgan plans to leave her winter clothes at home and bring them up after fall or Thanksgiving break, while she also plans to use a stepping stool as a handy way to get up and down from her lofted bed.

What’s your best advice on packing for college and organizing your dorm room?

See where the Class of 2016 is heading to college in our graduates’ database, plus teachers that have inspired them.

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