Dorm Shopping Essentials

When I toured Michigan, I was lucky enough to get a tour of some of my friends’ dorms and see
what the rooms and facilities were like. It seems very obvious to point this out, but college dorms
are nothing like your room at home. They are quite small, and you are sharing the space with
one other person (in the case of a double). At least in my hall, the bathrooms are co-ed and
communal, but thankfully are kept relatively clean. The room comes with a twin sized bed, a
shelf, and a desk, and some dorms might provide additional shelving and closets to store your
belongings as well. They’re generally pretty poorly lit, and AC/heating might not be guaranteed
depending on the general climate. It’s very barebones, and when moving in, you’re going to
have to buy a lot of stuff to furnish/personalize/maintain your space. Here is a
non-comprehensive list of stuff to bring to college!
– Memory foam topper: the beds themselves aren’t very comfortable, and this will alleviate
any pains that come with sleeping on a bad mattress.
– A shower caddy: the showers are shared, so you’ll need something to hold all your
supplies.
– Slides, because do you really want your bare feet on a communal bathroom floor?
– A thin robe, again because the showers/halls are often co-ed.
– Cleaning supplies like a small vacuum, a lint roller, a small swiffer, and clorox wipes are
essential. People will come in and out of your room and you want your space to be
clean.
– Medicine like Advil, Tylenol, allergy and cough meds, stomach pain medicine,
Emergen-C, and Pedialite. It is actually a lot easier to get sick so you need to take care
of yourself.
– A lamp: as i mentioned, the rooms are pretty dim, so it’ll help with working.
– A water bottle/kettle: You won’t have pipes in your room, so you need to fill your water in
other places. Invest in a big water bottle and stay hydrated!
– Prints/photos: feel free to hang things up to personalize, but note that because you’re
moving out at the end of the year, you can’t really nail things to walls or use anything
crazy adhesive.
– A laundry backpack: I prefer these to hampers because they’re easy to carry, especially
if your dorm doesn’t have an elevator.
– Snacks/ramen: College throws off your eating schedule a lot, and having late night
snacks is an absolute need.
In addition to the essentials, here is some more optional stuff!
– A refrigerator and microwave: realistically, you won’t be cooking/eating in your room a
lot. Also, your hall may have communal fridges and microwaves! I use mine to store
fresh fruit and cold water.
– Additional shelving: you might be given additional space and you don’t want to clutter
your space.