Surprise! Summer's almost over. Fall 2007 is just around the corner and its time to pull together the supplies and equipment you'll need to survive your first semester. No clue what you'll need? Here's my list of absolute "must have" items--good for students living on and off campus--for new freshmen.
1. A working, up-to-date laptop or PC. Many colleges provide laptops to students as part of their tuition/fee costs. If your college doesn't, think hard about purchasing one. You'll need it for everything from registering for courses to preparing assigments and participating in class discussions/activities. Really. Printers are optional--you can almost always access a printer somewhere.
2. A bundle of standard school supplies: pencils, pens, paper, markers, glue, stapler, hole punch, etc. Its surprising how often you still need these items and how hard they are to find at the last minute if you don't have them.
3. Standard/collegiate dictionary and thesaurus (software/electronic versions are fine).
4. Day planner (again software/electronic version is fine).
5. Pre-paid phone card--just in case you forget to charge your cell phone or exhaust your minutes.
6. Pre-paid debit/credit card--for EMERGENCY USE ONLY!!!
7. A watch. No, I'm not kidding. You need one. You'll no longer have "bells" to tell you when to go to your next class--it's all up to you!
8. A backback/satchel of some kind for the laptop and books you've got to lug around.
9. Loose change--quarters, dimes, nickles. It comes in handy for everything from parking meters (if you can't find a space) to snack machines.
10. A journal (I find paper soothing, but e-versions work just as well) to keep track of your thoughts and ideas.
What else do you need to survive? Well, that depends entirely on what you're doing. If you're going to live on campus, the list gets a lot longer. But, these are the essentials for most students. Everything else is "gravy."
Until next time!
Lynn Byrne
Preparing for college admissions? Trying to find direction? Need a little help with the planning? Check out my college planning series:
- College Planning Made Easy--the planning and preparation workbook for the take charge, college-bound student,
- Paying for College Made Easy--a college financing guide designed to assist students and families in preparing and planning for higher education expenses; and
- The Great Scholarship Search--my guide for students and parents researching and applying for scholarship funding.
