Packing for College: How to Decide What to Take and What to Leave Behind

Moving is hard work. And the worst part of it is packing. Packing for college is even harder especially if you are not accustomed to sharing a room. You will be packing things out of a 12x12 room you once had to your self to move to a 12x12 room you are now sharing with another person. You simply cannot take everything. But how do you choose what to take and what to leave behind?

Clothes

Clothes take up the most space when you are moving. If you simply cannot live without all of your clothes, invest in four or five SpaceBags and a small vacuum with a hose (this is for later because most dorm vacuums won't have an attachment hose; it'll also be handy to have around if you spill popcorn or to pick up the little dots that fall out of your hole punch). Another way to pack clothes is to take everything you will need now, warm weather clothes, sweatshirts for the evening, a couple of "dress-up" outfits for interviews, sorority and fraternity pledging, or any other occasion that might come up. Then, providing you aren't moving over seas (this includes to or from Hawaii), check into the Greyhound bus system. They will allow your parents to ship the rest of your winter clothes via the bus, which will, in some cases be faster than the postal service and cheaper as well. Using Greyhound to ship a 20 pound parcel from Los Angeles to New York City will cost approximately $30 (prices vary by shipping distance and weight) and you won't have to deal with campus mail services.

Books and Videos

If you are anything like me you have a fair amount of one or the other or both of these things. These things (books especially) are heavy to pack and take up room that you will need for your text books, so unless you have space in your dorm room to move in your own, extra, shelving unit, you may need to leave some of them behind. I know, it's hard. You think the reason you spent the money on all of these DVD's is because you liked them and wanted to watch them. Here's a solution. Take your top ten, or if you have some rare or hard to find titles, take those, and ask mom and dad if they would be willing to pay the monthly fee (ranging from $5 per month to $30 per month, depending on how often you think you will be using it) for a "free" rental pass at the video store of your choice (the two major chains, Hollywood Video and Blockbuster both offer this service), or with Netflix. This way, you have your ultimate favorites at your fingertips but if you get an urge to watch one of the ones you left behind you can boogie on over to the video store and pick it up for free (you may want to test your campus mail service before you choose to go with a service like Netflix; my campus mail was always about two days behind). The same principle applies to books. Only take those that you really, honestly believe you will read again. Anything else, you can pick up at the public library.

Toys

This includes everything from the tattered, 18-year-old teddy bear you were given when you were born to your PlayStation2 to your television. For things like the television, DVD player, VCR, and stereo, call your roommate. Find out what she already has that she's planning to bring and offer to split the burden with her. You'll bring the TV if she'll provide the DVD player (this eliminates some of the potential for the "It's MY TV we will watch what I want to watch" argument). This will make it easier on you and your family, not having to move all the large, bulky electronics, and not having two of everything will create more space in your room.

Computer

If you already have a computer, you are probably stuck with whatever you have unless your parents use it too, then you can bargain with them. A laptop is great for dorm life for several reasons. First of all, the entire unit is powered using one cord, instead of two or three or more needed to power the average desktop PC. Second, it is portable. You can take it to class with you and take your notes that way. You can take it home with you over Thanksgiving or Fall break to work on your final papers that you have put off until the last minute. And it's small. It will only take up a couple square feet of desk space, freeing up room for other things, like your printer, a lamp, and decorations. And if you need more desk space, close up the laptop and slip it into a drawer, something you definitely cannot do with a PC.

Décor

Speaking of decorations, let's visit that subject next. While you may want to display every picture you took at Prom or at your Graduation party or posters of every band you like, keep in mind that your roommate will also have to look at everything you chose to display. Pick and choose five or ten of your favorites to frame and put up around the room and put the rest into a scrapbook. Then you can still look at all the pictures whenever you want, and don't worry about other people seeing them; people always like to look through other people's photo albums, scrapbooks and yearbooks, so a scrapbook works just as well for showing off pictures and memories. As for posters, one or two is a good number unless you find that your roommate likes the same things then you can discuss more.

Keep a couple of things in mind when you are packing for dorm life. First, you have to share the space with a roommate so you only have half of the space to utilize. Second, anything you pack has to be carried in and unpacked so if you don't want to lug heavy boxes up three flights of stairs, pack lightly. Third, you will need to save room for things you will buy when you get to your destination; text books, food, mini-fridge, and school merchandise. Unfortunately you can't take everything you own but with these tips you should find it easier to make the tough decision of what to take and what to leave behind.