Join 135K+ Parents for Dorm Tips, College Life & Community!
Join 135K Parents for Dorm Tips & Community
Getting ready for college is an exciting time, but the growing realization of the cost of college including setting up a dorm room can be daunting. I know many of you want to shop early for essentials to spread out the purchases, so this guide is here to provide you with the items you should be safe to buy BEFORE you know your dorm assignment or even your college decision.
One important thing to keep in mind is that January through early spring is considered the “off-season” for dorm shopping. While inventory is often high and prices can be lower for many dorm essentials, some key items are not fully replenished by major retailers until mid-to-late spring. For example, stores like Target typically don’t fully reset their dorm assortments – including Twin XL sheets, plastic drawer towers, cube organizers, and bins – until later in the spring. This means shopping early can be smart for many essentials, but it’s also important to know which items are worth buying now and which are better to wait on.
There are many dorm items that you should absolutely wait to buy until you know your dorm assignment and your roommate(s), but we have a categorized list below of the dorm essentials you can safely buy early.
These dorm essentials will serve you well in any dorm room, regardless of the layout and roommate situation.
There are just so many variables and different rules in today’s dorm rooms. For many dorm essentials, you’ll need more information about the following before making some of the major purchases. Variables include:
If you’d like to see actual images of all of these different room types, join our Dorm Shopping Recommendations Facebook Group and search for #psamovein2024 to see hundreds of dorm room before and after photos. You’ll be amazed at the different layouts and setups, and you’ll be inspired by their planning and decorating stories and results!
Looking for even more? Check out our Dorm IQ Learning Series with includes our How To Research Your Dorm Guide that will help you get started!
You won’t need everything on this list, but you’ll get a good idea of common essentials that are for the most part universally allowed and in dorm rooms year after year.
Please note that this list of recommendations is based on years of advising dorm shoppers and testing dorm essentials. All dorm room items listed below meet our strict standards and are highly rated. We ALWAYS aim to find Made In The USA and non-toxic items whenever possible!
It might seem early to be thinking about move-in, but early in the calendar year is when we see great deals on these items! I’ve never heard of a school who isn’t ok with moving bags!
Nope, no bedding yet! While TwinXL is the most common dorm bed size, there are too many schools with varying dorm bed sizes these days – everything from Twin to Full XL. Please wait to buy ANY of your dorm bed layers until you are certain of your mattress size.
Our Dorm Shopping Facebook group tracks all of the best deals on high-quality toxin-free bedding, so as soon as you have your dorm room assignment and bedding size, we’ll let you know what we recommend and when it goes on sale/deal. We ONLY recommend toxin-free mattress toppers, mattress pads, mattress encasements and sheets, blankets and comforters. After years of running this group and testing these items in our home dorm room, you’ll know you’re choosing the right items for a healthy and comfortable dorm bed.
If at all possible, try to buy bedding before the peak summer dorm shopping months – prices rise and inventory dwindles, especially in Twin XL size, during the summer months.
Soooo many dorms have attached bathrooms versus down the hall community bathrooms these days. As our Facebook group of 135k+ members showed us their move-in pics this year, I would say at least 30% had private baths attached. It may be one bathroom for one dorm room, or one bathroom shared by a couple of attached rooms, but it is a definite possibility.
Those private baths need to be outfitted by the roommates – shower curtain/liner/rings, shower storage (caddies mostly), bath mats, under sink storage, over-toilet storage, cleaning supplies, even your own toilet paper in most cases. We can help with those recommendations once you know your dorm setup, but below you’ll find dorm bathroom items you’ll need regardless of your assigned bathroom type.
Dorm rooms are usually damp, humid and lack proper air circulation. As there is not a lot of room to open up towels to fully dry, dorm residents are encouraged to forgo big, soft, fluffy towels and choose quick-dry towels to avoid damp, mildew smelling towels.
These 2 towel options are both OEKO-TEX® certified which ensures there are no toxins in the fabric:
These are our top 2 quick-dry towels for dorm use – you can see the test results of the 5 quick-dry towels we compared here.
No matter the bathroom situation in college, bath wraps and robes are certainly going to be needed. Here are some of our favorites.
I can’t advocate for indoor/outdoor sole slippers strongly enough! Whether you’re walking down the hall or heading to the community bathroom, a thick soled slipper protects you from the yuck on the floor and gives you a better grip on those linoleum floors. Not to mention, indoor/outdoor slippers are often spotted heading to class too. 🙂
Everyone needs a laundry hamper/bag for dirty clothes! Most dorms will have laundry machines in the building, but you may have to navigate stairs or an elevator to get there. At some schools, laundry facilities may be in another building. Regardless, an easy to carry laundry bag is a plus in any situation.
Wait on larger storage solutions for your closet until you know your dorm assignment and understand what space you’ll have to work with. Some rooms will have closets with a rod and shelving or just a simple rod while some will be wardrobes with a rod plus shelves – you won’t know until you know which dorm they’ll be in. These space saving hanging solutions will work with most any closet.
Dorms house a lot of students in small spaces, so colds, sniffles and the flu tend to spread as quickly as they did in the preschool days. In addition, the damp environments and older buildings can also be conducive for mold growth.
Air purifiers are the best defense against germs & mold spores and are an important option to keep air clean and reduce smells that come along with dorm life. If they’ll have a roommate, you will typically only need one air purifier for the space.
These are a few that we recommend:
Read more about air purifiers in our Dorm IQ article all about them.
Please note that air purifier filters will need to be checked regularly. Before your student leaves for school, OPEN UP your air purifier and check the filter. Some come with plastic wrap around them that needs to be removed! While checking this, you can also be sure your student knows how to open it and what a clean filter looks like. After a month or two at school, they should check the filter. Some filters can be ‘cleaned’ a few times, but some will need to be replaced. Please read the instructions for the air purifier you choose.
Hands down, there really is just one answer here. The WOOZOO fan. If you haven’t heard of it yet, you will. It will get ALL the hype and conversation throughout the spring and summer, and once these little guys are opened up and tested out, all you will see is “the hype was worth it”! Promise. Many moms in our group have been known to go out and get one for themselves after trying it out!
There are many different models of WOOZOO out there, but THE best model, really the ONLY one you want is the PCF-SC15T – the others don’t hand a candle to the air movement and cooling. This model is typically only available at Costco, and only for limited months of the year (roughly March – July). The good news is that you don’t have to be a member to buy them online at Costco, they will just add a small 5% non-member fee. It’s a $30 fan (when it’s at its best price), so non-members would pay an extra $1.50. You can also find this model WOOZOO new at Best Buy. I point out NEW because you can sometimes find this model at other major retailers, but these are very, very likely returned or damaged models being marketed by shifty 3rd party sellers.
We will let you know as soon as the WOOZOO becomes available this year and also when it hits the low price via our Dorm Shopping Facebook group. If you’re not a Facebook regular, follow us on Instagram or subscribe to receive our emails.
Just about every dorm room comes equipped with a desk and a (probably uncomfortable wood) desk chair. Some come with a hutch on the top for extra storage, but most do not. Once you know your dorm, we can point you to the best dorm desk hutches if you need to bring your own. Please note that dorm desks are not standard, so you’ll want to find measurements for the one in your room, especially if you want to bring a hutch.
For now, you’d be safe to go ahead and shop early for the following dorm desk essentials.
Hopefully, all of our students will spend TONS of time at their desks studying and working on school projects and papers. Look for desk lamps with features such as reduced eye strain, phone/accessory charging and adjustable color/dimming.
Many dorm desks do not have a top drawer (some have no drawers at all) for things like pens, pencils, sticky notes, paper clips, etc. A desktop organizer can help keep everything in its place.
I love this reversible whiteboard for a college desktop. One side is a blank dry erase board, and the other side is a reusable calendar to help keep up with due dates and planning ahead.
Another helpful desk accessory is a traditional framed bulletin board. This one is simple and lightweight, just lean on the back of the desk or hang behind the desk to hold pictures, reminders and keepsakes. My son loves his!
No matter where you go to school, you’ll want to have your preferred school supplies.
While most schools use technology to turn in school work, projects and papers, you may still want to stock up on pens, notebooks, and your other favorite supplies.
And FYI, printers are usually not necessary in college due to so much being turned in online and many schools have them readily available either in the dorm or in the library or student center. If you do decide to bring a printer, be sure it has a cable to directly connect it to your computer. Most school networks will not allow you to put a printer on their network.
Keep in mind as you shop for your desk area, your dorm may provide a desk hutch which will limit the height of items at the back of the desk. If you end up bringing your own desk hutch, popular desk hutches have clearance below the bottom shelf of 15″-24″.
Another trend, primarily for girls’ dorm rooms, is to cover the desktop in either fabric or removable wallpaper and then put a piece of plexiglass or acrylic over the top. This is both to transform the look of the potentially shabby desk as well as put a protective surface at the top for hair, makeup, drinks, etc. Once you know your exact desk size, you can have the acrylic or plexiglass cut at a Home Depot or Lowe’s. Just something to keep in mind for now.
Keeping jewelry neat, organized and untangled in a dorm room can be a challenge. Below are some of our favorite solutions for dorm jewelry storage and also some ideas for travel jewelry storage to make weekend trips and back and forth to home a little easier.
You can also shop our collection of wall art designed by some of our college-student staffers! We’ll be adding new designs this year as well so be sure to bookmark our shop for more.
These often come with rules and restrictions and/or the need to know room sizes, so please hold off on buying these dorm items until you know your room assignment and rules.
Many young adults watch shows on their phones, but bigger TVs are great for multiple viewers, sports and video games! They are a great option for socializing with new friends.
There won’t be much room for the TV so keep that in mind with considering the size. More than likely, you will place the TV on top of a dresser or desk hutch.
Size-wise, look for 40-50″ TVs, a size that will be appropriate for the dorm and eventually for an off-campus apartment/house bedroom TV. If you end up without a large enough flat area, many students choose a rolling TV cart to make it easy to move around the room for different viewing situations. A clamp mount is also an option.
We recommend a Smart TV as many students can get by with WiFi instead of paying for a cable service. My kids are able to use their Roku Smart TVs and access our home cable from their TVs via a Roku Xfinity app.
Here are a few options:
Get all of our tips for Dorm and College Campus Safety in our article with 25 tips.
While rules and allowed appliances can vary widely, we’ve found that most schools will allow a Keurig, a small blender and an electric kettle, but there are exceptions. Definitely hold off on things like air fryers, sandwich makers, hot pots, microwaves and mini fridges.
At a recent college orientation, the student counselors were asked what their #1 dorm item was in their dorm, and the response was a full-sized trash can!
Looking for more travel essentials? Check out our article on the Best Travel Gifts with items perfect for weekend trips to study abroad.
In addition to all bedding, we recommend waiting for your specific dorm room assignment to purchase the following items.
You can find recommendations for all of these dorm essentials in our full Dorm Essentials Shopping Guide.
Additionally, we strongly recommend against buying a laptop for college until you have specific recommendations from your school from YOUR major at YOUR school.
For dorm deal alerts, questions and recommendations, you want to be in our Dorm Shopping Recommendations And Deal Alerts Facebook group. If you have any questions about this article or dorm shopping in general, you can post them in the group. We’re also on Instagram.
Dorm IQ is our exclusive free learning series that includes a lot of the helpful information broken down into smaller steps with even more details and information to help you learn and prepare BEFORE you start dorm shopping.
Our full list of College Dorm Room Essentials & Nice To Haves includes several other categories and dorm essentials, but those will need to wait until you have your room assignment and roommate information. Every dorm has different rules for what is provided, what is allowed and what is prohibited. There are even differences between dorms at the same school, so don’t make assumptions until you know your exact assumption.
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Help us get the word out by sharing this list with your fellow senior parents, senior students and even those a year behind so they can start learning early. This would be a great article to share in your local high school Facebook group.
If you found some helpful ideas for your student here, please feel free to share this article using the social sharing buttons on the left!
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