11 dorm room essentials you actually need

Menangitis shot. If you don't want your teen ending up deaf or dead within 24 hours from a flu like virus they catch quickly at college get them the shot. It is under 50 dollars and administered simply at the local health department or Kroger's pharmacy.

That's TuPPerware, with a P, dummy. What are you, a Foreigner? Go back home.

CHANGE BUCKET! I started a chnage bucket in college and encouraged all my siblings to do the same. The change bucket is still a staple in my life; it's paid for mini vacations, jelly beans at the office vending machine, pizzas, our honeymoonn spending money (well, $300 of it, we purposely threw extra money in the bucket that year) smokes, wine, laundry you name it.
The change bucket is a helpful tool.
Also, get a job in your school's mail and copy center, 'buy' the books you need, and photocopy the chapters you'll need for class, then return the book. Or borrow the books you'll need from a rich kid and photocopy or find it in your school's library (it may be last year's version, but it's all the same information)
There is no need to get ripped off when it comes to books. I couldn't afford them so I 'borrowed' what I needed to know.
Brind a back pack with you to the cafeteria and stock up. Get to know your dining hall staff and they will help you out with the food thing. I could only afford the meal plan that gave me 9 meals a week, so I got creative about the other 12 meals.
Request substance free housing if you want to get your own room. You will have to live with huge nerds, but your dorm or townhouse will be quiet and drama free, plus no creepy room-mate. I did this for 3 of my 4 years. Bliss.
Take an entire semester of classes that you've always wanted to take. I spent a whole semseter taking art and women's studies just for fun; some people might have thought that it was wasteful, but it ended up being the key to determining my major and my career (Expressive Arts Therapy; women in crisis)
Do not date the first guy who tries to make out you, you'll miss the first year and then you'll look back in shame on the guy in the black trench coat with the faux-hawk and think "good god, why?"
Enjoy every single second of college. It's the greatest place in the whole world.

Don't forget lighting. Having a small lamp on your "nightstand" is a good way to "study" when your roommate insists on going to bed at 9pm.

Having storage tubberware that will fit under you bed is good for storing the things your limited closet and dresser doesn't fit. If you live far from campus you will need to have some 'off-season' clothing.

Some cushioning for you bed. Unless you did a stint in prison I don't know a single person who finds college dorm mattresses cozy.

A makeup mirror or if you can, a full length mirror. Critical if you live in a communal bathroom dorm since they usually double as saunas combined with toilet smell pleasantries. Trust me, you want to be in and out of those bathrooms fast.

My dorm allowed the hot plates, submergable water heaters, and coffee pots no larger than 4 cups, but microwaves were a no-go.
So the bottom line is check out the rules first wherever you go, :)

I second Jezabel. Powerstrips are indispensable. Also, if you can get the larger, hip-high fridge rather than the teeny-tiny cube, go for that. It makes a HUGE difference. Also be sure to have a can opener and a bottle opener. A lot of dorms don't allow microwaves so be sure to have a hot plate and submerge-able hot water heater. A small coffee maker if you like coffee is good, too. And a can of Lysol. Never, ever, EVER run out of Lysol.

make sure to double check dorm policy's about microwaves. and mickie, if you can't have microwaves, they also usually veto hot-plates/submergable water heaters. though then again, my dorm said no coffee makers, electric teapots, etc. and plenty of us had them and just kept them tucked away.

Oh yes! That reminds me, powerstrips, powerstrips, powerstrips. No extension cords, powerstrips. You can never have enough.

Sorry Jezabel... I guess I just reiterated some of what you said... ;)

make sure to double check dorm policy's about microwaves. and mickie, if you can't have microwaves, they also usually veto hot-plates/submergable water heaters. though then again, my dorm said no coffee makers, electric teapots, etc. and plenty of us had them and just kept them tucked away. i realy this post

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Shower Shoes!

Great ideas from everyone.. also, make sure you have all the computer hook ups.. wireless networking cards if needed, plus ethernet cord (if room does not have one).. sometimes you get faster access when you are plugged in, especially when working in your dorm room. here is another great article that has some other additional tips that weren't mentioned in here.. hope it helps everyone
http://www.celebrationideasonline.com/college-dorm-room.html

and the whole storing your clothes at home generally only works when you are close enough to come home relatively frequent. So depending on what your dorm rooms are like and how the beds are arranged I would invest in those boxes that go under the bed to store some off season clothes... we would frequently use those and get some bed raisers so we could use bigger boxes.

the little plug thingies tht have like 9 outlets and maybe a scale a calender and a fan

This is a really good dorm fridge: http://www.homegardenncs.com/rd_p?p=191273&t=9532&a=17687-shine&gift=17687

Also, since dorms can get really gross, you might want some kind of small vacuum (http://www.homegardenncs.com/rd_p?p=191273&t=9532&a=17689-shine&gift=17689). I guess you could also have a broom, but that takes up more space and is time consuming.

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