A Freshman’s Dorm Room Essentials Checklist – Printable

You’re moving away from home for the first time to go live at your university’s campus dorm room and with so many things on your mind; registering for courses, what clothes you’re gonna wear, what hairstyles you’re gonna rock and what cuties you’ll be sitting next to, the last thing on your mind would be shopping for your college dorm room. You’re going to want to make sure you don’t forget anything at home when you move out to your new college dorm room. Important things like dorm bedding, storage supplies, tools, and other dorm accessories are essentials when living in a small room. This is one step before a studio apartment, so you’re going to want only get the necessities when choosing what to bring into your dorm. You will have to decide between things like a small bed, bunk or futon for your dorm. We made this packing list to help you get organized when moving into a college dorm room. It only contains the absolute essentials for your room, other decor and accessories can be picked up over time. You can jump right to the end of this list for a printable .pdf checklist  for your convenience, click here.

The Ultimate Freshman Dorm Room Checklist

Clothing

1 pair of sneakers
1 pair of dress shoes
1 set of business-casual clothes
1 swimsuit
Sunglasses
Beanies/Caps/Gloves
Light/heavy jackets
Pajamas
Pants/jeans
Shirts/blouses
Slippers and/or flip-flops
Socks
Sweaters
Sweats
Underwear

Electronics

6 outlet surge protector & extension chords
Smartphone (Android or iPhone has it all)
WiFi Router
Chromecast (Seriously you should get this)
Headphones
Laptop (printer is optional; there are usually computer labs where you can print)
Portable speakers (if you want to play music from laptop/phone)
Video Game System (Xbox, Playstation or PCMasterRace)

Household and Kitchen Items

All-purpose cleaner
Bowl, plate and cup
Can/bottle opener
Coffee mug
Dish soap
Food-storage containers
Lightbulbs
Paper towels
Plastic storage bags
Silverware
Tissues
Trash bags
Water bottle
Wet wipes

Linens/Laundry Supplies

Blankets (2)
Clothes hangers
Comforter/bedspread
Laundry hamper/bag
Laundry detergent, fabric softener and stain remover
Laundry Drying Rack
Lint brush
Mattress pad (check with college for size needed)
Mini sewing kit
Pillows (2)
Sheets and pillowcases (2 sets. Check with college for size needed — some college twin beds are extra long.)
Towels (3 each of bath, hand and face)

Office/Desk Supplies

3 × 5 index cards
Desk lamp – For late night studying
Electronic storage media such as memory cards and USB flash drives
Folder with pockets
Highlighter pens (multiple colors)
Labels of various sizes
Notebooks
Paper clips and binder clips
Pencil holder and sharpener
Pens and pencils
Printer paper (if you decide to bring a printer)
Rubber bands
Ruler
Scissors
Stackable desk trays (at least 4)
Stamps and envelopes
Stapler and staples
Sticky notes
Tape (Invisible & masking)

Room & Storage

Alarm clock – When you don’t trust your phone or vice versa
Bedside Lamp with shade
Fan – It gets hot
Mini toolkit (Hammer, socket wrench set, pliers, misc screws and nails, duct and electrical tape)
Poster & Picture hangers or double sided tape
Storage bins – Those clear ones are the best
Under-the-bed storage trays – You can’t have enough storage!
Wastebasket – Mini size with lid preferred

Shared Items — Check with roommate(s)

Area rug
Audio equipment
Coffeemaker/hot pot/microwave, if allowed
Posters/art
Small refrigerator (if one isn’t provided)
TV and DVD player

Toiletries

Adhesive bandages, antibiotic ointment
Antacid
Antidiarrheal medicine
Aspirin or other pain relievers
Bath and face soap
Chapstick
Comb/brush
Cotton swabs
Cough drops
Dental floss or Waterpik (best ever)
Deodorant & Perfume/Cologne
Hair dryer/straightener/curling iron
Hairstyling products
Lotion and/or facial moisturizer
Nail clippers
Razor and shaving cream
Shampoo and conditioner
Shower caddy
Shower shoes (flip-flops)
Toothpaste and toothbrush
Travel soap container(s)
Tweezers
Vitamins

Miscellaneous

Backpack
Sports/Exercise equipment
Umbrella

Printable PDF Checklist

Print your .pdf printable checklist by clicking here. You can also save it for later by right clicking on the link and selecting ‘save link as‘.

##Important Tips:

Make sure you do your shopping and packing early, a lot of students will run into shortages if they don’t plan ahead. Remember to clearly label your boxes with your name, student ID, Dorm room number, and phone number. It’s a good idea to move in all your boxes early to avoid collisions with other students carrying boxes. If you use a delivery company, make sure to assist them to get the job done quickly, there’s 3,000 students doing the same thing you are.

We hope this list helps take the confusion out of shopping and packing for your dorm room as a student. Be sure to subscribe as we do in-depth reviews on all products and essentials for college dorm life.