College is an excellent time for any child to become an independent adult. They take risks and learn about what works for them and doesn't without making huge mistakes. These items will help your college freshman start their year off right. Keeping them on track will help them in college and life. Here are the five essential products that will help every freshman whether they are living on campus or commuting.
5 Essential Products Every College Freshman Must Have To Succeed in College
An Alarm Clock with Daylight Savings Time and Battery Backup Features.
Yes, I know, we all have alarms on every device we own these days. But, having a separate alarm in their room near their bed works best to help eliminate the chance of forgetting it somewhere or disabling the alarm while they are out by accident. The clocks below are from Amazon.com (affiliate)
A calendar that you can take everywhere with you.
It could be an electronic or paper agenda book. The trick is to write down EVERY SINGLE TASK you need to remember in your planner. This calendar includes meetings with people, appointments, dates for clubs, class assignments, work and home schedules, and even scheduling for doing laundry. Having every task written down will keep their mind on the task at hand, and they will feel more in control of their college life. (affiliate from Order out of Chaos)
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A healthy supply of school supplies in their dorm room.
Have a stash of the supplies they may need for the entire school year. Paper, binders, pens, pencils, index cards, staples, printer paper, notebooks, and folders will help when they need supplies for last-minute projects. Having all these supplies in their room will save them time and money when they need a cover for a report or run out of paper in their binders. College campus stores are usually more expensive than the local office supplies or dollar stores. Below are links for Amazon (affiliate). I will receive a commission if you decide to click through and purchase something from Amazon. There will be no additional charge to you.
A good quality laptop.
Having the Microsoft Office Suite, including OneNote, Excel, Word, and other software, will help keep track of notes and assignment work. Having a backup system that stores notes and files in the cloud will allow your child to access their files from any device they have, their laptop, tablet, or phone. Make folders on their computer for each of your classes. Store them on the desktop so they can easily access the folders (and the items in them). Read this article from Forbes for more information and tips on finding the right laptop for your college student. Below are the ones I found on Amazon(affiliate).
Set up a student personal bank account.
Setting up a personal bank account for your child so you can transfer funds into your child's bank account in case of emergencies will make those "I need money calls" quick and painless for both parties.
You can also do a Venmo if they set it up with their bank account so they can transfer money to their friends when doing things together.
These five essential items will help your college freshman stay organized and help them become a huge success. Assisting them in organizing their life at school will hopefully show them the importance of taking responsibility and ownership of what needs to be done and done it.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase at no additional cost.
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Linda Samuels
Wonderful list of college essentials, Sabrina! Helping our kids to become independent is a process that begins from day one. I remember when we sent our daughters off to college, I felt like we had taught them as much as we could and that they'd now have additional influences and teachers in their lives going forward. But I remember asking them if there was anything they wanted to learn that we hadn't yet taught them before they went off to college. In both cases, they wanted to learn about doing laundry. So we did some test runs (with them in charge), wrote out the instructions, and they had it all worked out and felt confident with those skills before leaving the nest.
Sabrina Quairoli
Great tip asking your kid what they want to learn. =) I love that idea. I will ask my son.
Seana Turner
A local bank account where they can access cash is helpful, and I love your point about it being one where the parents can add money. We did that with both girls. I'm sitting next to my college girl and asked her, "What is one essential thing you have to have in college?" She said, "An umbrella." So there it is, straight from the horse's mouth:)
Sabrina Quairoli
Important tool! Thanks for sharing, Seana.
Julie Stobbe
If we were to ad a sixth essential it is a tool kit. I sent a hammer, nails, screwdriver with multiple heads, duct tape in a box. They were the most used items by everyone on the floor. Great way to make friends when you're the only one with the equipment to fix things, hang things, and assemble things.
Sabrina Quairoli
Love this 6th essential tool. I found it quite helpful when I was in college. Thanks for sharing, Julie.
Jill Robson
The personal bank account is a great idea, easy to add money when they need it, especially if college is a few hours away.
Janet Barclay
I didn't know there were alarm clocks that automatically adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. It makes sense - our computers and phones do it!
I used to have a boss who brought me his watch - and the manual - every time there was a time change. He'd probably something like that too!
Sabrina
It is awesome! I bought one for my son and it works great. I had to share for college students. It's one less thing they have to think about while away from home. Thanks for stopping by. =)