7 Things I Wish I Brought to College Freshman Year

7 Things I Wish I Brought to College

This post is all about the things I wish I brought to college freshman year.

No matter how many packing lists I read or how much I planned, I still wasn’t totally prepared when I moved into my dorm for my freshman year of college.

Pretty soon I realized there were some things I should have brought with me that weren’t mentioned on all the packing lists I read online.

Related: 23 Dorm Room Essentials That Will Save Your Life

Here are the seven things I wish I would have brought with me to college!

1. Mini Steamer

During the last week of high school, my school had something called Senior Night where seniors received awards and prizes. I was thrilled because I won a small ironing board and iron to take to college with me. (Other more exciting prizes included iPads and gift cards, but hey, free is free.)

Unfortunately, soon after moving into my dorm, I realized how impractical an ironing board is. There was no good place to store it and it was clunky and took up a lot of space in my tiny dorm room. I really wish I had brought a mini steamer instead to steam my clothes. So much easier to use!

2. Printer

I thought I wouldn’t need a printer in my dorm room.

After all, colleges have printers all over the place: in the library, student center, major buildings, and even some dorm buildings, right? A printer was on every list of things NOT to pack for college.

So I didn’t bring a printer and guess what? I regretted it! It took me until second semester of freshman year, but I finally hit my breaking point and decided to buy a printer for my dorm room. Yes, there are printers you can use on campus, but sometimes they’re broken or there’s a HUGE line to use them and you’re running late or you just can’t get them to work.

Having my own printer at in my dorm room (this is the one that I got) was so much more convenient and totally worth it!

3. Shoe Organizer

For whatever reason, I didn’t think to bring a shoe organizer to college and instead I just kept all my shoes in a messy pile on the floor of my wardrobe, or lined up against the wall next to it. This was definitely not the greatest use of space or the most organized way of storing my shoes.

I wish I would have brought a hanging shoe organizer that I could have hung inside my wardrobe. I really like this style compared to an over-the-door organizer because it’s more discreet and takes up less space.

4. Towel Wrap

Even though I lived in an all girls’ dorm, it still took me some time to get used to walking down the hall to the showers wearing nothing but a bath towel. While also trying to carrying all my shower supplies in one hand and tightly holding up my towel with the other.

A towel wrap would have been the perfect solution. It’s basically just a towel that cinches at the top so you can wear it hands-free and not have to worry about it falling down. Such a simple solution and a must-have for anyone living in a dorm with communal hall showers!

5. Bedside Tray

If your dorm is anything like mine, you’ll have lofted beds that are way too high off the ground to use a nightstand. So where are you supposed to put stuff like your phone, water bottle, glasses, etc. so they’re within easy reach?

Simple solution: a bedside tray. This is a little tray that hooks over the side of your bed frame so you can keep your stuff within easy reach at night without having to get out of bed for it. Super convenient!

6. Bedrest Pillow

For some reason I didn’t want a bedrest pillow because I thought it was something I wouldn’t use that would just take up space. How wrong I was! Whenever I sat on my bed, I ended up leaning against the hard wall or putting one of my small decorative pillows behind my back.

I would have been so much better off if I had just gotten a bedrest pillow. They are perfect for leaning against when you’re sitting on your bed, or if you have people over and they’re sitting on the floor. So much more comfortable than leaning back against a hard dorm wall!

7. Futon

Truthfully, I’m not even sure if a futon would have fit in my dorm room – it was really that tiny. The only place we maybe could have fit one was under one of our lofted beds – and my roommate and I both wanted to keep the desk and dresser that came under our beds.

But if you have the space for it, you should definitely bring a futon (you and your roommate can split the cost.) I felt really bad when I had guests stay over and they had to sleep on the hard floor in my dorm. A futon also would have provided more seating space for when people came over.

Basically, a futon just turns your dorm room into a much more inviting and welcoming space! (And you can sell it at the end of the year to an incoming freshman to recoup some of the cost.)

So those are the things I wish I would have brought with me when I moved in to college!

Some of them I ended up getting halfway through the year, but I would have saved myself a lot of struggle if I had just brought them with me from the start!

Looking for more dorm room essentials?

This ultimate list of dorm essentials contains commonly-forgotten dorm products you will definitely want to bring to college with you!

You might also want to see my ultimate college packing list which contains EVERYTHING you need to bring to college.

For even more tips that will help you prepare for college and dorm life, be sure to read the following blog posts:

• 10 Dorm Room Organization Essentials You Need
• 17 Adorable Dorm Room Decor Essentials
• 7 Dorm Cleaning Supplies Every Student Needs
• 15 Essential Tips for College Move-In Day