The weirdest thing is that I have spent so much of my life getting the cheapest acceptable thing, but with DC2, things like color and pattern matter. So teenage me wouldn’t get the cheapest sheets but would get the cheapest sheets that felt ok against my skin whether floral or solid colored even if they didn’t match each other or anything else. I think I had navy sheets and a pink and red comforter and a white pillowcase in college, purchased at the Walmart near campus once I got there and found someone willing to drive me.
We didn’t really look at prices when picking out stuff for DC1, just ratings and patterns and we spent so much time on patterns. I suggested dark colors to hide spills or white that could be bleached. Zie vetoed both suggestions and ended up with various shades of light green. They weren’t the cheapest but also not the most expensive options either.
I did glance at prices before actually ordering (it is still ingrained), but if something was $20 and 4 stars something was $50 and close to 5, I didn’t investigate further. Even if they were both 5 stars but the $20 didn’t have a color DC1 liked, we went with the $50. I don’t think I’ve done a good job teaching price comparison to the kids, because they haven’t really needed it (and DH didn’t know to do it until after we got married …)
It’s just such a different mindset not having to worry about money vs. getting the cheapest acceptable thing.
We sent to our house a set of sheets (fitted + flat) and a pair of flip-flops (for the shower). These are things that are probably important night one if DC1 ends up not making it to the mail room in time on day 1. I brought a sleeping bag with me on the plane when I went to college for that reason (also as an extra blanket come winter). But it is important to have the extra long fitted sheets, especially in a college town where they’re likely to be sold out day of. (Similarly box fans in places that don’t have a/c, though those don’t really fit on planes)
We sent school supplies and extra underpants and a bed in a bag and laundry detergent (more than zie will need in a year– I suggested sharing if friends run out) and a bathrobe and towels and a blanket and a mattress pad and a pillow and floss and a first aid kit and toothpaste directly to college where it can sit in their warehouse for another month or two. (A new students email said we could start sending stuff, but now DC1 is getting emails that they only hold things for 15 days… I’m really hoping the initial email was correct!) We spent a bit under $500 on new stuff. (I keep remembering things like shampoo and soap etc. so we’re probably not done yet.) Which seems like both a lot and not very much at all. Twin bedding is pretty cheap even if it’s XL.
What did you and yours take with you to college? How did you go about shopping for it all?
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
July 17, 2023 at 9:33 am
My mom bought me beautiful embroidered sheets from Garnet Hill for college (plus a generic white extra long twin fitted sheet). My daughter used them up until this year when she got a bigger bed. I put them away to send to college with her in eight years or so. :)
And ugh, shower shoes. The very thought of them (and the need for them) icks me out.
July 17, 2023 at 9:38 am
awwww
July 17, 2023 at 9:54 am
Went to college long enough ago that the dorm provided sheets (you switched the top to the bottom and got one new sheet for the top every week — all flat, this was before fitted!!!). And a pillowcase to put on their generic pillow. So just brought a blanket and a comforter, the ones from my bed at home. We also got clean towels once a week — white, scratchy, sort of like the military.
My kids, in the early 2000’s had to provide their own sheets/blankets/comforters/towels. And to be honest, they took care of all the rest of their packing, which did not involve shopping as I recall.
What a difference, both in terms of what students bring, and how much help they get from their parents.
July 17, 2023 at 10:06 am
To be fair, we’re kind of minimalist here and even if we weren’t, DC1 doesn’t have anything for an XL Twin. Plus there’s only so much that will fit in my sister’s car.
DC1 is getting more help from me than I got from my parents, but also I’d been at boarding school and was 18.
July 17, 2023 at 10:48 am
Not quite as far back in history as EB, I brought a trunk (or was it two trunks?) and two suitcases full of stuff–on the plane!–every year and brought them home every summer. My dad reserved flights to have two connections so they would lose my luggage and then deliver it right to the dorm, so I just had to take my carry-on through the mass transit (subway, then train, then I can’t remember if I walked the rest or there was a bus).
So, yes, there was shopping for sheets, towels, and toiletries. I also brought a stereo I’d gotten as a graduation gift (that was in the trunk with pillows and comforter). I was not one of the people who rented a fridge or a rug or anything.
One friend had contacted her roommate during the summer and they picked out matching bedspreads and rugs–pink ones from Sears I think. On arriving, they discovered that one had chosen hot pink, the other, carnation pink. (They were still okay as roommates, but I became roommates with the carnation-pink gal sophomore year.)
July 17, 2023 at 11:04 am
Wow! That’s an impressive amount of stuff on the plane! (Also impressive that they used to deliver it… I got lost luggage delivered in Spain ~25 years ago, but ever since it’s been, come to the airport to pick up your found luggage.)
I was so excited about renting DC1 one of those mini-fridge microwave units because I could never afford it as a student… but it turns out they’re included with the room and board. Which is good because it’s not so obvious who the haves vs. have-nots are. (But I can’t show that I’ve “made it.” Not that it would matter anyway because DC1’s roommate is high SES.)
July 17, 2023 at 6:39 pm
This was 1980-1984, so yes, over 25 years ago!
I’d never even heard of a mini-fridge microwave combo and had to look that up. In real life, I’d probably rather buy them separately so if one breaks, you just replace that one thing. But if it comes with the dorm, then of course! “Back in my day” microwaves (and toaster ovens) were not allowed. One summer I picked a dorm that didn’t have a meal plan, thinking there would be a common kitchen. No. I had a mini fridge that year, and a hot pot (which boiled water) and had to get pretty creative.
Ha, we all know you’ve made it, so it’s all good! I fully honor your bragging rights!
July 17, 2023 at 11:41 am
I went to undergrad in the early 90s. We shipped a box via USPS of things like the sheets/bedding, and room art (mostly things torn out of old calendars). Clothes, my alarm clock radio, and toiletries came in my airplane luggage, as well as some books. General supplies, like laundry detergent, I was expected to just obtain and buy on my own once I needed them. Grad school was also USPS for the most part, but a few more boxes. Books, mostly, plus a sealed cardboard portfolio of posters/art I didn’t want bent.
The undergrad students who lived close enough to have parents driving them brought a ton more stuff. I remember a roommate of a friend who somehow brought a whole kitchen’s worth of tiny appliances. (And probably was breaking quite a few dorm fire rules in the process.)
July 17, 2023 at 11:45 am
It’s definitely impressive what people who live nearby can bring.
Back in the day, I think the biggest fire hazard was halogen lamps– so many fires! (Though one of them IIRC was caused by using it to heat a build-it-yourself lava lamp, which is just a terrible idea all around.)
July 18, 2023 at 12:46 am
I got a lot of my college stuff the year before, bc I did a 6 week summer program that stayed in a dorm. So I’d bought an advertised deal for basically all the linens needed for bed and bath, plus a collapsible hamper. The bedding was polyester crap, but I used it through my freshman year I think. I bought new cotton sheets at some point, but kept using the comforter a little longer. The towels were surprisingly nice and stayed in daily use for over a decade.
My parents drove me the 3ish hours to college on move-in day. I filled up most of my parents’ SUV but I can’t remember anything specific anymore. My college had a fun tradition where any upperclassmen on campus (dorm staff, athletes, some clubs) would carry all your stuff upstairs for you. It made move-in go really fast, which was good bc we didn’t have much parking!
In the summer after my sophomore year, I sublet an apartment near campus with a double bed, and actually used my childhood sheets and blanket (patterned with a Disney character).
July 18, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Aww, that’s a nice tradition.
July 18, 2023 at 3:43 am
I keep thinking of things and then contemplate whether I should just let kid buy it when they get there when and if they need it. For example, Will my kid actually buy/use sunscreen if they don’t have it or just burn?
July 18, 2023 at 5:19 am
Oh that’s another thing to add to the list…
July 18, 2023 at 8:15 am
If Carlton won’t store things, and you could get me permisison, I could pick things up and store them for a bit. I’m only a couple of hours away, and retired, so… Bardiac
July 18, 2023 at 8:36 am
That is incredibly nice of you!
DC1 actually got an email 5 days ago that said, “we will hold your items until Fall semester starts” but didn’t mention it until yesterday when we were like, hey, that 15 days is coming up, maybe you should contact them? Turns out zie had everything under control and either I’m doing too much email stalking or not enough. (Once zie leaves, I will no longer be monitoring hir email for important announcements.)
July 18, 2023 at 9:50 pm
Sears for the sheets and towels, LL Bean mail order for a coat and boots. Back in the pre-internet shopping era! My dad drove me up and left me on the sidewalk (which was fine).
July 18, 2023 at 9:51 pm
We did have a college shuttle bus to Next Town Over stores to buy snacks and laundry detergent and shampoo.
July 19, 2023 at 2:18 pm
As always I continue to appreciate these experiences since I lived at home for college. We joke that our kids are not going to know what to do with themselves when they have large beds at home and go off to Twin XL in college, assuming they go off to college and not go to school nearby.
Also I’m gathering ideas for what gifts might be appropriate for family friends whose kids are now going off to college.
July 19, 2023 at 3:22 pm
DC1 is looking forward to care packages with food already.
July 22, 2023 at 4:18 pm
All of this makes me think of grad school, going “shopping” in the dumpsters for discarded furniture on the day the wealthy undergrads moved out of their dorms. :-)
July 22, 2023 at 6:29 pm
Carleton grabs all that stuff and sells it at low prices to the current and incoming students! It is INSANE what people just toss. (At my undergrad they sold it to the custodians etc staff in the summer.)