Packing for uni can be a daunting experience. This guide aims to make it a slightly easier by emphasising what you will *need* to bring, what you will probably want to bring and what you should definitely not bring.
Packing can often result in friction at home as parents are invariably involved in the sending off of their offspring, and views as to what need to be taken are often in conflict! This list should hopefully help to resolve those issues.
Good luck!
The first thing is that you should not over-pack – this doesn’t mean don’t bring any of your home comforts with you but during the term time you tend to accumulate stuff and when you leave uni at the end of term to go home you want to be able to transport it home with out the aid of a transit van!
Many items you’re likely to need can be bought cheaply from stores very close to the uni.
The List
What you decide to bring is essentially up to you. A good way of deciding is to split everything up into four sections:
- The important stuff
- Stuff you should probably bring
- Stuff you may want to bring
- Stuff you shouldn’t bring
The important stuff
The stuff that falls into this section is generally quite important and you don’t really want to leave it behind.
- Registration information
- Medical Card
- Social Security Card
- All your financial documents – i.e. loan forms etc
- Driving license/passport identification
The Stuff you should probably bring
The stuff that falls into this section will prove invaluable as your uni life gets underway. It is strongly recommended you bring all of this stuff.
Basics
- Alarm clock
- Toiletries (including towel, soap/gel, deodorant, toothpaste, tooth brush, aftershave/perfume, hair driers and other hair stuff (not my forte!), bath robe (even if only to look like Hugh Hefner)
- Watch
- Clothing
Depending on where you’re going to uni (and if it’s anywhere in the UK) it can get pretty cold. Sure it is milder than London than the Highlands but it’s still ruddy freezing mid winter. A winter jacket is probably a good idea. Also if your Hall has formals (and they almost all do) you should probably bring a shirt and tie (many people wear a jacket too).
Sometimes Halls provide bedding. However you may want to bring your own duvet and pillows (many people do) to bring a little bit of home with you and brighten up your room nicely.
Medicine & Health
These things are essential if you don’t want to be shunned by the rest of your Hall mates! Toothbrush, Deo, Hairstyling product, Toiletries, aftershave/perfume, condoms, pills, soaps/shampoos, air freshener, nail-clippers etc. You might want to bring washing powder but you may decide to wait and buy some when you get here. If you bring a good supply of Paracetamol/ibuprofen etc you will be friend of everyone during week one when the hangovers are killer. Could be a good idea to bring some plasters as well. Pro-plus is also good. Many people bring flip-flops – this is a very good idea when using shared showers, even though showers are cleaned every day if you use the shower at the end of the day you dont want to stand in a clump of someone else’s hair or catch some fungal infection on your feet. Nuff said.
Random stuff of use
- A bottle of wine is always a good thing… but it’s a lot better when you bring a corkscrew. You will be absolutely astounded by the number of students who go and buy bottles of wine and then realise they do not have a corkscrew – you do though and that means you have power!
- Passport photos. You will get through these things very quickly with the ridiculous amount of registrations/signing up for things that you have to do. It is much easier to bring some rather than queue up on uni campus,
- Clothes horse. The driers take a long time and these can be very useful (you might want to consider not bringing one but buying one when you get here
- Washing powder. Powder/tablets/lotions/3 in ones/2 in ones/ fabric softener/fabric conditioner. Very confusing. If you haven’t heard of this it’s something your parents will probably be quite familiar, with ask them about it, it’s amazing stuff.
- Extension leads. These will prove invaluable as some rooms only have two plugs, some have four (but usefully on the other side of the room to your desk!). For the benefit of International students the voltage is 230/240 and 50Hz.
- Hangers. There are usually hangers in all of the wardrobes but only about five – you’ll probably need more so these are a good investment.
- Blue-tack/White-tack. You can’t use tape or nails on your walls so if you want to put poster on your walls this is a must have. Make sure it’s the non marketing type or you’ll be losing some of your deposit.
- Cutlery, cups and plates. Whether you’re in catered or self-catered this is an essential. There will be many occasions when you feel like cooking yourself something up i.e. toast, noodles or the like and it very difficult without the right paraphernalia. There may be points in time where you miss catered meals i.e .hung-over, sleeping or just can’t face Hall food anymore.
- Light bulbs are useful. Although you can get these from the porter for the price of a pack of crisps you can save yourself the effort of looking for the porter at 3am in the freezing cold.
- Camera. It is nice to have memories of your times in uni, especially the first few weeks. If you have a decent phone camera, then that’ll do the job.
- A rug. A rug will make your room a little more homely and cover up any marks on the carpet.
- Fruit squash and munchies
- A soap dish
- A calculator
- Various stationary stuff
- Plastic wallets
- A4 folders
- Scissors
- Cellotape
- Gloves
Stuff you may want to bring
Entertainment
It’s sad to say it but eventually the week one bug does wear off and getting drunk during the day doesn’t seem funny any more. Therefore you will probably want to bring some entertainment. My advice is that the best thing you can bring is a computer/laptop and get the internet.
Stuff Not to Bring
Try not to bring anything that you are not going to need in your first week that you can buy when you get here. This means less transporting stuff around and less hassle.