Looking back on my first year of college as I prepare to move out for the summer, I came well overprepared. Within seconds of committing to Penn State, I was already on Pinterest, figuring out how I was going to decorate my dorm.
From college influencers telling me what I had to bring, and my older siblings who were forcing their old dorm decor on me, I arrived at my move-in date with my car filled to the absolute max. Now, with all of that stuff plus some, moving out seems impossible.
So, if you are a senior starting to plan for your freshman year dorm (or just want to declutter your dorm), here are four things I did not need my freshman year, that you probably won’t either.
- decorative pillows
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The biggest piece of advice I heard on TikTok while I was dorm shopping was ‘don’t bring a mountain of throw pillows’, and what did I do? Brought the mountain of pillows. While I will admit my bed looks delightful when it’s made, the process of making it is so brutal that it is hardly worth it. Looking back, a pillow for support paired with one or two decorative pillows is really all I needed.
Another big problem I had with my collection of pillows was storing them. When I went to sleep each night, my pillows ended up on the floor, collecting dust, dirt and who knows what else. The number of times I washed my pillow cases or just felt grossed out putting them back on my bed each morning was not worth the aesthetic they provided. So take it from me, and keep the pillows to a minimum.
- a ton of school supplies
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When shopping for dorm and school supplies, I treated it like high school. I had folders, notebooks, highlighters and even a stapler stored in my (tiny) university-issued desk. Within a month, I quickly realized how unnecessary it all was.
In reality, college is much more digital than high school. My notes for classes are almost exclusively in Google Docs, and all of my assignments are online. Not to say I did not take any notes by hand, but definitely not a three-subject notebook’s worth of them. I recommend you keep the school supplies shopping to a minimum until you make it through the first week of class and find out what you will actually need.
- a tv
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This may seem kind of controversial, but my roommate and I’s TV went pretty much unused for the year we lived in our dorm. While the occasional movie night or football viewing party was fun, this is not something I would consider essential to my freshman year dorm. Coordinate with your future roommate or friends going to the same school as you; one TV for a friend group is really all you need.
Besides just being expensive and taking up space, I often found myself wanting to watch a show or movie by myself after a long day of socializing. I have never been a huge TV person, and I have always preferred to stream on a laptop or iPad, so if you are a big TV person, definitely take this with a grain of salt.
- so. many. sweatshirts.
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When packing for college, I am not sure what came over me that convinced me I needed to take every sweatshirt I have worn in the past year, but do not make the same mistake I did. No matter how many you bring, you will end up wearing the same few on repeat, trust me. So pick your top favorite and leave the rest at home.
Minimizing the number of sweatshirts you bring will also help you determine which ones you can get rid of when you move back home at the end of the year. My closet back home is filled with sweatshirts I haven’t once thought about since starting college, and before I move my clothes back into my closet, I will be doing a major sweatshirt purge.
If I had packed any more of what I thought were ‘essentials’ at the beginning of my freshman year, I honestly would have needed a U-Haul to move it all. It’s a canon event to overpack and bring useless stuff as a freshman, but hopefully, with this list, you can avoid a few of the more common ones.
You are not going to have the perfect dorm set up the day you move in, but it is so much easier to buy stuff rather than find space for something you are not using. So don’t stress about bringing every possible thing you might need, just bring what makes you feel like you.