Getting admitted to college is a joyful experience. However, you also need to prepare for this new phase of life. Freshmen usually get confused as to what materials to take to school and this confuses. Therefore, let’s prepare you for college life with this awesome dorm checklist.
When my younger brother was preparing for college, he kept moving up and down the house thinking of the necessary materials to pick. It reminded me of a similar experience I once had, so I called him and gave him a comprehensive list of the necessary materials he needed to take with him.
In this article, you get to understand a lot about college such as making new friends and survival strategies. In fact, watching college movies will also give you an insight on campus life.
Meanwhile, see the table of contents below for an overview of what to expect in this article.
Table of contents
- What is College?
- Types of College Dorms
- How do I choose the best dormitory-type as a freshman?
- How do I make friends as a college freshman?
- What do I avoid as a college freshman?
- How do I survive a freshman year in college?
- How do I write a freshman resume?
- What is a College Dorm Checklist?
- What do I need to pick as part of my College dorm Checklist?
- Conclusion
- Author’s Recommendation
What is College?
A college is an established academic institution dedicated to the training of students. Essentially, these students become professionals in different fields.
As part of their practice, most colleges award degrees to deserving candidates similar to what universities do.
“Colleges” as a name applies to different units per country. In fact, in the U.S, colleges are a member of the University while in Canada and Europe, it’s a high school.
However, for the sake of this article, we’ll be focusing on college as a constituent of a university.
How can I fit into College?
Students usually find it very difficult to fit into a college setting. And their lack of fitting causes a lot of instability for them.
A new environment with individuals from different parts of the world… It’s a whole lot of new stuff to take in at a time.
Despite these shortcomings, every student needs to study and excel in academics in order to stay in college. But the first challenge they meet is adapting to the accommodation.
As a student, you have to basically decide between the dormitory or other housing options.
The best advice is that you stick to the dormitory so that you get a grip on-campus activities.
Therefore, you would want to ask; What is a college dormitory and what does it look like? What can be part of my checklist? In this article, we will reveal answers to the questions.
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What is a College Dorm?
A dormitory in a college is a structure where students reside. Above all, a dormitory should contain a large number of students.
College dorms have different architectural settings dependent o their use. Most times, two students share a room while on the other hand, four students share the same room too.
These college dorms possess a great advantage as they’re closer to campus, unlike the private housing apartments.
Funnily enough, most colleges have a rule which compels first-year students to reside in the dormitories rather than in private apartments. Therefore, you’ll need to know the necessities that should tick your college dorm checklist.
However, before we address that, let us take a look at the different types of college dorms that schools use.
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Types of College Dorms
Predictably, all the dorms will never have the same outlines and designs.
According to sparkcollege.com, there are different types of college dormitory arrangements.
These arrangements include;
Single-gender
These are dorms where a particular gender reside. Therefore, only males or females stay there.
All first-year
Certain dormitories set up residence for first-year studets alone. Essentially, students will gain accessibility to themselves in order to solve their problems.
Single-gender floors
In single-floor dorms, the structures split the two genders into different floors.
Sexual Orientation
Notably, some universities have dormitories for individuals with a particular sexual orientation. These orientations include; transgender students in addition to lesbian and gay students.
Quiet Floors
These floors exist to curtail activities that involve a lot of noise. Indeed, many students don’t do well with noise and prefer a quieter environment.
Special Focus
These are floors which the University dedicates to students interested in higher academic honours or musical learning.
Special Housing for Disabled students
Of course, this doesn’t come as a surprise because of the difference in conditions. Disabled students have dorms tailored by the designers for their comfort.
Substance Free
These dorms are for students who don’t smoke and drink. Moreso, students that use drugs aren’t given permission to enter this dorm.
International Dorms
Certain colleges have dormitories that have been built for foreigners. This implies local students can’t live in this dorm.
How do I choose the best dormitory-type as a freshman?
After you have seen the different types of dormitories, making a choice between them becomes a difficult decision.
Therefore, here are some considerations you should make before you make a choice.
Key Considerations
- Nearness to the school environment
- Number of coursemate residents
- Number of freshmen residents
- Noisiness
- Neatness
- Structure
Nearness to the school environment
As a freshman, your best friend should be your books. This way, it helps you quickly get settled academically which will translate to other areas.
You should seek a dormitory close to either the school library ad lecturing halls. With this strategy, you’ll be able to make it to classes o time in addition to materials you’ll be getting from the library.
In all honesty, this is the foundation of an awesome college time.
Number of coursemate residents
If you quickly notice that many of your coursemates are in a certain hall of residence, you need to push towards that hall.
However, before you do that, make keen investigations to truly know what attracts them to the place.
Most times, its something academic, and you shouldn’t miss it.
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Number of freshmen residents
When a hall is filled with freshmen, you can access materials and individuals with similar problems.
In this circumstance, you easily find solutions to your problems without looking for help far away.
Noisiness
Noise is one of the biggest distractions that occur. Of a truth, it’s very difficult because of its deafening effect.
Your dorm should be very cool to enable you to study and meditate. Therefore, tick a quiet place as part of your college dorm checklist.
Neatness
No one appreciates a dirty environment and this is the reason waste is kept at the backyard.
For this reason, go for a neat dormitory. Because in such places the air is refreshing for the mind and body.
Structure
If you have certain characteristics which are unique, you should look out for the structure of the dorm.
This is to avoid uncomfortable scenarios from occurring.
How do I make friends as a college freshman?
Making friends might be easy for some people and difficult for others. The odds will vary.
However, the easiest ways to make friends in college is to be smart. Research has shown, that intelligence attracts young people. As a result, through your provision of solutions, individuals draw closer to you.
What do I avoid as a college freshman?
As a college student, there are certain things you should avoid.
Sincerely speaking, most of these activities are not bad, but they’re distracting. Some of these activities involve; clubbing, excessive partying just to name a few.
How do I survive a freshman year in college?
Surviving as a freshman is not a tough task. After all, many students have entered college and graduated with honours.
For this reason, you don’t need to be scared. You only need to know what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
Therefore, very quickly I will give you some techniques that will help you survive college. Of course, you can’t expect your college dorm checklist to give you everything.
Make friends: Friends are always an essential part of ay person’s growth. Constantly surround yourself with people that will encourage you to be better.
Join Social Associations: Now I don’t advise that you join these associations in your freshman year, however, in the long run, you can join them. These associations will give you mindsets and habits that great individuals adopted.
Study: Of course, there is o way I can leave this out. When you study, you’re open to learning the necessary skills that will equip you to do better.
How do I write a freshman resume?
Everyone wants to have that solid resume that makes hiring managers want to give them a call.
This cannot be done without proper knowledge of the perks of writing a great resume.
Resumes have different categories & formats. However, we will focus on the best way to write a student college resume.
As stated above, we will use the college degree freshman resume template constructed by Zety.
Characteristics of a Great Student College Resume
This resume will contain the necessary details in a particular order. The order consists of;
- Contact Information
- Resume Objective
- Education
- Work Experience
- Skills
Contact Information
Your contact information should be light and straight to the point. It will act as a direct link to reach you.
This aspect of your resume should contain your address, phone number, mail and professional accounts. This implies; you need to display accounts such as your LinkedIn profile, not smiley pictures of you on Facebook or Instagram.
Below is an example of what your address should look like;
Emile Smooth
6A Wesley Street
Chicago
(905) 566-652223
emilesmooth@gmail.com
linkedIn.com/in/emilesmooth
Techifiedhut.com
Resume Objective
Poor construction of your objective can mean you have no objective. Therefore, to avoid this, let’s look at the wrong and correct way of writing a resume objective.
Wrong: Seeking an HVAC technician’s position where I can develop my skills and impact people.
Right: Computer engineering student with 11 months experience in programming and web development.
You would notice the first one sounded like an appeal. A place for discovery.
On the other hand, the second one sounded professional as there was a display of capability & offering.
It is important to note that you’re expected to display strengths & value in a resume.
Education
In listing your educational qualifications, there needs to be an order. For this cause, your listing must begin from your highest academic qualification to the least.
Let’s see an example
Majoring in Chemical Engineering
Chicago Uiversity, Faculty of Engineering
Expected Graduation: 2024
Relevant Coursework: Industrial Chemistry, Chemical analytics
Paris High School
Graduated 2017
Work Experience
In outlining your work experience, you have to pen down key things.
This is better explained when we look at the examples below
WRONG
Mechanical Engineering Intern
May 2017- July 2024
LALEC Group of Companies
Key Responsibilities
Team Lead of Repair and Maintenance
Worked o the new PRC project
Performed other functions
RIGHT
Mechanical Engineering Intern
May 2017- July 2024
LALEC Group of Companies
Key Qualifications and Responsibilities
Development of new engine models
Assisted in machine repair.
Key achievement
Team lead of the group that developed a car engine that runs on electricity together with some engineers.
Skills
Indeed, skills are a necessary part of your college resume. However, your process of outlining these skills according to their need makes a huge difference.
Therefore, you need to properly explain the skill set. Let’s show you a proper way to list your skills.
Core knowledge of Automech Pro
Skilled in mechanics and engine system
What is a College Dorm Checklist?
A college dorm checklist is a set of necessary materials needed for college. These college materials range from academic materials to home necessities such as boilers, waste bins etc.
In this article, you’ll get to see all essential materials you’ll need for college.
What do I need to pick as part of my College dorm Checklist?
Of course, every freshman is challenged to choose essential materials for your college program.
While your parents will have their ideas, your siblings will have contrasting ones. For this reason, you’re torn between two choices.
Let’s eliminate your misery by outlining the perfect college dorm checklist. Here is a list of things to bring to college.
College Dorm Checklist For Girls and Boys
Basic Rooms Needs
- Lamp
- Clock
- Trash can
- Storage bins
- Trays
- Fan
- Racks
- Bulletin board and pushpins
- Dry-erase wall calendar/board
Laundry Materials
Sheets and pillowcases (2 sets. Check with college for size needed — some college twin beds are extra long.)
- Towels (3 each of bath, hand and face)
- Pillows (2)
- Mattress pad (check with the college for size needed)
- Blankets (2)
- Comforter/bedspread
- Hangers
- Laundry bag/basket
- Laundry detergent, fabric softener and stain remover
- Lint brush
- Mini sewing kit
Desk Supplies
- Electronic storage media such as memory cards and USB flash drives
- Stapler and staples
- Pens and pencils
- Pencil holder and sharpener
- Notebooks
- Folder with pockets
- Labels of various sizes
- Index cards
- Sticky notes
- Paper clips and binder clips
- Rubber bands
- Tape
- Scissors
- Pens
- Ruler
- Stackable desk trays (at least 4)
- Stamps and envelopes
Electronics
- Laptop (printer is optional; there are usually computer labs where you can print)
- Portable speakers (if you want to play music from a laptop/MP3 player)
- HDMI cord, Ethernet cord for computer (check if your room has wireless)
- Surge protector
- Extension cords
- 3-2 prong adapters
- MP3 player
- Headphones
- Camera
- Cell phone
Shared Items — Check with roommate(s)
- Audio equipment
- TV and DVD player
- Coffeemaker/hot pot/microwave, if allowed
- Small refrigerator (if one isn’t provided)
- Area rug
- Posters/art
Toiletries
- Antacid
- Aspirin or other pain relievers
- Vitamins
- Antidiarrheal medicine
- Adhesive bandages, antibiotic ointment
- Cough drops
- Shower caddy
- Shower shoes (flip-flops)
- Shampoo and conditioner
- Hairstyling products
- Bath and face soap
- Travel soap container(s)
- Toothpaste and toothbrush
- Dental floss
- Comb/brush
- Tweezers
- Nail clippers
- Hairdryer/straightener/curling iron
- Razor and shaving cream
- Lotion and/or facial moisturizer
- Cotton swabs
Clothing
- Underwear
- Socks
- Pants/jeans
- Shirts/blouses
- Sweats
- Pyjamas
- Slippers and/or flip-flops
- Sweaters
- Light/heavy jackets
- Gloves/scarf/hat (and other foul-weather gear as needed)
- 1 pair of boots
- 2 pairs of sneakers or comfortable/walking shoes
- 1 set of business-casual clothes
- 1 pair of dress shoes
- 1 swimsuit
Household and Kitchen Items
- Paper towels
- Trash bags
- Lightbulbs
- All-purpose cleaner
- Plastic storage bags
- Food-storage containers
- Dish soap
- Wet wipes
- Tissues
- Bowl, plate and cup
- Coffee mug
- Water bottle
- Silverware
- Can/bottle opener
Miscellaneous
- Umbrella
- Backpack
- Sports equipment
Conclusion
A big part of life is going to new places, meeting people, ad learning a lot.
A college is a place of adventure. Therefore, it’s a place that trains you to become a better person.
Student apartments are also another housing option that is good for students.
The choice to choose, however, remains yours.
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