10 Essential School Supplies For College

Summer is nearly over, and that means it’s back to school!

For those of you headed off to college, back to school means something a bit different this year. Gone are the days of supply lists provided by your elementary or high school teachers. This year, it’s on you to figure out what you need to start your first year at college.

To save you a bit of time (and anxiety), we’ve put together our list of the 10 Essential School Supplies for College

1.Backpack

As long as you’re a student (no matter what grade), you’ll need to carry a backpack. There are different styles, of course (from messenger bags to rolling backpacks, to the traditional backpack), so be sure to choose one that fits your needs. A trend over the last few years for college students has been the rolling backpack. It makes it easier to transport those heavy books from one building to another, and saves wear and tear on your back.

2. Paperclips and Binder Clips

You can never have too many paper clips and binder clips! Having these items on hand ensures that you can keep all of your course materials from each class organized and together. Trust me, you’ll need them for your syllabuses alone!

3. A Planner

Staying organized is one of the keys to a successful college career! From managing your schedule to keeping track of assignment due dates, to planning your social calendar, you’ll need a planner to keep it all together. I suggest purchasing a daily planner so that you have plenty of space to plan out each day.

4. A Notebook for Each Class

Let’s talk about notebooks! In college, you can never have too many! I suggest having one notebook for each class, as well as a few extras, just in case. I’m sure you’ll want to take notes during lectures and labs, so you’ll need a place to keep your notes from each class together.

Tip: Notebooks with folder pockets come in handy! You can place any in-class handouts in there to keep everything in the same place. 

5. Colorful Pens

Colorful pens are good to have for a few reasons. First, your professors may have you grade papers in class, and you’ll need some non-traditional colored pens to do your grading. Second, you’ll be taking lots of notes, so why not have a little fun and jazz up your note-taking?

6. Colorful Highlighters

Highlighters are a life saver, trust me! When you are reading your textbooks, you’ll want to highlight any important information.  Believe it or not, but I feel like highlighting information actually helped me remember it more! By the end of Freshman year, my textbooks were filled with more color than a rainbow!

7. Post-It Notes

Ok, I can’t help it, I’m a Post-It Note addict! I use them for everything! They are especially handy to write important dates on and stick them near your desk. They also come in handy for writing down phone numbers and addresses in a pinch!

8. Textbooks

Either over the summer or on the first day of class, your professors will give you a list of all of the textbooks that you will need for each class. It will be up to you to purchase the correct book(s) and bring them with you to your classes. You can usually purchase your books at the on-campus bookstore, but you can often time find them online cheaper.

Tip: Only purchase online if you get your list ahead of time. Otherwise, your books may not be delivered to you by when you need them for class.

9. A Pencil Bag and Pencils

Pencil Bags aren’t just for elementary and high school! It is such a pain to have to dig through your backpack for a pencil, and so much easier to have all of your pencils and pens in one place. I love mechanical pencils, as they eliminate the need to use the noisy pencil sharpeners in your lecture hall. If you go this route, make sure to have plenty of extra lead with you at all times.

10. A Laptop and Printer

Most professors encourage you to bring an electronic device (laptop or tablet) to class with your for note taking or research purposes. It’s also necessary to do nearly all of your college homework on. Your papers will need to be typed out and printed so that you can deliver them to your professor. Be sure to have a printer in your dorm room as well, stocked with plenty of ink and paper.

The items above will give you a great start when you are shopping for your college essentials. Add in any other items that you think you will use (or need) on a regular basis. There’s a lot of back to school shopping deals online. Be sure to shop around online first. Sometimes the best back to school deals are available right at your fingertips (i.e your laptop/phone).

If you miss something, not to worry, most colleges have on-campus stores where you can find anything that you may have missed. Also, in the past, I’ve entered back-to-school giveaways and won.

Tip: Be sure to sign-up for cash back apps such as Ibotta and Ebates. 

Also, in the past, I’ve entered back-to-school giveaways and won an iTunes gift card, an iPod (when they were popular) and $25 to the campus cafeteria. If you miss something, not to worry, most colleges have on-campus stores where you can find anything that you may have missed.

Have a great year!