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The Ultimate Dorm Essentials Checklist: What to Bring and Where to Shop
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- We built our dorm essentials checklist to help students decide what items to bring to college.
- Every item on the list includes a need vs. want rating, student commentary, and helpful product recommendations.
- The checklist is broken down into 12 categories and covers 163 of the most commonly brought dorm items.
Dorm Essentials Checklist
Essential dorm items are indicated by a check mark, but some may differ or be worth bringing depending on your budget, preferences, and living situation.
You can also create your own college dorm checklist by selecting or unselecting the check mark boxes. Clicking on any item or section will take you to our review.
How The Checklist Works
Need vs. Want Ratings
Each dorm item is rated on a 100 point essentialness scale. A score of 0-30 (red) indicates an unnecessary luxury, 35-65 (orange) indicates a helpful item you can still survive without, and 70-100 (green) indicates an item life will be difficult without. Our ratings are based on personal college experiences, surveys we conducted from over 50 college students/10 parents, and reader suggestions.