Attention Freshmen or anyone wondering what they may be forgetting for college, I’ve put together the ultimate checklist for college students on what you need for your dorm room.

• Desk lamp:  Great for those not wanting to turn on the main light and bothering roommates.
• Telephone / Answering Machine:  You may need this for your dorm if your college doesn’t offer free phone service.
• Dorm Bedding:  You’ll need pillows, sheets, and don’t forget that matress pad for your bed.
• Alarm clock:  You’re going to need to wake up in the morning for classes.
• Hot Pot:  If you’re a fan of coffee or tea, you may want to brew your own cups every morning.
• Transportation:  Do you need a bike or possibly Rollerblades to get around campus?
• Key Chain:  You’ll need something to keep your dorm room key on you at all times.
• Lockbox:  Bring something that you can lock up when you’re out of the dorm.  Crime is huge on campus.
• Clothes Hangers:  If you have a closet, you’ll need hangers to hang up your clothes.
• Shower Shoes:   This is one most students overlook.  You won’t want to walk around the shower floors without shoes!
• Toiletry Bag:  You’re going to need everything bathroom related.  Toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrush, mouth wash, floss, makeup, deodorant, etc.
• Posters:  Sounds kind of silly but you’ll need something to remind you of home.
• Laundry Supplies:  You’ll need a laundry basket, bag and detergent for your laundry duties.
• Quarters:  Bring lots of them for the laundrymat.
• Earplugs:  This one is huge.  If you have loud neighbors or a roommate, this will help you get better sleep at night.
• Eyemask:   You may find it too light or you just can’t sleep.  With an eye mask, it will make it easier for you to sleep as well.
• Cups and Dishes:  Even if you’re staying in a small dorm room, it doesn’t hurt to have a few small dishes and plates. 
• Microwave:  If you don’t want to eat out every night, I suggest looking into getting a dorm microwave.
• Refrigerator:  Get a refridgeator built for a dorm that will chill your food and beverages.
• Cleaning Stuff:  Clorox wipes come to mind.  Bring small cleaning supplies to keep dorm clean.
• Trashcan:  You have to throw things away, don’t you?
• Headphones:  You won’t want to disturb others while you’re listening to your music.
• First Aid Kit:  You’ll need a first aid kit just in case small accidents happen.
• Medicine:  Bring small medicine bottles like Motrin, Excedrin, etc for pain relief.
• Power Strip:  Dorm rooms don’t have a lot of plugs, you may need a power strip.
• Extension Cords:  You may find that the outlets are in awful spots.  Bring a few extension cords just in case.
• Ethernet Cable:  If you can’t connect to the wireless network, you may want to connect via a cable.
• Router:  If you’re thinking about hooking up more than one thing to the internet, you may want a small 4 port router.
• Rug:  Most dorm rooms don’t have the greatest floors.  You may want a  rug to keep your feet warm.
• Desk Chair:  You need to sit somewhere when you’re typing away on your computer.
• Electronics:  TV, Radio, Computer.  You’ll need something for entertainment when you’re not studying.
• DVDs:  If you decide to bring your DVD player, don’t forget to tag along some of your favorite DVDs.
• Fan:  If you live somewhere warm, you may find yourself needing a fan if the A/C isn’t doing the trick.
• Stamps / Envelopes:  You may find that you’ll need to mail something out here and there.
• Calling Card:  If your school doesn’t offer free phone service and you don’t have a phone, get a calling card.
• Storage Containers:  Get some storage containers so that you can be organized.
• Tool Box:  Bring some simple tools like screwdrivers, hammers and don’t forget that duct tape!

If you’ve found that I’ve missed anything on the list, let me know and I’ll add it!  Print this up and share with your friends.  Let’s make everyone’s move to college a little easier.

A popular question among many college students is “Where can I get bedding for my dorm or what size do I need?”  Since all dorms vary in sizes when it comes to particular beds, I will try my best to give you some tips on how you can pick out the best bedding for your dorm room.

Listen at orientation – During your freshman orientation, this is when you’re going to get information on your bed sizes.  You’ll want to keep note of it.  Dorm beds are similar to a twin sized bed but many will tell you to get XL Twin sheets, not twin sheets.

Do some shopping- The best place to buy bedsheets in my opinion are online.  Places like Amazon have great places to buy bed sheets for your bed.  The cool thing I like about dorm bedding is that you’ll most likely find sheets that have your college logo on them.  Most students think something like this is expensive but it actually isn’t that bad.  In fact, you can pick up a nice set for under $50.

Try to get dark sheets – In college, you’re going to find out that many people are going to come in and out of your dorm.  Since your dorm is going to be fairly small, you’re going to want to get sheets that are dark.  Since most sheets do come in a whiter color, you may want to look into buying dark sheets rather white sheets.  This is going to make it easier for you to keep clean.  Don’t forget to wash the bed sheets as bed bugs can be a large problem at public places such as a university.  It doesn’t hurt to wash them at least once a week.

Bring extras – You’re going to want to wash your sheets every few weeks and it’s always a pain to wait for your sheets to dry and become clean.  Instead of waiting, bring an extra pair and throw them on while the others are washing.  You can just rotate them to save you the trouble and time.

Mattress pad – Last but not least, you’re going to want to get a mattress pad.  Since your beds are going to be hard as a rock, you’re going to want to make it easier for yourself to sleep at night.  Trust me, once you get there, you’re going to want a mattress pad if you don’t already have one!

Hopefully by now you’ll have a better understanding on what you need when it comes to your dorm and bedding.  Shop online for some of the better deals because if you find yourself in a local home goods store, you may find the prices to be a bit pricey.

One of the most confusing things that you’ll encounter when it comes to college is transferring to University from either another University or Community College.  Thousands of students every year do this and while some find the process to be rather easy, some find it hard when it comes to the transferring of credits and tuition hikes.

Always meet with an advisor – The first thing you’re going to want to do is meet with the other school’s advisor.  He or she is going to tell you exactly what’s going to transfer and how their program is going to work, etc.  Never transfer to a University or another school without meeting someone first.  You won’t want to apply and later find out that 50% of your credits transfer rather than 85-100% as you would have expected.

Keep on the path- If you already know that you’re going to transfer to a four year school after say a community college, make sure that you keep in contact with both ur to make sure that you’re taking the right classes.  You won’t want to take classes that won’t work for your degree, it would be pointless.  The lesson learned here is as long as you keep in contact with your advisor, you’ll be fine.

Make decisions- You may find out that you want to transfer out of state or even in state but the school you’re looking at won’t accept a majority of yoru credits.  While most schools will accept most of your general education credits seeing that they are a grade C or higher, some might not accept any at all.  You may want to check out more than one school just to see if other schools in the area will accept more credits than the others.  The trick here is to transfer as many credits as possible.

Apply early – When you know you want to start the transfer to the University, you’re going to want to apply as soon as you can.  When I say this, I don’t mean 2 months or so.  You’ll want to start as early as 9 months or so.  This way, it will give you enough time to prepare for your transfer.  It will also give you a better understanding on how many of your classes are going to transfer with you.

Meet up again- When it’s finally time to transfer, you’re going to want to set up another appointment just to make sure your outline looks the way you want it.  You’ll want every transfer on there.  Everyone makes mistakes, so this is why it’s important to double check to make sure everything looks okay to you.

Transferring isn’t that hard, it just takes some time and effort.  You never want to transfer if you find out half of your credits won’t transfer, it won’t make sense.  Instead, find a school that works the best for you and take advantage of it.

Choosing a college schedule can be hard.  You’re going to find that the college isn’t offering your class or it’s offered at times you can’t attend or you’ll find that when you apply for the class, it’s already full.  Choosing a schedule can be made a little easier if you follow a few tips that I’ve provided below.

Lay out your classes in advanced – A good thing to do when it comes to a schedule is to make sure you have your classes laid out well in advanced.  You’re going to want to do this because you’ll find that you need some classes before you can take others, etc.  This will not only avoid confusion but it will help make it easier for you and future planning.

Pick days that are good for you – In my experience, it was a lot easier to go to the campus two to three times a week rather than five times a week.  Why you might ask?  It cuts down on gas and the free days allowed me to study, catch up on work and work my side job.  It’s going to seem like a lot of work going two or three times a week but you’ll get used to it after a few weeks.  Just make sure that you pick days that you’re going to be able to attend.

Set up a meeting – Whether you’re having a hard time picking out your classes or you’re just confused on what you should take, set up an appointment with your advisor.  They are at your college for a reason, so I would advise that you take advantage of this.  Talk to them and ask them all the questi0ns you want.  See what the recommend when it comes to your course outline.

Have a advisor review – After your first meeting, you may find it easier if your write out a course schedule.  Once you do this, meet with your advisor again and see what they think of your college schedule.  They will give you honest advice on what they think about it.  They will tell you what looks good and what you should change.

In the long run, don’t try and over do it when it comes to your classes.  Instead, take a class load that works for you.  If you find that this schedule was too easy for you, you can add more classes in the future semester.  It’s always easier to start with a little than a lot.

Financial aid saves thousands of college students every year when he or she thinks that they can’t afford college.  While financial aid isn’t for everyone, it never hurts to apply for it.  If you’ve been thinking about applying for financial aid, I’ve provided a few steps you can take in order to apply for it.

Apply with your school – If you know where you’re going to school, that’s great but if you don’t, you don’t need to worry because I’ll give you a little bit of information.  you’re going to need to apply between January 1 and June 30.  This of course can change according to your school.  You’ll have to check with your college for more information on deadlines.

Fill out the FAFSA form – Once you find out when your deadline is, you’re going to want to fill out a FAFSA form.  FAFSA stands for free application for federal student aid.  You’re going to want to go to their main website at FAFSA.ED.GOV, where you can begin the process of filling out your form.

Have your information ready – On this form, you’re going to have to fill out a few things regarding your personal life.  Your name, social security number, type of degree and more will be needed.   Besides the personal information, you’ll also need more details regarding income.  You’ll need things such as family income, number of members in family,etc.   If you can get a majority of this available, it will make the form process a little easier.

Know what colleges you want – If you already know what colleges you want to attend, great but if you don’t, you have to think of at least five.  When you fill out the form, they are going to ask you what five colleges you’re interested in attending.  If you leave this blank, this obviously isn’t going to be good for you.

Make copies- When you’re done filling out your form, you’re going to want to either print a copy for yourself or if you decide to do it by hand, make sure you make a copy for yourself via the copy machine.  It’s important for your records because if you want to refer to something in the future, it will help to have the evidence in your hand.

The process isn’t that hard.  Once you submit your application, you’ll just have to sit back and wait for your results.  Depending on the time you apply will depend on the time frame of how long it’s going to take.  Once you get a result, it will tell you how much you’re eligible for and this information will be sent to the schools you have applied to as well.