- Books YOU’RE interested in should be a supplement to the books you’re told to read.

- Browse the bookstore and library at least twice a month. Make it a habit.

- Go to your university bookstore’s textbook section and read / skim / browse through the books required in classes you want to take but can’t fit into your schedule. “Take” the class on your own.

4. Be passionate about your classes.

- Take classes you’re actually interested in. (That usually starts with choosing a major you like–not one your parents chose for you or one that sounds impressive.)

- Take classes you’re curious about. Be adventurous and expose yourself to new fields.

- Visit your professors during their office hours. Be honest with them. You don’t need to bring in an organized conversation agenda for them to see your passion for the class and academic field. You can talk to them about things you don’t understand, about contrasting ideas, and about your confusion. Wanting to talk about something and explore it deeper demonstrates as much passion as knowing something already.

- Read the books your professors recommend but don’t require. Even better, read the books your professors wrote! Cite any of these in your papers. It’s not ass-kissing. It’s simply learning more from the person you’ve been listening to all semester.

3. Learn from people.

- Remember when you were choosing colleges and you told yourself you wanted to be in a place surrounded by other smart students? You’re here now. Take advantage of your environment. Talk to your friends about academics, the news, the world, philosophy, and life. You’d be surprised by the depth of such conversations and how much you can learn in just a 45-minute lunch date.

- Listen to and think about real conversations you have with friends or overhear from strangers. Not all learning is academic. There is lots to be gained from everyday informal conversations (even gossip!) about relationships, friendships, and work. These are parts of life too!

- In addition to visiting your own professors, you can even email professors you never had and ask if you can talk to them during their office hours (if they have time when none of their actual students are there). This is particularly useful if you need a bit of guidance in a field you enjoy and study on your own but don’t have the time or prerequisites to take courses in.

- Listen to those special people who love you unconditionally and want the best for you: your parents!

2. Seek out other ways of learning

- Attend special lectures organized by your university, other universities, or your town. Use your university’s calendar webpage to browse such events. (BU’s: http://bu.edu/calendar)

- Visit museums. Go on guided city tours. Watch films.

- Every day, jot down the things you encountered that you were curious about. Then JFGI. (Just f’in Google it!)

1. Learn from experience and life.

- As much as you’ll learn from books and people, at the end of your life, would you rather have read about and heard about life or experienced it? Dare to make your own mistakes. Dare to experiment. Skip your business class and go out there and teach yourself what works and what doesn’t work in serving people. Close your psychology book and go out there and find out for yourself what humans are afraid of. Forget perfecting your Writing101 assignment and practice your own craft by writing in a journal, writing letters to friends, and starting your own blog. You’ll learn from it all. What is failure anyway?

- Remember that whether it’s academics or life in general, you are the only person who can decide which “classrooms” you want to enter, you are the only person who can decide what experience will count as a lesson, and you are the only person who can decide how well you do. You are your own best teacher and you alone are fully in charge of your own learning.

- Remember that you can learn anything you want. It won’t show up on your transcript or resume, but it will show up in your life. You won’t be graded on it, but you will gain from it. That’s what real education is about and that’s what real life is about. Be a student of life and for life.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University Class of 2009

Deborah Halliday, the Assistant Director of Boston University’s Office of Career Services, gives some pointers.

She says:

• Because a résumé is often the only chance to show a company one’s strength and experience, résumé writing is critical in job searching.
• “Employers go through the résumés very quickly and they’ll screen you out if the résumé doesn’t appeal to them.”

Some of her advice:

• Write customized résumés. Consider the expertise a particular job is looking for and keep the résumé relevant.
• Don’t list courses that are obviously in your territory (for example: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics if you’re an Economics major).
• Create a master document including ALL your work experience and pick the items relevant for each particular job you’re applying for.

Some resources she suggests:

• The website of Career Services provides tutorials and templates to help students organize their résumés.
• The Office of Career Services helps people format and write resumes.
• Some BU schools, including COM and SMG, have their own career center.

Her tips on cover letters:

• A good cover letter may help overcome a thin résumé.
• “Employers understand that you don’t have a lot to put on your résumé if you are a freshman and they will be very forgiving about that, but you need to show a strong interest in your cover letter.”
• Every cover letter has to be different because an effective cover letter has to draw connections between you and the employer.
• “Talk about what you know about the company, why you want to work there and why you would be a good fit.”

- by Yue Huang
Boston University student
http://huangy07.blogspot.com/

- Are the classes you picked interesting and rewarding? Do the course descriptions turn you on? (For BU’s online catalog: http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/)

- Or did you pick them because they have easy professors or convenient timeslots? Or both, you lazy bastard? (Is your idea of education sleeping in until 12 for an easy class that doesn’t take attendance–which means you can skip and actually sleep until 3?)

- Do the classes have enjoyable readings and lecture topics? Are they even relevant to the course title? (Sometimes I’m not sure what my prof was smoking.) You can usually find info about this through old syllabi (either from a friend or from the online syllabi archive). For BU’s: http://courseinfo.bu.edu.

- Are you still “undecided” about your major but taking many classes in one department next semester? Are you absolutely positive you’ll be heading in that direction in the future and that next semester won’t be as boring as Canadian curling? (Seriously, what IS that shit?)

- Do you have AP credits for some courses? If so, when you register for some lower-level related classes, it could cancel your AP credits in a related subject. Check your course guide or ask your advisor to be sure.

- Can you fit a fun and social physical education class into your schedule? Do it. It’s only one or two more hours of class per week and it’s definitely worth it–especially if you meet someone hot. (What’s hotter than a hot person getting physical in class? C’mon.)

(For BU: Your tuition comes with up to 18 credits per semester. Your usual 4-class courseload will add up to 16, which means you can take up to 4 more half-credit classes. Just a small sample of BU’s offerings: soccer, golf, skating, ballroom dance, hip hop, tap, ballet, swimming, scuba diving, sailing, tai chi, yoga, weight lifting, aerobics, kickboxing, CPR… you get the point. For a full list: http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/item25.html#anchor09. To register for one, enter PDP into the course finder. But they don’t have curling. Sorry, Canada.)

- Can you fit a regular 2-credit academic class into your schedule? They’re usually easy on you, and the relatively light work to get an A or A- can boost your GPA. No, they’re not slacker courses though. You’ll still need to work a little. (For BU: Search CFA and SED. They always offer lots of cool 2-credit classes.)

- Are you allowed to overload and take an extra 4-credit class? Freshmen may not be allowed to. Also check if you can take 20 credits without paying more. Sometimes you need a certain GPA to overload for free before senior year.

- How many electives can you take before you graduate? Do you have time to take something completely random that you’ve always been curious about? Such as why bonobo chimps are constantly having sex? (I learned that in Cultural Anthropology. And at the end of the semester, our class had a huge sex party. Monkey see, monkey do. Just kidding.)

- Have you talked to your advisor about everything you weren’t sure of? Do you even know who your advisor is?

Considerations when choosing professors:

- First and most importantly: are they hot? Do they have lots of chili peppers on http://ratemyprofessors.com? (For BU: Remember, we have the second hottest prof in the country. Obviously she teaches French. Brag to all your hometown friends. No, I’m really not kidding. Look her up on the RateMyProfessors homepage.)

- Second, do they have good academic ratings on http://ratemyprofessors.com? The general gist is USUALLY dependable enough, but don’t trust individual ratings unless they seem fair and objective. Is there positive word-of-mouth about the prof too? Have your friends taken him? Can you use a Facebook Courses application to find the prof’s current students and send a message to them to ask about specifics? Previous students will be more helpful than you’d think. And no, this is not creepy or awkward unless you think it is.

- Have you searched for your prof’s description on her department website (something like http://bu.edu/psych)? Does she share your academic and research interests? Did she attend a grad school you want to attend?–she may be a good source of networking. Is her thesis interesting to you? (Knowing all this will also earn you tons of brownie points next semester.)

- Would she write a killer recommendation for you? Does she seem uber cool and fascinating? And again, is your professor hot?

- Is he famous? Has he won numerous awards? Does he publish an article every other day? Is he the world’s leading expert on something other than cheese? Will you be able to brag that you took a class with him? Just take him.

(Just a disclaimer: All my favorite professors were “no-names” who had the time to keep exchanging emails and even Facebook wall posts with me even years after class ended. While I learned lots in “famous” professor classes and was inspired to read a LOT of the professor’s work, I was never mentored in these classes. Keep a nice balance between these two types of professors.)

Some of BU’s most famous: Elie Wiesel (duh), Ray Carney (film scholar; leading expert on John Cassavetes and independent cinema; I’m taking a class with him next semester even if he’s very difficult), Leslie Epstein (director of creative writing; his son Theo is the youngest general manager in MLB (Red Sox); his father and uncle wrote the Casablanca screenplay!), Robert Pinsky (former U.S. Poet Laureate), Osamu Shimomura (2008 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry)

- Has she won a teaching award at your university? She may not be famous, but she might be a more competent teacher than the famous ones. She can pinpoint your mistakes, explain concepts effectively, and inspire you. (For BU’s award-winning professors: http://www.bu.edu/provost/resources/awards/metcalf/award.html and http://www.bu.edu/provost/resources/awards/metcalf/award-past.html)

- Have you googled him? (Who else thinks Google and Starbucks should merge and take over the world?)

- Have you searched for her books on http://amazon.com? Have you read her articles, publications, and previous work? Would you love to spend a whole semester talking to her about her work?

- Have you searched for his resume on http://linkedin.com?

- Last (and this is VERY important for changing bad grades): does your professor like cookies, brownies, and other assorted baked goods? Oh, and can you bake?

Very Random Things For BU Course Registration:

- When you register, type in your registration code ahead of time. Don’t wait until your registration time to do that.

- Add all the classes you want to your planner. Even add all your backups. I’ve seen people add only 4 classes. Your planner can fit up to 30.

- When it’s time to register, click “Register for Classes.” Then click “Go” next to “search by planner.” You’ll register a lot faster than all the n00bs who manually type in all their course numbers individually.

- Just worry about registering for all the classes that are filling up real fast. Scramble to take those. Then, a minute later, register for the rest.

Options for Getting into the Full Class You Really Want Without Being Such a Bitch About It:

- Stalk your online registration site (for BU: StudentLink) twice a day every day during winter or summer break. I can almost guarantee someone will drop the class. This has worked EVERY semester for me.

- If the class has a lecture and a discussion, hold onto a discussion section if one is open. They’re usually 0 credits. Now you just need to wait for the lecture to open up. (Some schools have policies against this.)

- Email the professor. Introduce yourself and demonstrate your interest in the class and the prof will probably agree to sign you in. Or even visit the prof’s office hours. Or search for his current class times and find him right after a class. Don’t worry, it’s not creepy. Believe me, profs have been through LOTS of really creepy students.. especially during finals week.

- If the new semester starts and you still aren’t registered, go to the class as if you’re part of it. Absent students on the first day are usually dropped. You’ll be able to take their spot. (Which also means if you’ll be absent on the first day of class for a course you want to keep, make sure the absence is lefit and that your prof knows about it! Otherwise someone could steal your precious class and hot professor! You DID choose classes based on hotness, right?)

- Have an upperclassman or someone with a better registration time hold a spot for you before the class gets full. Have him drop it at an awkward hour a few days after you register. (Some schools have policies against this.)

- Ask what your advisor can do about it.

- Ask what love’s gotta do with it.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

Your major plays a small role in your college experience and an even smaller role in the years following graduation. As long as your university provides a haven that allows you to learn from your mistakes and develop your strengths and weaknesses—all in a nurturing environment—then you’re getting a valuable education.

Remember that in college, everyone is rooting for you. Take advantage of it before you head off into the “real world.” Learn everything you’ve always wanted to learn, grow in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to grow, and change in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to change.

Dare to be vulnerable, wrong, adventurous, curious.

Have faith in being confident, right, independent, influential, social.

And have pride in being yourself and developing your full potential.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

I’m very goal-driven with the things I think need direction. And I have a strong sense of my personal and career-related values.

But I still hate that question.

So years ago when the teacher in charge of my high school yearbook asked it to me and everyone else in the Top 10, our conversation was quite interesting:

Nathan: I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: You have to know.
Nathan: No, I don’t. I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: Everyone else has something listed.
Nathan: And that means I have to follow the crowd?
Yearbook Advisor: Yes. The Top 10 should be setting an example for everyone else.
Nathan: Well, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know and I think this is as much of a good example as everyone else’s answer. If you’re that desperate, you can pick something for me and include it in the yearbook.

Well, months passed and the yearbook was finally published. I flipped to the career plans page for the Top 10, and apparently the advisor wrote “Engineer or pro wrestler” under my photo. Nice joke, but way to be stereotypical. I’m Asian and had a reputation of being good at math, but an engineer was possibly the only thing I knew I didn’t want to be.

Okay, back to that ugly question and all its flaws. What do you want to be when you grow up? If you’re aspiring to be something like a writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker, you better own up to it and correct your interviewer. You already are that writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker. It’s not something you want to be when you grow up. It’s something you live and breathe already.

If you want anyone to consider your seriousness for a career, you need to give a role to yourself. You could say you’re a “teacher” if teaching others is what you often do, even if you don’t stand in front of a chalkboard every day. I suppose you can’t really say you’re a doctor or politician to people yet, but you could still say you’re a healer or a liar…

Instead of asking yourself what you want to be, ask yourself who you are and what you value. Take an inventory of your strengths and personality traits. Then reflect on what kind of effect and difference you’d like to make in the world. While the answers to these questions are open to change throughout your life, they will stay a lot more consistent than “what you want to be.” In addition, they’ll invite you to explore a lot more opportunities that will help you act on your values.

Years after my high school graduation, I finally figured out part of my life. Some of my main values are educating people, inspiring people, and empowering people. When I leave this world, I want it to be a more loving, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving place. I act on these values by mixing some careers together: teacher, counselor, consultant, writer, filmmaker. These titles may change–and I may encounter new ones I like–but my values will always stay the same.

I think it’s perfectly fine, and probably even normal, to not know what you want to be. You have plenty of choices in the future, and you wouldn’t want to trap yourself into just one. But it’s to your own disadvantage not to think about what gift you can give to the world.

Life is about acting on values, not chasing titles.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

When they don’t know where a building is…
Upperclassmen wander around confidently.
Freshmen pull out their handy-dandy maps.

When it’s time to buy textbooks…
Upperclassmen save money by buying them online. (This is how.)
Freshmen sell their souls to the campus bookstore.

When it’s time to study…
Upperclassmen skim the readings.
Freshmen try to read every word assigned.

When it’s time to take a shower…
Upperclassmen seem to carry nothing.
Freshmen carry full shower totes.

When they look through their closets…
Upperclassmen have college clothes related to clubs they’re part of or events they’ve attended.
Freshmen have generic college sweatshirts, as well as “senior” shirts from high school.

When it’s time for nightlife…
Upperclassmen are fine with “just” hanging out at a friend’s place.
Freshmen feel the need to explore the city or get into a party.

When it’s time for the parties…
Upperclassmen have all the connections already.
Freshmen are eternally searching for them.

When it’s time to get from point A to point B…
Upperclassmen travel alone or with a few friends.
Freshmen travel in packs of 10. Maybe 20. Sometimes 30 if they’re real kinky.

When they meet someone new…
Upperclassmen ask “You look familiar. You were in one of my classes last semester, right?”
Freshmen ask “Hey!! Aren’t we friends on Facebook?!?”

When they say good-bye to strangers…
Upperclassmen say “See ya around.”
Freshmen say “What’s your last name? I’ll find ya on Facebook!”

When they see someone they know…
Upperclassmen ask “How was your summer?”
Freshmen ask “What was your name again?”

When it’s time to talk to their parents…
Upperclassmen call home at the end of every week.
Freshmen receive calls from home at the end of every day.

When it’s time to talk about post-graduation plans…
Upperclassmen become clueless and scared—and secretly wish they could do the whole college thing all over again.
Freshmen think that graduation is a long time away.

Cherish your short time in college!

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

Condensed instructions for the most popular method: buying books online
Step 1. Get the ISBN for the book you need. It’s on the back cover.
Step 2. Search for the best prices on http://dealoz.com and http://bigwords.com/. They look through all the dozens of online merchants and compare prices for you, but they don’t always list the same places, so you’ll have to use both search engines.
Step 3. Use http://www.retailmenot.com/ to search for coupon codes before settling on what appears to be the cheapest option. You would enter amazon.com, abebooks.com, or whatever.

These are the same steps but with important but often neglected details spelled out:

Step 1. Get your list of required books.

(For BU: Go to bu.edu/studentlink, click on “Current Schedule” under Academics, log in, and click “Buy Books” on the left. Click OK or whatever a bunch of times. Not all your courses might have the books up yet though. Some profs never even put them online. They’re probably busy writing their own books… OHH.. and while you’re there, check out all your professors’ depressing photos!! Click on “Instructors” on your current schedule page. Woooo mug shots!)

Step 2. Get the ISBN of each book you need to buy. (The ISBN is the unique International Standard Book Number on the back of a book or on its inside copyright page. It guarantees you’ll have the same exact edition and printing as your professor’s book.)

Even if you find a book with the same title and author, it doesn’t necessarily mean you found the right one! Only the ISBN guarantees you’ve found the right edition and printing.

How do you get the ISBN?

- Your list of required books might list all the ISBNs. In that case, skip to step 3. (BU’s doesn’t.)

- If this is over the summer or winter break and you want to buy your books NOW so they’ll ship to you before the first day of class:

• Check the old semesters on your college course archive to see if the syllabus and required books are listed (for BU: http://courseinfo.bu.edu). Make sure the old semester’s books match this semester’s. If your prof didn’t list your required books yet but you found the required ones from last semester’s syllabus, I wouldn’t jump the gun and assume the prof is using the same books this semester.
• If the old syllabus doesn’t list the ISBNs, email the professor to ask for the ISBNs. It’s a good excuse to introduce yourself too!
• If all the above steps failed, use Amazon’s product details. If you need “The Prophet, by Gibran; Knopf, 73,” type in “prophet gibran” at amazon.com. Click on each search result and scroll down to the “Product Details.” Find the one published by Knopf in 1973 (your university’s setup might take the 73 to mean 73rd edition though—use common sense to figure out what the number means). When you find the right one, copy the “ISBN-10″ or “ISBN-13″ number listed. Either is fine. (Oh, and The Prophet is the only book I think every human should read, by the way. There’s a reason why it has hundreds of perfect Amazon reviews.)

- If you’re already on campus:

• Go to your college bookstore. Go to your course’s bookshelf. Copy down the ISBN number from the back of each required book.
• Or if you received your class syllabus already and it lists ISBN numbers, you don’t need to go to your bookstore (unless you want to compare prices).

Step 3. Once you have the ISBN for a book, use http://dealoz.com (formerly CampusI) and http://bigwords.com/ to find the cheapest option online (they search through half.com, amazon.com, and many more merchants to conveniently list the best deals for you). Check both sites. Sometimes one mentions a seller that the other doesn’t. You’ll notice that half.com and amazon.com are not always the cheapest, even if thousands of students swear by them!

Find a copy that’s the right balance between price and condition for you. For some classes, you might not care if you buy a super cheap but super beat-up book, whereas for other classes, you might want to spend some extra money to buy new books so you can depend on your own highlighting and keep the book for years.

Don’t be afraid of the super duper cheap international student editions! Other than being paperback and having black and white photos, they’re the exact same thing as the regular editions. Even their page numbers will match. (Don’t quote me on that, but at least it’s been true for all the ones I’ve ever bought.)

Step 4. Also check http://www.retailmenot.com/ for coupon codes before settling on what appears to be the cheapest merchant. (You would enter amazon.com, half.com, abebooks.com, or whatever. Half.com rarely has coupons though.) You’ll probably find coupons only about 10% of the time, but you can still test your luck with this step.

Step 5. After you buy it online with standard shipping, you’ll have to wait 1-2 weeks before you receive it. In the meantime, maybe buy it from the campus bookstore and return it for a full refund by the returns deadline. Or hang out at the bookstore and read what you need to there. Or pay for expedited shipping with all the money you saved!

P.S. It seems as if many people are scared of buying books online because they need to give away their credit card numbers and whatnot online. Just remember that all the sites (amazon, half, ebay, abebooks, a1books, etc.) you’ll find listed by DealOz and BigWords are legit and that even if there are some poorly rated merchants on those sites, the sites are the ones who handle your payments and can get your money back if you simply file a complaint against johndoe-the-bastard-merchant-who-never-sent-you-a-book (which has never ever happened to anyone I know). All you need to be careful about is when the book you want to buy is being sold by a seller with really poor ratings (let’s say janedoe, who has 2 stars out of 5 and has only sold 3 books with his username). You’ll still get the book, but its condition might be a bit worse than you expected. This can happen every now and then if you’re buying from a merchant with few and/or poor reviews. Life goes on. You still saved money. If you’re still super paranoid about online shopping, then there are still other ways of saving money:

Additional Wonderfully Delicious Methods for Money-Saving on Books:

- Buy the book on Facebook marketplace or through your friends.

- Buy the book through your university’s Facebook textbook selling and buying group. (BU’s: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76895628911)

- If it’s a little paperback, buy it from the campus bookstore (*shudder*). Sometimes it’s actually the cheapest option because you don’t need to pay for shipping. So once you get hooked on buying cheap books online, don’t forget this traditional way. And hey, if you bump into a friend who’s about to sell their soul to the bookstore, tell them about this awesomely useful blog post. =)

- Buy an electronic copy of it. Amazon offers them sometimes and they’re usually cheaper. Or download it (legally, of course…).

- Borrow it from the public library or the college library. Factor in one renewal and time it out so you have the book right before an exam or for writing a paper. Ask about the details for someone putting it on hold. You wouldn’t want the book snatched from you right before exams.

- Read it in the bookstore. It forces you to sit down to study. (And you have the chance to meet fellow bookstore roamers who are usually smart and driven. If you’re looking for potential dates, these people are gold! Saved money, got your reading done on time, AND met your new date. Score!) (P.S. If you recognize me at the BU Bookstore—where I sometimes live—say hello and let me know how much money you saved because of this article! lol)

- Read the copy put on reserve at your university library. (But not all profs put one there.)

- Borrow it from a classmate. (It’s a good excuse to umm.. ya know.. get together.)

- Borrow it from your professor. Go to their office and tell them that you can’t afford the textbook. Ask if they have an extra copy you can borrow. While you’re in their office, discuss your interest in the class, your career plans, etc. Perfect bondage time with your professor! Oooops, I meant bonding!

- Rent it through http://chegg.com for cheaper prices than buying books online. Of course you don’t get to keep the book though. This is sometimes a positive, since you won’t have to deal with the hassle of selling the book afterwards.

- Buy it and split the price with a classmate. Sometimes professors want you to buy the whole book even if you’ll be reading just one or two good chapters from it.

- Purposely buy an older edition of the book. Usually not that much changes from one edition to the next. Then maybe check with a classmate or at the bookstore to catch up on what you’re missing.

- Buy a copy of the textbook without the accompanying CD. I’ve never had a prof who required us to use the textbook CD.

- If the book is a classic, you can read it online for free at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page . It’s an archive of all the books that are old enough to be in the public domain. All the oldies by Shakespeare and Plato are on there, as well as books by more “recent” authors, such as Twain and Oscar Wilde. Check to see if your books are there. (Reading it online has an extra advantage: you can easily copy and paste important passages and condense the book down to what you really need.)

- Google it. Remember that “Prophet” book I recommended? For some reason it’s not on Gutenberg, but a simple Google search for “prophet gibran” finds dozens of copies of it online for free. Reeeeead it (it’ll take 2 hours max) and send me an email to discuss it. You’ll be my new best friend. Really. We’ll have some good bondage time together.

- This one is ultra-risky, but maybe don’t even read the “required” book at all. If word-of-mouth and ratemyprofessors.com (which isn’t always the best way to choose professors) say you won’t be tested on the reading, you might go this route. Of course this might take away from your learning experience, but sometimes you need the courage to read and learn what you want to. I have a bad (or is it good?) habit of reading a stack of books on similar topics for free at the bookstore or library, and sometimes just skimming the required ones. Hey, profs get very impressed by my additional knowledge. Free brownie points!

Good luck with the process! And remember to tell other students not to sell their souls to their campus bookstore. Use your extra saved cash to buy something useful, like red cups and ping pong balls… or all those magical items in late-night infomercials. Or maybe you can even adopt an endangered koala. Too bad you’re usually not allowed to pack them for your dorm.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

Thousands of students have used this list over the years, but I still caution: You don’t need everything here. Before you pack something, ask yourself if you really need it. Every year I pack significantly less and less.

This list is not a “buying list.” You’ve probably had the good sense to buy and pack the absolute essentials, so this list is more of a checklist to keep you sane the moment before you leave home. This is everything you could possibly need, but NOT everything you should pack.

My recommendation is to copy the list, delete the stuff you don’t use and have never heard of, and print that list out. But of course visit here again in the near future =).

Also note to yourself:

• which items are easier to purchase upon arrival,
• which items are easy to improvise (you probably need napkins, but those can be attained on your first trip to the campus McDonald’s..),
• which items are easy to share with or borrow from roommates and floormates (It’s also a good way to meet the ones you haven’t met yet! – especially the super-nice ones who upon first impression look like they sacrifice squirrels. Okay, I digress.),
• and which items can be brought with you later, exchanged later, or shipped later, such as winter clothes.

Other notes

1. Remember to check your college’s housing site to see what’s not allowed. For Boston University’s: http://www.bu.edu/housing/services/furnishings/index.html.

2. Have a list of serial numbers, makes, and models of all expensive items. Have one hardcopy in your dorm, one left at home with your parents, one as a computer file, and one emailed to yourself. It’ll help in case of a robbery. You can also take pictures of the items.

3. If you think I forgot anything significant, please leave a comment!

Aaaand on with the list already:

Important General Stuff

wallet, purse, hand bag
ID, license, college ID (you might get this at move-in registration)
cash, change, credit cards, debit cards
ATM Card
watch
glasses, contacts

Basic Kitchen Stuff (even if you won’t have a kitchen)

– Necessary: –
forks, knives, spoons (plastic and metal)
Ziploc® bags, various sizes
straws
napkins
– Good to Have: –
paper plates
plastic cups
chip clips, clothes pins, twisters
– You Decide: –
microwaveable bowl
thermo cup/mug
food containers
can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew
water purifier, water filter, pitcher
cloth for dishwashing
wet wipes

Additional Kitchen Stuff (if you’ll have a kitchen)

– Necessary: –
ceramic plates
pots and pans
dish detergent
hand soap
sponge
paper towels
– You Decide: –
plastic wrap, aluminum foil
kitchen towel
dish cloth
oven mitt
toaster
coffee maker (only allowed at BU if you’ll have a kitchen)
blender (only allowed at BU if you’ll have a kitchen)
hot plate (only allowed at BU if you’ll have a kitchen)

Food

– Necessary: –
general medication (headache, cough, pain reliever, eye drop)
your prescription medication
– You Decide: –
non-perishable food: noodle cups, canned foods, soup
candy, cough drops, gum, mints
snacks, popcorn, cereal, etc.
bottled water, bottled drinks, soda
coffee
tea bags, powder drink mixes
vitamins

Room Needs/Storage

– Necessary: –
alarm clock
tissues
bags: garbage, plastic, paper
small wastebasket
photos of family, friends, pets
– Good to Have: –
night light, flashlight
all-purpose cleaner
Lysol® / disinfecting wipes (you really don’t know how few showers the previous inhabitant took)
dry erase board
boxes
storage bins, stacking baskets
fan
air freshener
posters
decorations
– You Decide: –
bedside lamp, clip-on lamp, desk lamp, decorator lamps, extra light bulbs (In some BU dorms, a desk lamp is provided.)
over-the-door hooks, adhesive hooks
desk chair seat cushion/pad (to make your ass happy)
desk chair (BU has them already, but I’ve seen some students bring more comfortable ones)
bulletin board and push pins
shoe rack
closet organizer
closet add-in shelf
various organizers: for CDs, for papers, for cosmetics, etc
tools, screwdriver, hammer
RackRaisers®, bed raisers
bunking kit
bookcase (BU provides a small one on your desk that should be enough)
dust wipes
plants

Computer Stuff

– Necessary: –
laptop, battery, AC adapter
CDs: your favorite software, emergency startup CD, backup of most important files (keep a copy at home)
ethernet cord, modem
head phones
USB key / portable flash storage drive
– You Decide: –
mouse, mouse pad
laptop case
desktop computer, monitor, keyboard
blank CD-Rs, floppy disks
CD cases
laptop lock
printer (you may want to share with your roommate or use your college’s printing labs), extra ink cartridge, blank printer paper
scanner
webcam
speakers

Electronics

– Necessary: –
surge protectors
cell phone, cell phone charger, accessories, and a contract that says you will call home every now and then to talk to those loved ones called parents
– You Decide: –
extension cords
3-2 prong adapaters
camera / digital camera, memory card/stick, upload cable, photo software CDs, camera accessories
calculator
PDA, electronic organizer
battery charger, rechargeable batteries, extra batteries
favorite movies
mp3 player, earbuds, cord for charging/uploading, accessories
audio recording device
CD player, cassette player, headphones, favorite CDs and cassettes (CD? cassette? people still use those?)
land phone, answering machine, phone cord (along with other items from the Jurassic era)

Linens/Laundry Supplies

– Necessary: –
sheets (for most colleges, including BU: extra long. Ha! That’s what “she” wants.)
pillowcase
pillow
mattress pad
blankets
comforter and duvet cover
clothes hangers
laundry bag/hamper/basket, pop-up hamper
laundry detergent (liquid or convenient tablets)
fabric softener
– You Decide: –
small pillow, headrest pillow
egg crate
measuring cup / small container to carry just some detergent to the laundry room
laundry marking pen
laundry stain remover
sewing kit
lint brush
drying rack
electric blanket (not allowed at BU)

Bath and Toiletries

– Necessary: –
towels: body, hair, hand, face, extras
shampoo, conditioner
body wash, or soap and soap container
toothbrush (and extras), toothpaste, toothbrush case
bathroom cup
dental floss
comb, brushrazors, electric razor, shaving cream, aftershave
nail clipper, nail file
Q-tips®
extra eyeglasses, case, cloth
contact lens solution
contact lens container
shower shoes, flip-flops (if communal bathroom) (your feet will thank you)
shower tote/caddy (if communal bathroom)
– For Girls (and for guys who wish to pack too much) –
pads, tampons
nail polish, nail polish remover
hair dryer
hair straightener
curling iron
makeup, cosmetics
Being-a-Model Kit
– You Decide: –
body sponge, back brush
mouth wash
hair gel, pomade, mousse, hairspray
deodorant
facewash, acne cream
lotion, facial moisturizer
perfume, cologne
tweezers
cotton swabs/balls
small mirror
scissors
sponge
bath robe
chapstick
Band-Aid® bandages
suction hooks
bathtub scrubber (if your room will have a bathroom)

Clothes

– Necessary: –
pants/jeans
shorts
shirts
sweaters, hoodies
underwear
socks
sweats
pajamas
sneakers, comfortable walking shoes
jackets: light, heavy, rain
dress shoes
dress clothes
1 set formal/business attire
1 set semi-formal attire
belts
umbrella
– For winters: –
winter coat
gloves
scarf
boots
– For Guys: –
ties
– For Girls: –
skirts
bras
blouses
dresses
– You Decide: –
slippers, flip-flops, sandals
robe
poncho
hat, cap
jewelry
bathing suit
sports equipment: shin guards, helmet, etc
gym clothes
hairbands, hairpins
sunglasses
– For Parties: –
Clothes that barely cover anything

Office/Desk Supplies

– Necessary: –
bookbag
assignment book, planner
lined paper
pens, pencils, pencil holder, sharpener, eraser
folders
scissors
Scotch® tape
– You Decide: –
calendar
notebooks: new, old (the bio class you took 3 pages of notes for could still be used like new), composition notebooks
binders, dividers
colored pencils, markers, crayons
highlighter pens (multiple colors)
heavy duty tape, masking tape, mounting tape, duct tape
tacky adhesive
stapler, staples, staple remover
paper clips
rubber bands
glue
ruler
Wite-out® (yeah, there’s no H. who would’ve known?)
pins
hole puncher, 3-hole puncher
index cards
Post-it® notes
stamps and envelopes, standard size and paper size
labels of various sizes
adhesive hooks, tack
protractor
compass
graph paper
string
book light
book ends
small memo books
typing paper holder/clip
stackable desk trays
hanging files or folders, folder storage bin
chain
combination lock
safe

Papers, Books, and Documents

– Necessary: –
textbooks for your classes
phone/address book, important phone numbers, contact list
maps of the campus, of the city, and of public transportation
insurance card/papers/forms
checks, bank stuff
any documents your school told you to bring (as far as I know, BU doesn’t require any special documents, other than your college ID for returning students)
– You Decide: –
old notes from previous classes that may be useful
course catalog
dictionary, thesaurus
reference books
guides/instructions for laptop, digital camera, cell phone, graphing calculator, etc
one or two of your favorite books
high school yearbook, BU Freshman Record
college phone/address directory
phone card
social security card
renter’s insurance
car insurance, registration (if you’re bringing a car)
Visa information, citizenship info, alien info
passport (if you’re considering traveling for Spring Break or other breaks)
financial aid forms (leave a copy at home if your parents will need them for reference when they’re renewing your aid in the spring)
road maps for how to get to the school.. (or a female driver who’s willing to ask for directions when you’re lost and it’s already the second day of class and you’re gonna fail and you wasted $50,000 in tuition just because a male driver was too macho to ask for help)

Misc Things

– Necessary: –
luggage/duffel bag (for going home during short breaks)
house key
any necessary items for specific classes (especially art classes and gym electives, such as ice skating)
any necessary items or books for your culture and/or religion
– You Decide: –
quarters (most of the big BU dorms have change machines)
key chain
favorite mementos/souvenirs
stuffed animals
ear plugs
sleeping mask
patches, thermal patches for aches
scale
beach towel, swim cap, goggles, swimming gear
sunscreen
bug spray
Neosporin®, Imodium®, Pepto-Bismol®, Viagra®, et cetera, et cetera…
condoms, birth control pills, contraceptives
pregnancy tests
a copy of “Juno”
favorite board games, electronic games
deck of cards
items for your hobbies (such as musical instruments or sports stuff)
sports equipment (basketballs, volleyballs, and a few other items can be rented for free at BU’s FitRec gym)
frisbee
car, keys, GPS, EZ Pass
bike, skateboard, roller skates, roller blades
helmet
bike lock, cover, pump

Shared Items (check with roommates to avoid duplication)

– You Decide: –
microwave-fridge aka microfridge (can be rented at BU for about $225 – split it with roommates/suitemates)
microwave (not allowed in a BU dorm, but you can bring one and share it in the common room)
fridge
TV, TV cable, remote
DVD player, Blu-Ray player
DVDs, Blu-Ray movies
video game systems, controllers, games
audio equipment
air conditioning (not allowed at BU)
handheld vacuum (can be borrowed for free at BU’s RA offices)
small brush and dustpan
bathtub scrubber
doorstop
area rug
iron
ironing board
floor lamp, tree floor lamp
TV/snack tray
fold-out chair
beanbag
full-length mirror
shower curtain (most BU dorms and apartments have them already)
curtains (most BU dorms have them already)

Absolutely the Most Important

a desire to learn, grow, take chances, change, develop, socialize, network, and have fun
a desire to cherish your four-year college experience from Day One! =)

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student