What Do Kids Need for College?
Three years ago my son received several acceptance letters to some of the top state colleges. One in particular he was extra excited about and that is the one he settled on. It was one of our proudest moments as parents. After the paperwork was done it was time to look forward and plan his move into the dorms. It’s a little easier said than done! Since this was our first child to send off to college, we wanted to make sure he had everything he needed.
Shortly before the big “move-in” weekend, my son and I went shopping for the essentials (after first creating an extensive checklist). Â We bought bedding, toiletries, towels, and of course a houseplant (from his dear ol’ mom…) amongst other items. Then it was time to look for possibly the most important thing of all – a computer!
I remember my son’s college suggested laptops for students instead of desktops. That is pretty much a no-brainer, as they need to transport them from class to class, as well as tote them to study with friends, the library, etc. Â We shopped around to not only find the perfect laptop for his needs, but a laptop in our price range. Â We finally found one that we all agreed on, after one really long shopping trip.
Of course while looking around at laptops for my son, we ran across several laptops for us. The hubs and I fell in love with several of the HP business laptops, as well as some other mighty powerful laptops brands. You see, I like really fast computers. I type a gazillion words per minute and I can’t have a computer that cannot keep up with me. Â I saved up a little money and finally bought myself a new laptop too. Â It’s safe to say that both my son and I are happy campers!
6 Responses
My brother’s gift to my kids when they graduate from high school is a laptop! How awesome is that? My daughter who graduated on Friday got hers back in January because she was already doing college classes online.
What a nice brother you have 🙂 – and that will help you immensely!
I am sending my oldest off to college in the fall. We are shopping each week to get the items she needs so that I don’t get hit with a huge expense all at once.
That is a very good idea!
My son started college last year and before this there was no need for him to have a laptop because we had three desk tops at home and the high school provided the students with laptops. I knew he was going to need one before college started in August so when Wal-Mart had their Black Friday sale the I bought him one for Christmas so he would have one come August. I paid $199 which fit my budget and now a year and a half later it’s working great. Of course he didn’t major in a program that required a lot of graphics so I didn’t have to buy a top of the line laptop. Then usually in August Staples have school supplies real cheap. As low as a penny. I would hit their weekly sale right up until college started. I got folders for five cents each. Pack of pencils for a penny. Notebooks for ten cents. Sometimes it pays or I should say saves thinking ahead 🙂
My son will graduate from medical school next year (yay–brag) and, in case there is any question at all on the subject, a lap top and cell phone are absolutely necessary. Students who don’t have them can still make it, of course, but are at a real disadvantage. He did his first couple of undergrad years from home at our community college (another brag– the awesomeness of our community colleges!) and even with that a portable computer and a cell phone were vital.