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What University Students Need

As summer tapers off you may find yourself preparing for the usual back-to-school drill. I wanted to update one of my popular posts on what you need to get back to school for your college or university child. With only one child returning to college, as two have already graduated, the excitement is just a little bit different but no less important. 

We still need lots of school supplies and now the added bonus of furniture, laptops, printers and accessories. It will be a challenge as we have our work cut out for us before Labour Day and the first day of classes!  Good thing I’m not really worried because for us we have plenty of options: second-hand (thrifted), big box, or value stores (Walmart, Target, Giant Tiger).

Furniture

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When you have at least one student studying out of town and finished with ‘residence life’, you have to start furnishing an apartment, townhome or house.  Fortunately for us, our daughter is renting a townhome that is mostly furnished. She was provided with a bed, a side table and a desk and chair that leave a lot to be desired.  It’s basic, no question about it.  We are going to have to make some changes!  To rectify this, we did two things: we dropped by our nearest Staples, and had a look at some of her furniture options online.  The latter provides us the option to order anything we want online and have it shipped to a store closer to her university.  One less thing for us to worry about!

Bed

This would include a mattress or frame if you are not in a dorm. Depending on the size of the room you want to consider twin, double or queen. These are growing children and they might outgrow that single bed pretty quickly but making sure they get a good night’s sleep is essential to school sucess.

Desk

Staples is more than a boring office supply store; it has a variety of products from wall art, desk organizers and basic food supplies as well as binders, paper, pens,  printers, electronics, toner and furniture.  We loved the different choices for desks with a price point for every budget, from large desks with lots of storage to simple ones with minimal footprints.  With a small room to contend with, we needed an option that would hold her books and printer and also provide enough work surface.

Chair

We were also on the search for a comfortable and durable desk chair.  Something with a bit of style without breaking the bank.  The choice online was extensive but I spotted one that was colourful and inexpensive.  I especially loved the inspiration set up at the Staples store.  Although there was a coffee station (which you can buy at Staples), we liked the idea of placing the printer on top of the fabulous red Igloo mini-fridge! You know, you can buy the ‘You Got This’ canvas online, right?  I may just have to pick that up for her!

Electronics

As I mentioned, our children are older but we still need many back-to-school items. Another item we have to consider this fall is a computer for our son.  He’s entering grade 12 so this computer needs to take into his post-secondary student life.  Whether at college or university, his interest in computer science means he’ll need a hard-core computer.  We have both Apple and PCs in the family.  I was tempted by the Microsoft Surface PRO which has the capabilities of a laptop and the portability and ease of use of a tablet.  I’m considering this option as we have become accustomed to swiping a phone or tablet for ease of with a new state-of-the-art laptop.  In the other camp, my daughter is a big fan of Apple products.  Be it an Apple watch, laptop, desktop or iPad, you can find them all at Staples!

Laptop

Monitor

Speaker

External Hardrive or Cloud Storage

Accessories

As we continued discussing what she needed to get ready for school, the list was long and extensive.  She had items on this list which I didn’t realize were must-haves:  Sharpies and markers (for those group projects) and folders when you have to hand in projects.  We came up with a great list and I’ve put it in a printable that you can click on and print off for your college or university student.  It will help narrow down what you will need and be a convenient checklist when you stop in at Staples.

 

Along with pens, paper and a brand-new printer, I have a few surprises for my children.  I’m not going to lie, there may be a jewel topped pen in the basket for little old me.  After all who doesn’t want a little sparkle and glitter in their school/work life. 

Download this great list today!

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