![Title: [View of a Pine Crest School student in his dorm room Fort Lauderdale, Florida] Personal Author: Erickson, Roy. Date: 1964 or 1965. From Flickr Creative Commons.](http://higheredlifecoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/4545370635_6348891cbe_m.jpg)
Over the 15 years I worked in higher ed, I saw a lot of changes in what students brought to campus. In 1994, when I started, many students didn’t bring their own computers. They went to labs. If they had a computer, it was a desktop, and in many cases during those early years, it was a Gateway 2000. They didn’t even have cable TV when I first arrived at Belmont Abbey College for my first position. It was installed during the fall semester, and I actually spent half my time at work for about a month escorting around the cable installer. There was no ethernet, and the dial-in service really blew. When I arrived at Penn State, they did have cable in the halls, and ethernet, but it oddly wasn’t available in the apartment area, where I lived.
Students brought small TVs and big stereos, and CD booklets and racks were common. These days, the TVs are big, the stereos fit in your pocket and make calls, handle e-mail, and even deliver videos, streaming television and emergency text alerts. No one has CD racks, because students don’t buy music, and if they do, it’s digital.
So today’s students have many items on their wish lists than I did when I was in college. But here are some items I think would be useful for today’s students. If I were an incoming student, these would be on my list. (All items are affiliate links.)
- The hot product that everyone seems to be pining for, and which seems in many ways meant for the higher ed market, is the iPad
I am going to buy one soon enough.
- For move-in day forget cardboard boxes! Go with a Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Box. They hold their shape, stack well on carts to transport items, nest together for easy storage, and can do double-duty during the year as laundry baskets.
- And no student these days can go without a decent TV, and the Panasonic TC-L32X2 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV with iPod Dock
is an excellent choice. I have two Panasonic TVs, and I love their quality, great picture and ease of use. My 32 inch also has an iPod dock, like this one. We don’t use it much but when we do, we love it. It’s a great way to watch movies and TV you download from iTunes. (Or podcasts of classes from iTunes U.)
- A smartphone. Besides the obvious utility of being able to make calls, your student can learn to manage a calendar, and can even share it with others (like you) using a service like Tungle. I’ve wanted an iPhone for a while, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t want to use AT & T (I’m a happy Verizon customer), so I’ve had 2 different smartphones: a BlackBerry Curve 8530
(which died an early death via falling in the toilet. Those things don’t like water.) and an HTC DROID Eris
I absolutely loved the Blackberry, but the ease of use of the Droid phone and many of its iPhone-like functionalities has made me a solid convert. I probably will not get an iPhone for a while, especially given some of the roll-out issues the iPhone 4 seems to be having. My Eris was only $169 (refurbished) and the data plan wasn’t any more than the Blackberry. Add in the ability to make free Skype-to-Skype calls and this could also be a great money saver on that end, too. On that note, unless you student is really accident prone, or loses their phone a lot, skip the insurance. By the time you pay the monthly fee and the deductible (around $99 for the plan I am on) you could have just bought a refurbished phone, like I did. Don’t waste your money.
- Even though most campuses have cable TV, many do not offer premium channels like HBO. You can take the edge off that reality by getting your student a Netflix subscription and a player that can stream Netflix online. I use my Wii for this, but have been pining for the TiVo Premiere
which replaces most cable boxes and has a built-in DVR and THX sound. This would surely make your kid’s room a go-to hangout on the hall. (Be sure to check whether this will work on your campus cable system. It should, but keep the receipt, just in case.)
- And for miscellaneous expenses, gift cards are a great option, and better for the budget than a credit card. I like to give personalized photo Gift Cards
from Giftcards.Com. These allow you to upload your own photo or graphic on to a Visa-branded debit card. I send them to family members with the latest pictures of my kids, but you could put your own photo on the card, or a favorite hometown scene.
These are just a few ways you can gear up your student for move-in day, and a fun and successful year at school. Best of luck!
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Sean Cook has 15 years of experience working in Higher Education, as a Student Affairs Professional. He is a Certified Life and Career Coach through the Life Purpose Institute, a program accredited by the International Coach Federation. Sean also writes about career issues in higher education for our companion site, HigherEdCareerCoach.com and is a periodic contributor to the Student Affairs Collaborative Blog.
