You asked:

Is it best to bring more or less stuff to school? How can I decide what to bring and what to leave?

I would definitely err on the side of bringing less stuff. Remember, your room will be small, and clutter will make it feel that much smaller. Every year, I find things I brought to school and never needed. A good way to see how much you are dealing with is to make a pile of everything you want to take. Then picture yourself lugging all of it out of your house, into your car, out of your car and into your dorm. Then out of your dorm, into your car, out of your car and back into your house. (You probably won’t be living in any one place for more than two semesters throughout your college career.)

After that exhausting exercise, go through your pile and remove anything you don’t need. Seriously, there’s no need to bring all your clothes and belongings.

Books, clothes and knickknacks are big clutter culprits, especially since you tend to acquire more of them when you get to school. You’ll buy plenty of books, pick up tons of free junk and splurge on at least a few new clothing staples at the bookstore, since college clothes are super-tempting. 

So leave your books behind -- you won’t have time to do much reading for pleasure anyway. (And if you do find time, there’s always the library.) Don’t bother packing clothes you haven’t worn in a while: If you didn’t wear ‘em then, you won’t wear ‘em now. And save luggage space by skimping on the out-of-season clothes, since you can bring them to and from school on breaks.

Name: Liz Cruger
School: College of William and Mary
Year: Senior
Major: Psychology and English lit
Her deal: This is Liz’s second year as an R.A. for freshmen. She is also involved in several campus activities, including pep band and the belly dance club.

TALK IT UP

Have a better answer? Share it here.