How to Pack for College If You Are Sharing a Tight Space with a Roommate

If there’s one thing that’s true about dorm life on nearly any campus, it’s that dorm rooms are usually quite small. When you have to share that space with a roommate, you will be forced to make decisions on what to pack. You won’t be able to fit everything. Here are a few tips that can help.

1. Check the Rules First

The first step to packing for school should always be finding out what you’re not allowed to keep in your dorm room. You don’t want to waste valuable space on items you’ll have to keep in your car until you drive home again. Contact your college’s housing office and inquire about the rules pertaining to what is and isn’t allowed in student housing. Certain things that are likely to be banned include lamps, cooking appliances, extension cords and candles.

2. Bring the Basics for Clothes

You shouldn’t pack your entire wardrobe. Instead, simply bring enough clothing to live in during the period you’re at school. This of course includes casual clothing to go to class in and to socialize in. You will also probably want to bring something more formal as well in case you get involved in clubs or student leadership or want to interview for a job during your stay. It’s important to get quality clothing basics that will last you all year. You can save money on quality clothing by using Neiman Marcus promo codes at discountrue.com. You may have a closet, but it won’t be huge.  If you get tired of the clothes you brought, you can always swap them out when you go home for the holidays or school breaks.

3. Check with Your Roommate

If you have the ability to communicate with your roommate beforehand, you may want to communicate with him or her about what you should bring into the dorm room. This can prevent overlap and free up space. For example, having two televisions in the same dorm room would be rather pointless since you’re certainly not going to watch them both at the same time. You should also limit other significantly sized appliances like a mini-fridge to one per dorm room.

4. Leave the Knick Knacks at Home

While you may want to bring a few personal items to remind you of home, you should forget about bringing much of anything else strictly for decoration. Things like stuffed animals and throw pillows will only make your bed look cluttered and childish. Certain dorms don’t even allow posters to be hung from the wall.

Overall, the idea of living with a roommate can be a somewhat scary for many soon to be college students. One way to make sure there is less conflict is to not overcrowd the room with stuff you don’t need.