College students, it’s time to get behind the desks! 🖥️ Whether you’re to be a freshman or a senior to clock your studies, you need college school supplies. Still, you’re not after all that pops in a bookstore’s window. Join us as we explore the 36 must-haves of college life and boost your productivity and organization with these essentials!
And if you’re more of a visual learner, go ahead and check out the video we’ve made on this topic:
Writing and Drawing Tools
Whether it’s notes, ideas, highlighting important stuff or just plain doodling, you need reliable writing and drawing tools to transfer your genius to paper.
1. Pencils/Mechanical Pencils
Sharpen them up or gently tuck in the lead — if you want your academic oopsies not to be traced in eraser-resistant ink, you’ll need some pencils. ✏️ Math and art students probably think of the little coal bristles as school deities.
2. Pens
You’ll still want pens for those set-in-stone notes, though. 🪨 Or for the blue doodle art for those moments of introversion that strike between classes (and sometimes during art-inspiring lectures).
3. Highlighters
And when you need a yellow line not to cross, the highlighters are always there to slip through your fingers. 👆 Use one or more to highlight the essence of your between-pages college life.
4. Erasers
Shoo to that one mistake or two! 🦶 As a student, you’ll need a snow-white eraser to cover your college butt when that penciled eight looks more like a nine or when that drawn pie chart is slowly turning you into a scientific liar.
5. Correction Pens (Whiteout)
Pens are the enemy sometimes. 👿 Get their line-y ways back to whiteness with a whiteout and save the impeccable nature of your research paper.
Paper Products
Although we live in a digital age, paper is still the backbone of student life. Aside from helping you keep stuff in order, each blank sheet has unlimited potential!
6. Notebooks
No pencils nor pens will be of much help through your academic journey if you don’t have at least one notebook to record your teachers’ wisdom the old fashioned way. 🦉 It’s one of the college school supplies that defines what being a student means.
7. Note Cards
All your writings and scribbles deserve a fine background to be strung on. With note cards, you get that and the chance to organize and reorganize vital quotes as that textbook material unfolds. 🛣️
8. Notebook Paper
Know exactly how many lines you’ll spill on paper next semester? 🫗 Treat yourself to school supplies tailored to your mathematical precision — three-hole-punched notebook paper and squeeze in more letters in between narrower lines.
9. Printer Paper
Your printer will need paper to circle around. Don’t leave yourself out of paper till the last day before the finals — you must have something to feed this beast at all times to nail your exams. 🐻
10. Post-It Notes
College students always have something to forget, and with such a thick schedule, how can they not? 😀 But if you stick a note to that dorm fridge, you’ll remember to eat, sleep, and more!
11. Post-It/BookTabs
Turn a new page in college with color-coded book tabs made small enough to fit the essential info of a passage or chapter. No more searching for finger-licking-good page numbers 😝 — you’ll know where to look right away.
Storage and Organization
A messy desk means a messy mind, as they say. These items will keep your stuff easy to find and help you make sure everything you need is within reach.
12. Pencil Case
Don’t tippy-toe around campus, juggling between the pens, pencils, and highlighters of the world on your way to class! 🤹 Have them neatly sink in the compartments of your latest and greatest pencil case, ready to pop out during note hour.
13. Folders
Where do all those notes you take and papers you keep go? In a folder, just like the learning piles of every student with a busy course load do. 📂
14. Note Binder
When the sheets hit the fan, a note binder can save the day. 🪭 It helps you hold your sheets together and looks pretty fancy.
15. Paperclips
Clippy was right to stare at you years ago. And now, it’s time you stare back at it! 🫣 Simplify your academic life with some paperclips, and keep your paper not too far from the right place.
16. Binder Clips
If your stack of school materials tends to get larger than life over time, binder clips are some of the college school supplies you want to explore. Unless your goal is to unroll yourself out of paper blankies first and last thing in the day. 🛌
17. Desk Organizer
A messy desk is never a good idea, though. If clutter is taking a toll on you, an organizer will establish some order during lengthy study sessions. 🐍
18. Sticky Tack/Poster Strips
Keep it college-y with a massive map on your dorm wall, or salute your youth with Harry Styles’ hot stare over your roommate’s cupboard. ♥️ Poster strips were made for a reason.
Tech and Accessories
The right gadgets and accessories can make all the difference for a student – they’ll keep you connected, and productive, ready to tackle your academic challenges.
19. Laptop/MacBook
A good laptop helps you type out what will eat your pencil top to bottom in a second. Lengthy texts need a digital touch. ✍️
20. Portable Charger
Not exactly one of the typical college school supplies here, but it can charge your batteries, literally. 🔋 The digital is a part of us, and half of college is making different phone calls anyway, so it’s a must-have.
21. Printer
Having that pen or pencil dent the paper with your handwriting can be blistery and tiring sometimes. 🫧 A callus-free way of making notes or adding pages of info to your material stack is just to print it all.
22. AirTag
As you walk the classroom aisles, your phone or keys could jump out of your back pocket. 🦘 It’s not a rare thing to happen, so tagging stuff with an AirTag is genius.
23. USB Flash Drive
Here’s the one item that will eliminate the need for too many college school supplies. All your materials can fit on a USB, with no need to physically shorten, organize, or otherwise alter them. 💻
24. Laptop Sleeve
Not the sleeve you’d usually roll up, but the one you need. 👕 A laptop sleeve will not let any dust, chips crumbs, and minor bumps get the best of your device.
25. Power Strip
No time to play the plug-unplug game in college; all is good when all is plugged in. That makes a power strip a good idea. 👍
26. Blue-Light-Blocking Glasses
Keep your swag in college, and put those blue-light-blocking spectacles on! La vie en blue could be beneficial for your eyesight. 👓
27. Headset With Microphone
Online classes, webinars, or just music and films — sometimes, you want some sounds to hit only your ears. 👯 And you also want the chance to reply with a good headphone and mic set.
28. Backpack
Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Unless you have three sets of extra hands to carry your college essentials to and from campus, a backpack must go on your back. 👐
Classroom and Study Essentials
Whether it’s the classroom or your dorm, certain items can enhance your learning environment and make it a lot easier to focus during your study sessions.
29. Calculator
A number + another number = a calculator. Depending on your major, you could get away with a simpler one, or you might need a scientific one to unpack the math genius within yourself. 🧑🎓
30. Desk Lamp
Enlighten yourself and your study space with a good desk lamp! 🔦 Flip the switch to turn it on and ace your finals, or turn it off during break time.
31. Office Chair Pillow
That hardworking butt will need a good chair pillow to rest its case on. ☁️ Get one, and sit down.
32. Planner
Deadlines can’t scare you if you expose them in a planner to know when they’re nearing and when they aren’t. 😱 Just keep an eye on them, and there will be no tremble.
33. White Board/Cork-Board/Dry-Erase Board
What matters should have a special corner at your dorm, and these allow for that. Mount them, and have your written reminders, tickets, or sticky notes looking back at you! 👀
Binding and Fastening Supplies
You don’t need much to turn your hard work from a messy pile of papers into organized and presentable stacks. Here are our favorites!
34. Stapler
Sometimes, there’s not much to bind up, but stuff still needs to go together. Hint: staple it all so nothing detaches until you want it to. 😉
35. Tape
And tape those cut-outs under lines of text — and those boxes, if you went real hard on them with the scissors — with tape! It’s all connected. 💠
36. Scissors
Follow the straight cutting line of your scissors to get the sharpest cut-out images, open boxes you can’t hulk up to tear, and more! 🍏 They’re a must-have.
Get Your Supplies With Your Money!
So, these are the college essentials most students use to make the most of their study-and-repeat experience. Of course, you might not need all of these — to each their own, as they say. One thing is sure, though — you’ll need to buy at least some of them, so you’ll need cash. 💰But shopping for college doesn’t have to break the bank! If you can find some time to do some Surveys, Games, or share your internet for a fully passive income, you could make enough to pay for your supplies. 📝 So, give the app a chance, and hop on the independence wagon before you hit the school desks.
FAQ
How much should you spend on college supplies?
The cost of college school supplies differs from country to country. These expenses tend to be around $100-300 in countries with higher salary rates ($3,000+) and $50-100 in countries in development.
What is the best time to purchase supplies and other necessities for college?
Most school supplies go on sale at the beginning of August, and these discounts last all the way through September. That said, the best time to get necessities is August through September.
Which supplies or items are considered most important by students?
While the supply requirements might differ between college majors, pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, and a laptop are considered as the top five essentials for undergraduate students.
