They had these bolted outside everyone’s room doors at my dorm in 2000.
Rolls of quarters for vending machines, and the laundry room.
Little puzzles like a rubiks cube give people something to play with while hanging out.
I forgot to bring bags for the wastebasket.
A big mug for ramen noodles or hot chocolate.
Once she gets there, don’t forget to send care packages. Everyone in the dorm loves it when someone gets a care package with things that can be shared, like homemade snacks.
Going from the trash-area of the dorms at my college:
Beer
Booze
Liquor
And a goat!
ETA: I lived off campus, but the 3 foot tall heap of empty beer bottles (several hundred) behind Canada House every Monday was rather scary.
Backscratcher!
(Unless the recipient has an SO, of course. 
PLEASE PLEASE do not listen to the “appliances” people until you have confirmed with the college. None of those things were even remotely legal for me, particularly fridges. My dorms were on the National Register of Historic Places and did not have wiring that was up to the challenge.
Thanks so much for all the advice! I’ve already ordered the shower bucket thingie…although instead of a pack of condoms, I’ve ordered the x-tra heavy duty stainless steel chastity belt. With laser cannon attachment. 
Coloring book and crayons. Great for relaxing and sharing with friends.
Some kind of wrinkle-remover spray stuff. I know Downey makes one, but there might be others.
Maybe a couple rolls of quarters, if she’ll need them for laundry. The machines at Fair’s college take quarters, the machines at Small Craft’s school work with her ID card, which we can load with money for her to use on campus.
She’ll still need the condoms. They fit over the end of the cannon barrel and keep it from shorting out in the shower. 
Having lived in the dorms for four years as a student and RA ending just this last May, allow me to say: absolutely nothing.
Okay, well obviously she’ll need a towell and a notebook, but don’t go out an buys tons of crap for school. As others have noted, especially do not buy any type of appliance beyond perhaps a fan if they are without A/C. The fire-restrictions in dorms are extensive, and most any cooking device is almost certainly banned. Also, most dorm rooms now include microwaves and refrigerators.
Do your due dilligence with the college, not a random message board, and find out for certain.
Also, I’d highly advise that your daughter plan things out with your prospective room mate. Being able to plan the limited space together and will avoid making you the jackass residents/parents that unload half a U-Haul worth of expensive electronics and take over 3/4’s of the room before your room mate even arrives. Again, communicate with your room mate prior to coming to school if you must or just give your daughter a certain amount of money and permit her to decorate and furnish her room as she sees fit or simply pocket the money.
Also, illness in the dorms is common but by no means predestined. I had a lot of colds my first year but survived all four years without any major illness (even through a norovirus outbreak on campus, that was no fun), but fastidious hand hygeine really is key to avoiding illness. By my senior year, I had two colds all year even with working in a health clinic 25 hours a week. So, perhaps some bottles of hand-sanitizer to start her off on good habits.
For the sexual health issues, just remind her to bring it up at a visit with her pediatrician or family care doc prior to heading off to school if it’s relevant to her to discuss any options if relevant. Alternately, most schools also have student health services well versed is handling sexual health issues, just tell her to make an appointment.
A new laptop is usually a good idea, but she probably won’t need all of the picky things the college says she needs. The “great deal” offered by Dell probably isn’t. Comparison shop, and as with all technology, it’s probably best to delay the purchase until the month or so before she heads off to school.
Something neat my little brother had when I dropped him off this weekend that looked kind of cool was a laundry bag that had backpack straps sewn to it. You could probably make one yourself if you’re into that kind of thing, but I’m pretty sure my mom bought it at Target or something.
A USB memory stick/Flash card/whatever the hell they are called. At least 2GB. Even if she has a laptop, there’s a good chance she’s not going to want to drag it around with her all day long, but she might still need to use a computer for something on campus. My memory stick is a keychain one, so I always have it, and it has been invaluable to me (and I own a laptop!)
Looseleaf paper. You always need paper, and the best time to buy some is during the sales in August that are targeted at elementary schools. Stock up on several thousand sheets; she will go through it all!
A travel mug. Most campuses/coffeehouses give discounts if you use your own mug, and this way she can carry it around with her and refill with coffee or hot chocolate or even water from the fountain as needed. Get one with a closed loop for a handle; I had one like that and I could use the handle to hook it onto my school bag when the mug was empty.
Depending on your daughter, consider footing the bill for a gym membership or any extra cost her campus athletics centre might ask for; it’s a burden to pay for as a student, so many people don’t use it, but if you think she might like to have “free” access to a place to work out and burn off some steam, this is something I’d look into doing as a gift (assuming you can afford it too, of course!)
Is she going close to home? If so, visit, and see what people have. If not, leave an extra day (or two) to shop there. You’ll have time to get the things she decides she needs at the last minute, and won’t have to lug them on the plane/in the car.
Definitely check with the roommate to coordinate. The dorms my kids lived in had neither microwaves of refrigerators. Some might have shared cooking facilities. I think a fridge might be useful (my daughter had one and I had one 35 years ago) but a microwave might be overkill. Hotplates and such are usually illegal but still prevalent. They just don’t let the RAs see them.
Look to see what laptop the school recommends, and what the internet connection in the room was. We got our daughter a laptop ahead of time, but had to go to the store for the ethernet cable. Get a small, cheap, printer also. And paper. It might be a good idea to buy an extended warranty and to make sure there is a store near campus. Our oldest daughter went to a private school here you bought a desktop from them, with a full warranty. Lucky thing when her friends kept spilling drinks into the keyboard.
We have a family plan for our cellphone which lets us talk to our daughter free. It’s saved us hundreds if dollars. We have cellphone bills that look like War and Peace but which seldom go over our monthly charge. Kids today are a lot more connected than when we went to school.
Don’t forget linen. We got cheap but good sheets at a local Ikea. In fact, the Ikea down the street from campus had a special students night, when they stayed open late and ran buses from the campus. That’s another good place to look up.
Bottom line is that each dorm and college are different, and you won’t know for sure until you get there. Look up where the nearest Target is - you’re going to need it.
Speaking of long-distance phone calls… get Skype. I suppose it’s possible that some campus networks might block Skype traffic, though.
I agree with “check first” but from the other side. My college had decent mini-fridges available to rent for the year at a low price, and a lot more convenient than trying to lug one all the way from.
If they’re allowed, a coffee maker. Definitely a life-saver for me.
I was thinking of linens. Don’t buy sheets until you find out if your daughter’s dorm, like many dorms, has regular beds or extra long beds. I found that length didn’t matter as much for the comforter, but we were warned that standard fitted sheets wouldn’t fit dorm beds length-wise. I still suspect it’s a racket on the part of the linens manufacturers to force you to buy extra long sheets rather than use perfectly good ones you already have.
One of my favorite things to have handy that I wouldn’t have thought of was a throw blanket. I tended to study perched on my bed, and having something other than my bedding to throw over my shoulders or lap was nice.
Consider making pre-college shopping trips *with * your daughter (assuming you can do so without killing each other - I don’t believe my mom and I were past the homicidal shopping trips yet at that point). My mom picked out my towels (baby blue and pink and white striped) and my shower caddy (a huge, bulky plastic bin with handles that was impossible to carry comfortably) for me. I hated them. I had to pretend I loved them to prevent WWIII (the aforementioned homicidal tendencies cut both ways). I hated them for four years and the minute I got my own place after college and had two nickels to rub together those towels became RAGS. Nasty filthy cut up car washing rags of hate!
We also fought about how much my comforter should cost.
And her parting words to me on leaving me for the first time at college were, “And don’t leave any money lying around because I know how you are about money and you will leave it lying around and if you do someone will take it and when that happens don’t call me looking for any more!”
:rolleyes:
It was an emotional time. She’s got an odd way of expressing affection.
We’re best of friends now, but I buy my own towels.
Once you’ve had a chance to measure her closet or armoire or whatever it’s called, get her a small safe so she can keep her small valuables and cash locked up. Things have a tendency to walk away.
An iPod isn’t a bad idea, either. She may find herself waiting for someone and having something to listen to helps. It also helps when the dorm is noisy and she wants to study. And, of course, it’ll lighten her load by not having to schlep her CD collection to school.
Robin
Many colleges also have Podcasts and several textbooks publishers are also offering online lessons in mp3.
A pipe for fine tobacco.
My son’s dorm provides him a mini-fridge and a microwave. He is not permitted to have electrical appliances in his room that do not automatically turn off (toaster good, coffeemaker bad.) YMMV.
The school did provide a way to purchase extra long sheets for his bed, through some supplier. I got him two sets, plus a mattress cover, for about $75. I have also seen extra long twin sheets for sale at Target.
We also got him a shower caddy, an ironing board and an iron, and a laundry basket. The first one we got fell apart (it was one of those cutesy combination laundry basket/bag) so the next one we got was just a plain old plastic hamper.
If she doesn’t already have one, she’ll need a laptop computer and a cell phone.
I also recommend a pre-semester visit. Ivylad and Ivyboy went a month or so before school started, when it wasn’t too busy, and got a lot of information, a lot of questions answered, and a chance to check out the dorm room to see what was feasible and what wasn’t (not a lot of room for extra furniture, for instance.)
Totally second this. If she has a computer but not a printer, she’ll need the memory stick to bring the file somewhere she can print.
I’m not convinced that every kid needs a shiny new laptop their first year at college anyway. Most universities include a hefty “technology fee” in tuition and that goes to the computer labs in dorms and around campus. You might as well get some use out of that money. At my school the fee also included a certain ration of paper each semester. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to tour the facilities during the summer and you can see how well-equipped the campus is. At least wait until then to buy the stuff that may not be allowed.
I’d also suggest a robe.
I think this would make it very tough on a student. My daughter’s assignments are posted on-line, and they’re turned in on line, and the notes are on-line. Having it all on a memory stick that might get lost sounds dangerous to me, plus one’s room seems a quieter place to write than a lab. I suppose it is doable but why make it harder, unless money is a real issue? There is also the social activities on-line these days.
I went to college with a slide rule, my clothes, my toilet articles and towels, and that’s about it. Kids travel a lot heavier today than we did.