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Freshers’ Guide to what to bring to uni

Halyna
Halyna

As someone who loves to pack everything but the kitchen sink, moving to university was an exciting yet stressful process. Worries about not packing exactly what I needed flooded my mind. However, after arriving at Cardiff Met, I realised that I didn’t actually use most of the things I packed!

To help you avoid making the same mistakes that I did, here’s a list of things that I recommend bringing:
1. Extension leads – You never know how much plug space you have until you arrive at your accommodation, so it’ll be handy to bring one of these to avoid switching your chargers constantly.

2. Headphones – Listening to music is fabulous but it’s important to be considerate of your flatmates when you want to play music. Speakers are great but keep those for flat events rather than blasting music in your room.

3. Alarm clock – Accidents happen so you never know when you might lose, break or not charge your phone. To avoid waking up late for lectures, bring an alarm clock as a practical back up in case something happens to your phone.

DON’T BRING: A PRINTER – Paper and ink is expensive, so printing what you need at university will be a much cheaper option! Also, it’s likely you won’t use it very often and therefore will just be a waste of space.

4. Clothes hangers – Often forgotten but self-explanatory, these will be your friend so that you don’t have clothes all over the floor.

Hangers

No matter how many you have, there’s never enough!

5. Laundry basket – I can’t think of anything worse than walking all the way to the laundry room with clothes spilling out of your arms, especially if it’s underwear! Bring a laundry bag to help you collect and carry your delicates discretely to do your washing.

6. Clothes horse – Using the tumble dryer at the laundrette to dry clothes can get pricey, so bring a clothes horse. They’re often foldable so they don’t take up a lot of a room and are a free solution (after the small initial investment) to drying your clothes.

7. Fancy dress – Especially for fresher’s week! Fancy dress makes for a fun night out and is a great conversation starter for meeting friends.

Halloween

Fancy dress always makes for a great night out!

8. Travel mug – Buying coffees out and about can be pricey! Bring your own to save some cash.

9. Door stop – To be friendly in fresher’s week, prop open your door so when your flatmates move in, you can say hello.

DON’T BRING ALL THE CLOTHES THAT YOU OWN – University rooms are not the largest – plus the more you bring, the more you have to take to and from home every time you visit.

10. Ear plugs – To block out those loud flatmates when you are trying to get some sleep.

11. Umbrella – It rains a lot in Cardiff… so stay dry!

12. Playing cards – To play some fun ‘get to know me’ games.

13. Photos of family & friends – Home comforts make moving into halls a lot easier, especially if you get homesick. Just don’t forget blu tac and avoid using sellotape or pins in the wall.

Pictures

Pictures of friends and loved ones can really help with homesickness.

14. Important documents – A passport, national insurance number and bank details may all be useful if you would like to get a job for some extra cash. Remember your ID for those nights out too.

I really hope that this list helped you to plan what to bring to university as a Fresher! Remember, pack light – if you forget something, it’s really easy to go to a shop and get it – Cardiff has everything you need.

Looking for more tips for first year? Check out our other Freshers’ Guides.