Living in a dormitory can form a lasting community of friends; it forces young strangers to live in a new situation and face new challenges together. Not only will new friendships form, but it’s also the finest way to integrate oneself into university life. Here are some suggestions for easing into dorm life, saving some money, and standing out from the crowd.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not really necessary to pack everything one could possibly need at the university. Being prepared is important, but it’s also good to fight a tendency to overburden oneself with a packages. Essentials like clothing, sleepwear, shoes, outerwear, and so forth should always get packed.

For accessories, a guy’s wristwatch is an easy way to stand out. Most people use their cell phones as a swiss army knife in terms of checking the time, setting alarm clocks, using a stopwatch, and a lot of other things. Therefore, the simple addition of something like a men’s sport watch separates you almost immediately from the typical crowd of cellphone addicts.

Despite all the talk lately of hipsters flooding the campuses and coffee locales of America, you’ll find that most guys don’t wear skinny jeans around campus. However, the style has been around for a while and definitely provides an edgy look. If a guy can fit comfortably into a slimmer cut of jeans, then they should definitely at least give them a test run.

Even though a computer is widely accepted as a must-have item of the university experience, that doesn’t mean that all of it’s accessories necessarily are. Whether it’s a desktop or a laptop, computers are necessary to communicate with friends and professors, get work done on assignments, and a variety of other functions. A printer is considerably less needed in a dorm room.

Indeed, depending on the limits bought by a student technology or media fee, it’s feasible to do all necessary printing from a university computing area like a library or lab. Use an email account with upload storage, send your files as attachments, or use a USB stick to move materials from place to place. This process can save hundreds of dollars, just so long as no printing has to be done at the last minute.

Also, bring along some creative things, like a musical instrument, video recorder, camera, or art supplies. Downtime can be fun, but it can also be productive! Other nice downtime activities are casual videogames, boardgames, and anything that taps the inherent community of dorms.