[Music] hi everybody it's diana welcome back to another video today i will be sharing what to pack for pen so this is for anybody who is incoming freshman or just i don't know wants to watch this for fun to know what to pack for the university of pennsylvania i'll also be sharing some move-in tips so watch till the end to get those a little bit about me i am from the west coast so i had to like bring all my stuff to the east coast and i also had to ship it there my movement process if you watched my move-in video was like a month long but i learned so much so i'm going to try and communicate what i've learned my twin sister natalie who you might have seen in some of my other videos she actually made this like guide feel free to check it out basically everything i'm about to say is written in this guide so this is the video form of her packing list for pen it has a lot of great content and commentary and lots of tips as well yeah yeah also this is peanut my little doggo i miss him a lot when i'm on east coast but sadly can't bring him no dogs allowed in the dorms today i'll be talking about dorm stuff then bath and then technology then school supplies clothing and then miscellaneous things you can check out natalie's thing for the exact products that i got first twin xl mattress topper highly highly recommend mattresses in the freshman dorms are foam blue mattresses that are just not comfortable at all so if you want something that's like actually comfy i think mine was like literally three inches of foam on top a twin xl comforter also twin xl sheet set the thing about the college dorms at penn and also just for college dorms in general is that the beds are not twin size they're like twin xl but knowing that you can actually order a lot of this stuff ahead of time get like a pillow command hooks for pen i know that you're not really supposed to poke in holes if you do end up doing that you just get charged like a flat fee of 100 so the little life hack is go ham and put as many holes in the wall as possible because they only charge you a flat fee but i didn't actually make any holes i just used command hooks to hold up like lights and stuff that you can see in my women video [Music] clothing hangers the type that i got that i recommend getting are like as skinny as possible because the closets that you have are only like so large twin xl mattress protector this one you technically don't need but i haven't just to like keep my foam mattress topper on top of my bed it does slide around but i found that it holds it slightly better than just like having a sheet of everything area rugs i would say this is like medium priority the floors of a lot of the dorm rooms are really gross and cold they literally have like linoleum if you're lucky you might get wood but it's like kind of gross you don't really need one but i just found it made my room feel a lot more homey more comfortable you actually can get like your room dimensions beforehand so you technically could order that before school starts but i personally waited until i got to my dorm and that was good actually because i had this heater that stuck out so the actual dimensions i got were like perfectly accurate full-length mirror i didn't get this to like midway through but it's just like a really nice perk so then you can like see your entire outfit a lot of the dorms that have sinks they do come with a mirror but it's not like a full-length mirror so i just recommend that if you like taking mirror selfies or just seeing how you look right before you leave your room and the type that i got just like mounted on the door a twin xl headboard then your pillow won't fall off in the middle of the night i recommend getting it at the beginning of the year because halfway through i'd like wow i really should have ordered a headboard but i only have half a year left so is it worth it to drop like whatever a hundred dollars or something or you could just what i did put my bed against the wall bed risers pen lets you have these it really depends on the size of the room like i didn't use bed rises but my sister natalie she used them because the room was so small so she just used it so that she could fit a lot of storage underneath her bed she did have to like climb onto her bed every night pros and cons finally a stool the type that i have it's like a little cover that you can put stuff in then when people come to your room they have another place to sit for bath supplies i really recommend a shower caddy and the type that i got is made out of like mesh rather than like the hard plastic type it i think is less likely to get moldy and also you can fit more and what's nice with pen at least for my dorm bathrooms which are communal is they have like a little hook that you can mount your stuff on so you don't put it on like the gross ground the mesh one just like was able to be hung up rather than like a plastic one which you have to place on the gross floor along those lines definitely get shower shoes or just like bring some flip-flops you do not want to be showering your foot i just use like foam birkenstocks but there's also so many options out there and then shampoo conditioner medications like whatever you need lotion body wash and deodorant you get to college and you realize some people just don't use that and it is not it don't be that person who doesn't use deodorant please there are literally so many great options out there that are natural and you're not like putting gross chemicals on your body but just like don't be that person cone toothbrush razor toothpaste uh various dental items like floss and stuff you know paper towels nail clippers nail files tissues are also really nice to have they're like another thing that you sort of take for granted towel sets i didn't like get a really nice one i just like ordered it from amazon i got white towels i would honestly recommend getting off weight so maybe tan or navy i had a sink in my room people used some towels as like hand towels and those just like got not white by the end of the year it's also nice i think to get like different size towels i had like the larger like body towel i would like wear my towel like wrap it around when i was like walking back to my room instead of like wearing a robe hair dryer i would honestly recommend this if you are a girl or guy who like me who just likes to like style your hair i realize like with the philly weather my hair gets like really frizzy and just gross if i let it air dry and it gets like really dry as well i had a dyson and that just like save time tweezers hopefully you have that perfume cologne for a nice occasion and also just to make sure you smell good curling iron feminine products and makeup [Music] i definitely recommend a power strip just because the outlets in your room might be in very random locations they might be hard to access or covered by furniture having like a strip is just like very very helpful headphones because things can get really loud so i have like my beats but then also airpod pros phone charger i know for some people like they love having these like 10 foot long phone charging cables because then you can like be on your phone and have it charged from wherever you are in the room laptop charger you just like need that for college basically and finally some lighting dust lamp i definitely recommend lighting in the rooms that you get sucks if you even get lighting like my sister herds didn't even work mine at least was like kind of dim dust lamp is just like helpful if you want to do work what i did was i used command hooks and then i placed like cafe lights around the border of my room and that was like so nice because it made my room like really really bright i also did like the tick-tock led lights underneath the cafe lights so then when i wanted something that was like more fun less like super super bright for when i was hosting friends over and stuff then i would use those and i could also have them on at the same time highly recommend that just because it's easy to install dorm room lighting is just not sufficient so you definitely need to get different types of lighting i recommend having a mini fridge and you also don't necessarily need to buy it you could rent it and has a program for that and then if you have like a roommate you could also just coordinate with them i was able to put in drinks food leftovers and then also my little like frozen section i put these frozen meals from romaine grocers it's so nice you don't have to waste food if you have your fridge and you can refrigerate your water notebooks pencils erasers a backpack the thing is actually a lot of people use tote so that's just something to consider i personally do use a tote i think it looks nicer pens calculator and charger i personally didn't have a calculator that was like something that was nice to have for like math classes and then finally highlighters that i guess is specific to whether you have like paper notes and you're taking it on a journal versus like an ipad or tablet this is going to be like pretty generic my recommendations might be a little bit biased because i do like to go out i like to dress up so just keep that in consideration related to clothing definitely have like laundry different definitely have laundry detergent i use tide pods a laundry bag i actually ended up using a tote but that's just because um i just had it what i recommend is a laundry backpack because especially if you're like on the third floor like me you don't want to have to carry there's like big hampers down like three flights of stairs i recommend getting a laundry backpack so you can just put everything in and then carry like a backpack down to the laundry room also another thing about hampers like some people i know would like leave their hampers on the washing machines and then they would get stolen people will steal your stuff lots of underwear lots of socks that was like basically what dictated when i would go and do my laundry activewear i mean depending on your lifestyle you might want to just bring that bring as much as you need between like longer loads running shoes but that's up to you and your lifestyle preference pajamas some professional wear like a blazer or like a blouse just having one is nice but you can always borrow pen is just like very pre-professional what i really recommend is a long winter coat and maybe this is just because i came from the west coast and i never experienced snow before but i froze my butt off when it first started snowing if you come to penn you're going to see a lot of brands that are very very popular and common with the student body and you definitely don't have to get it from there because there are a lot of brands out there but just some sort of long winter coat if you're going to invest in something invest in that slippers for the dorms when you walk to the bathroom and back it's nice to have loungewear so sweats and sweatshirts i like tried not to bring so many so that i would wear like nicer outfits but it's yeah personal preference and then also a bathing suit depending on your friends and what you have planned for the different breaks it could be nice to have swimsuits i personally like went to miami and punta cana for my breaks feel free to watch it was just nice to have swimsuits dresses there are a lot of date nights at penn depending on like what social scene you're in for guys like bringing a suit as i mentioned not just for professional but also for social things because people do like to dress up if you are planning on being involved with greek life or just like going out to frat events having a pair of like fat shoes that are beater shoes that you don't mind getting dirty engrossed also a fracket which is like a frat jacket so that when it's cold in the winter but you're going out still you can wear it what makes a jacket like a frackie is like it's just like not that nice but it's warm and you also like wouldn't be heartbroken if it's stolen or like having something spill on it which goes for the frat shoes as well not nice clothing that gets the job done and then also fun accessories so for different parties or events it's fun to have like sunglasses for st patrick's day for halloween things like that you don't have to go and buy it before you get to school but if you haven't already from like spirit days and high school or something like that i recommend bringing it jewelry also to personal preference i do think that the dorms are like pretty safe i think it's just like for the communal areas it's not as safe which is what i mentioned like with the campers being stolen in your actual room it does require like a passcode it requires like a key a pen id my house is hectic i'm back for the summer as you can tell a belt and then a going out bag honestly with bags you don't even have to bring too many i found that i like rotated between the same like two to three depending on my outfit and how nice the event was trash bags that's definitely overlooked i tried to last the entire year and i was actually able to without buying them but i just think it would have made my experience much nicer at least in the quad and i think with most freshman dorms you don't have like communal trash bins so you basically are in charge of taking out your trash and bringing it all the way to like the trash dumpster that's why i recommend trash bags because then you can just like have it then you don't like actually spill stuff a driver's license or proper identification it's just like important for if you travel domestically as well as if you just like go to downtown events they always ask you for id an umbrella it rained so badly one time that school got cancelled because the river school school killed schoolkill river it overflowed so it does rain a lot in philly come to school with a non-expired passport if you're planning on going on trips i know a lot of people who are scrambling at the last minute for their spring break plans because their passports were no longer like accepted carry-on sized luggage if you're planning on doing those little trips a phone wallet so that's like a wallet that you can stick to the back of your phone the one that i have you can actually like slide off it's just so nice because you can basically store your pen id debit credit card cash or like whatever else you might need to carry around on a day-to-day basis i personally love that a lot more than having a actual wallet a wallet is like bulky it can get stolen like i was with a friend and his wallet that had like cash and his id got stolen when we were out so a lot more secure i think and it's just convenient you genuinely need your pen id for wherever you go on campus i would say like the minority people don't have it and these are a lot of the people who end up having to go and get temp cards which are temporary cards because they like forgot their pen id in their room and got locked out contact lenses glasses whatever you need sleep mask because there aren't like blackout shades so it helps with your earplugs the walls are like very thin you can hear like people on all sides of you as well as above you and below you and some people they just don't go to sleep until like 4am and just not considerate of others definitely not speaking from personal experience a reusable water bottle a microwave i had one it was nice i was able to like make popcorn heat up food heat up like those frozen meals you don't need one you can always like get a friend who has one and then just seize your friends vacuum same thing it's just like nice to have but you don't need one and you can always borrow one a printer i know some people who have them but i do know some people who got them and didn't even use them because they couldn't figure out how to set it up with the pen wi-fi so that's definitely something that is nice to have but not necessary storage bins i honestly felt like the storage that was provided in my dorm room was adequate but i know for a lot of people who might have like more stuff it is nice to have i recommend ordering those like after you get to your room just to see like what you're actually given various medications medicines things like emergency advil that's like nice to have liquid iv or like petalite or whatever nice to have just because as college students i think everybody struggles with staying hydrated winter boots are nice but not necessary i personally didn't have any and i was able to get through the winter without it just because penn has people like mow and clear out the snow rain jacket i didn't actually have one i use my umbrella a lot portable speaker that's nice if you're like hosting people or just want to listen to music in the room i had like a very cheap one too portable charger is also nice you could consider getting a tablet having a tablet makes your bag a lot lighter it's nice because you can search your notes it's like more organized i personally really recommend having a tablet as somebody who didn't go into college with a tablet and then realize the pros of it but it's not necessary and people definitely take like paper notes a monitor that's like not necessary i've had one and i use that for coding but i honestly didn't study too much in my room because i tried to be social and i tried to get out of my room as much as possible so i didn't end up using it that much but some people have them some people even have like really big ones or like tvs that can connect to their laptops so you can watch movies off of it scissors gaming consoles hobby equipment art supplies guitar spike ball net things like that i actually brought a guitar and i played it like a bit and it was nice to have but you don't need it honestly i don't think like you have that much down time in college to be able to like do these little personal hobbies unless you make time for it but that sometimes comes at the expense of like social activities alarm clock like you don't need that you have your phone a bathrobe you honestly don't really need it i had one it made things kind of like better when i was like walking back to my room so i wasn't just walking around in the towel but i wouldn't say it's necessary a brita pitcher in the freshman dorms it's like really hard to fill your brita from the sink so i ended up not using it that much and then building my immune system by just drinking straight out of the sink or just being dehydrated or trying to fill my water bottles at water bottle filling stations whenever i was out i would recommend if you do get one to get like a smaller brita because the one that i got didn't fit into my mini fridge so i would get a smaller one to fit into your mini fridge desk chair you definitely don't need this because your room comes with one laundry basket as i said hamper like those things you don't need the laundry backpack is where it's at plates and bowls i think at penn you don't really need it just because you're on a dining plan the first two years if you get a plate bowl and like food storage containers that kind of requires you to be able to wash it a scale not really necessary freshman 15 i really would say is not a thing because the food is so bad textbooks i wouldn't order those for your classes until you need to just because a lot of things are already online or professors don't even use the textbooks that are listed only get the books that are like required throw pillows i bought six or something to decorate my room but i sort of realized they're unnecessary but i wasn't always having people in my room and every time i would have to like go to sleep i would like have to take them all and like put it on the floor or like put it on like my couch trash bin it comes with one and utensils don't come at me pen but i know a lot of people who borrow utensils from the dining hall there's also plastic utensils you can get from the dining halls fold out couch i had that it turned into a futon so i was able to host people who came and visited curtains some people just use that instead of the really bad quality plastic blinds that are included in some of the rooms posters to decorate the walls tapestries a lot of kanye quotes and flags record players neon wall decor that was everything i recommend packing for your freshman move-in for pen or whatever year here are my move-in tips first one is order things to the amazon hub on campus penn has the package like room that's like harnwell for most people it's like in the center of campus it's a pretty good location but especially at the beginning of the year it is very very slow because they have so many things to process i ordered some of the larger items that could be shipped to amazon to the package room and it ended up taking like several days to process towards the middle of the year it's like fine to order things to harm well but i recommend for move-in specifically get your thing sent to amazon which means you have to order it on amazon then you can get it sent to the amazon hub locker on locust walk and that just makes things a lot easier because it's much faster for move-in day bring a swiffer bring like clorox wipes even though technically your room is supposed to be like ready to be moved into it's not it's gonna be dusty it's gonna be gross have that and wipe everything down before you move in your stuff take advantage of the support desk so for move-in and throughout the year you are going to probably experience some like leaks contact support about if they're here to help i know some people were like texting the support desk constantly because they had so many problems another thing for move-in figure out the route to your room before you start bringing your move-in cards the thing about the quad specifically is it used to be three different buildings they used to not be connected and then these houses were connected to form the quad but that meant that like the different floors are not even so there's like random stairs in the middle of hallways third floor on where might end up being like fourth floor on fischer it's just really not intuitive so i recommend finding your room first and then figuring out from there like the best route to get your move-in carts to your room because there are elevators finally moving in with roommates i personally didn't have a roommate but from my friends who did have roommates these are some tips i heard from them the first is when you choose your roommate make sure to facetime them and talk with them beforehand i know a lot of people nowadays they choose the roommate based off like their instagram sometimes people aren't what they seem on instagram so it really can be nice to like actually have a conversation that's live with them before you move in and commit to like a year of living together two talk about what appliances you're going to bring delicate like who's bringing a mini fridge somebody bringing a microwave and that way you don't have two of everything then you can like sort of split costs the three like try to avoid moving in at the same time moving is so hectic and your room is not that large especially for like your parents siblings are helping you move in there's not gonna be a lot of space to fit a lot of people so try to stagger your move in time so things don't get too crowded those are the moving tips i could think of i'm sure there are more if you have any questions feel free to dm me on instagram as i mentioned at the beginning of this video my sister did make this packing list for u pen feel free to reference that for the exact product links i hope this was helpful good luck to all you freshmen moving in it's definitely super chaotic and hectic but it'll be great if you have any comments feel free to leave them down below i'll see you guys in my next video [Music]