Back to College Shopping Guide, Off-Campus Edition
Around this time last year, I wrote a lengthy post detailing items that incoming college students would need to get settled into their new environment. That article ended up becoming one of the most popular posts I’ve ever published and garnered lots of link love. So when several readers suggested via Skribit that I post a follow up article, I was a little uncertain on how to improve upon the last post. That being said, this post will focus on upperclassmen: students that have lived on campus for a year or two and are ready to get their own room and live in an apartment off-campus.
Last Time..
Lots of items from my last post still apply - wireless router, a cheap laser printer, digital camera, USB flash drive, graphing calculator, and a pair of headphones - but some of my suggestions have since changed. I now recommend the Linksys WRT54G2 router. It may not do 802.11n but at $46 it’s sufficient to supply you and your roommates with Wi-Fi, as well as being considerably smaller than previous models. If you consider yourself a tinkerer, go with the older and larger WRT54G, which can be upgraded to firmware opening up new capabilities.
As for headphones, I currently enjoy the in-ear Sony MDR-EX71SLs. For digital cameras, I have a feeling the thin Sony Cyber-Shot T700 will be interesting, but at $400 it is considerably out of the average college student’s budget.
Renter’s Insurance
For as little as $12 per month you can insure up to $10,000 of your belongings. That will be the best use of your money, ever. Every single one of my friends has had some sort of run-in with theft during their stay in college. Theft doesn’t have to come in the form of a break-in either. One of my friends lived with 6 other guys in a house and it only took one shady “friend” to come over one day and steal everything - laptops, a Wii and even textbooks.
Living on campus isn’t much better.
Pick your roommates wisely and don’t live with anyone you haven’t known well for at least a year. The last thing you want is to live with a guy you found on CraigsList (also known as my last roommate) who constantly stunk up the house with his illegal substances.
Music
So you have your own place and can hold the occasional soiree from time to time. Now what? Well you’re going to need something more powerful than your MacBook’s speakers to play music. Last year I reviewed the Slim Devices Squeezebox and was reasonably impressed. Since then, Slim Devices has been purchased by Logitech and they have just released the Squeezebox Boom.
While I have not personally tinkered with the Squeezebox Boom, the specifications make it seem perfect for the college habitat. Keep it in the common area to jam out to your music library and that of your roommates, as well as listen to Pandora, Rhapsody and other music services. On the other hand you could keep it in your bedroom and use it as an alarm clock.
Movies
While I would have no reservations recommending the Vudu box or Roku Netflix Player, this still is the college crowd. I’m better off pointing to my How To: Download with Newsgroups post and leaving it at that.
Still on the subject of movies, when I lived with a few roommates I found an affordable used projector and projection screen on CraigsList and converted our living room into a home theater. The entire setup cost less than $200 per roommate and resulted in a 100-inch movie screen. The setup also fared well with Wii parties.
Water Bottle
The only downside of living off-campus is that you won’t have access to the on-campus bus system, if your university offers that, so you will likely have to walk a bit to get to campus. For that twice daily trek, it’s important to keep hydrated and carry water with you at all times. While Camelbaks and Nalgene bottles are campus favorites, there is a new contender this year: the KOR ONE.
The $29 KOR ONE is eco-friendly and made without a nasty plastic production byproduct called “BPA” that is found in lower quality polycarbonate water bottles (even less than recent Nalgene bottles had this). Other features include an easy-to-use cap and handle.
Wireless Keyboard
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in college for over 4 years, it’s that there comes a time at least once a semester that I actually want to use my desk for studying and not just for computing. When that time comes, it is very handy to just push my wireless keyboard to the side and not have to deal with it.
While I can’t tell you what kind of wireless keyboard you might like, I have been happy with the small-footprint Apple Wireless Keyboard.
Eye-Fi Wireless SD Memory Card
In my last back to school shopping guide, I recommended new students get an affordable point-and-shoot digital camera to catalog and share their experiences with their friends. Adding on to that idea is the Eye-Fi wireless memory card which takes out some of the hassle with uploading pictures. Especially in this day of Facebook this and Flickr that, the automatic uploading afforded by the Eye-Fi card is quite handy for college students.
On the other hand, imagine this ideal use case: John is a 21 year old college student and has an Eye-Fi card in a tiny point-and-shoot camera that he takes with him to parties, fraternity functions and so on. At the end of the night, all John has to do is turn on his camera when he gets home and a short while later all of his pictures will be on Facebook. No fidgeting with any confusing photo uploading software or websites.
Eye-Fi also makes the Eye-Fi Explore, an SD card that also geo-tags photos.
Chair
Now that you have your own place, it’s time to celebrate your freedom from the dorm room and invest in a high quality chair that will last through your graduation and into your graduate school or job years. For me, that chair was a Herman Miller Celle. First off, as with anything bearing the Herman Miller name, the Celle is not cheap. It starts at $450 and runs to over $600 depending on configuration.
Unlike run-of-the-mill Ikea chairs, the Celle is completely made with your posture in mind. It’s a firm chair that keeps your back in line.
Organization and Study Habits
While I’m on the subject of college, I’ll take this time to reply to three college-related Skribit suggestions; one related to study methods, one related to organization for back to school and the last related to how I motivate myself.
Study Methods - My usual study habits include going to every class (obviously) and taking copious notes in Google Docs (collaboratively if I have any friends in that class). When examination time comes around, I read through my notes once before sleep, then wake up around 4-5am and go through them several more times, all-the-while researching items I don’t have enough info about.
I avoid pulling all-nighters when possible. Several of my friends have no problems with all-nighters and even plan them, but there’s nothing that sucks quite as much as being one of a handful of students pulling out their hair and typing away in a cold library at 4am.
If classes don’t have any assigned textbooks, I’ll buy a used study guide or textbook relating to the approximate subject matter and use it to research important topics discussed in class, to get another perspective. These tactics are fine for non-engineering classes. However, when it comes to physics, math and computer science examinations, excelling on those only comes from paying attention in class and following the exercises, so I can’t provide too many pointers there.
My takeaway point is that I study more than what’s covered in class. I read the Wikipedia pages of all related topics and the like. Study groups are incredibly useful as they help you see things from another perspective and thought process. They also tend to be a huge time sink. I’ve sat through many study groups thinking that we were just wasting time cracking jokes.
For more thoughts on being productive in college, the comments in this Metafilter post are quite helpful.
Organization - Organization is easy for me because most of my stuff is digital. I only have one paper notebook this semester and that’s because the auditorium that class is held in is too cramped to use my laptop comfortably, so I just write down my notes. There are only two things I need to keep track of - upcoming assignment due dates from course syllabus websites, and class notes from Google Docs.
For due dates, I keep a little notepad on my desk and periodically check course websites for due dates and make a to-do list every week. I used to use the iPhone app Things as well as Evernote for my to-do lists but I would always forget to check it. Being able to manually scratch out completed tasks provides a nice sense of accomplishment, rather than just clicking off a completed task. As much as I want to lead a completely digital lifestyle, knowing when to use pen and paper is a handy trait.
For more on how I manage my digital life, read How To: Live the Cloud Life.
Motivation - In college, at least some motivation is inherently present for me. I have to do this or that, or I might fail a class and resort to taking the M-train (an ongoing joke at Georgia Tech about switching to the “easy” management major from an engineering major - see popular video from Georgia Tech students below).
But that doesn’t mean I can’t make mandatory assignments more tolerable with a comfortable working environment. For me this means a nice temperature, lots of light (also helps keep me awake), fast-paced music, and a bit of tea or club soda. Furthermore, my motivation breaks down into a basic cost-benefit and opportunity cost analysis. Is it worth my time? How else could I productively use my effort?
This reminds me of David Seah’s Printable CEO:
Some tasks like this blog and working on Skribit are passion projects. I indulge in helping them succeed. I already have all the motivation I need. My motivation for school is all about striving to finish and receive my degree so I can spend all of my time on aforementioned passion projects. In other words, all of my motivation is about thinking ahead and taking the next step.
What are your passion projects?
Overall
College has pushed me through various living conditions and now that I’m in my final semester I happily live by myself and can get my priorities in line. For your viewing pleasure, I present to you my last four years of college living situations:
Freshman Year: I wasn’t moving in in this picture, but rather it was a few months into school and I was getting a new roommate. The first roommate assigned to me smelled bad, did drugs and we didn’t get along too well in general.
Sophmore Year: I lived in a “suite” which was a 2 + 2 that shared a bathroom. We had setup a desk room and a bed room. That didn’t work out too well as some of us would need to study while the others wanted to play GameCube. We reverted back to one room with the early birds and one room with the night owls.
Junior Year: Moved into an off-campus townhouse with a friend from high school and my neighbor from freshman year, Chris.
Senior Year: Still in a townhouse but our third one. The first one had a bad case of bed bugs that fumigation couldn’t kill and the second one was temporary until the larger townhouse we wanted was available. Chris and I got a new roommate as our last one went to work his co-op semester.
Senior Year: Roommates doing what they do best, playing PS2 all-night.
Super Senior Year: My own place finally.
What would recommend for a college student moving to an off-campus pad? What has helped you get through college?
Impressive post ! I’ll be moving to the US next fall for my graduate studies and this will be of great help.
Awesome job, Paul, as always. A great read and very helpful. I could only imagine how more so it would be if the Australian uni culture of living at home while studying was different… :)
Dang, really rocking it Super Senior Year huh. Neat setup and room. Looks cozy.
Can’t wait to get back to Tech!
Ps. I agree about the Apple wireless keyboard, I am loving it!!!
Okay, if you’re in you’re own place and you’re still finishing up school, I can think of two suggestions.
1) Grab a Britta filter (or a 5 gallon refillable water jug) if you like the taste of filtered water and drink lots of it. Getting filtered water from the large dispensers at grocery stores or filtering it with a small pitcher will really save you some dough in the long run.
2) If your couch is a love-seat or made of leather (ie. it’s NOT comfortable to sleep in), then grab a decent inflatable mattress. If a someone wants to crash at your place or you have a guest in from out of town, they will totally appreciate it. And you get bonus points for planning ahead. Extra sheets and pillow and you’re basically a celebrity at that point.
Those were some sorta weird things I could think of. Others are sort of obvious I guess (get a good chair, a good computer, a good bike, etc).
great post but two things….
1) Do you really only study the night before and on the morning of the exam?
and
“I read the Wikipedia pages of all related topics and the like”
2) You can’t be serious that you rely on Wikipedia to learn things? It is probably the single most worst reference for an academic.
When i used to use it and Drs and Profs asked where i got the info and I said Wikipedia they would have a fit. Nothing beats journal papers and books dude.
I think there is one item I would add to that collection, EyeTV. They are great for a student living in smaller diggs as they can utilise their mac as a TV and have great DVR capabilities.
If i could go back to before I bought all my big flat screen TVs, Xbox360s and the like I would simply have my iMac and an EyeTV. Would have made moving out so much easier (and cheaper) :P
I’m still quite in awe at the “bubble” that US universities seem to be in, especially the big ones. It seems that on many of the campuses you can get absolutely anything you need without venturing out into the wider community. I attend one of the smallest Universities in the UK and it’s three buildings. That’s it!
The best move I ever made was leaving the city of Dundee and going back to live with my parents. The Government pays for the petrol for me to drive the 1 hour journey each way and I get a refreshing look at the countryside before I reach class. No hassles with noisy neighbours, no hassles with drunk flatmates, it just works. Not only that but I pay no rent (thanks mum!) and I don’t end up paying for a room I’m only using between September and May.
I’d recommend this to anyone.
For task lists, I rely on Remember the Milk. Great Twitter integration. I would be lost without it.
Great post, Paul. I’m also a super senior right now, and have just moved into my own place near campus, but I’ve lived off-campus with roommates since my sophomore year.
I agree with most of the things you put in your article, except I think it’s worth noting that a lot of college towns, particularly the slightly bigger ones, have bus systems that students can use that do not include the campus system. Some of them even give discounts to students on monthly passes. I’m lucky in that my university (UNC) has a free bus system that runs over the entire town (free to everyone, not just students).
About the Wikipedia thing - this conversation will certainly never die, will it? I have actually had several professors tell me that Wikipedia is a great place to get information about Computer Science in general. There are certainly professors who hate it, and some of them have good reason, but the ones who embrace it and realize that this tech-savvy generation is going to use it are better off. I have a lot of professors who, instead of telling us not to use Wikipedia, they will actually tell us what is wrong with a given Wikipedia article as it currently reads.
Jealous. I have wanted the Celle for ages. It’s been sitting on my Amazon Wish List for just about as long.
Curious, what’s the cost of living off campus compared to living on campus around GATech? Is it cheaper, or more expensive, but well worth the convenience.
@Mike - the townhouse I lived at for 2 years was cheaper than campus by a bit. Woodruff North was like $4,300 per year and off-campus was $450/month.
The library is too hot. The library is too cold. Tech students are finicky! :)
Great post. Tell your friend that I am working to improve the “all-nighter” experience.
Paul, this is one of my favorite posts you’ve done and extremely relevant to me. (Referring to the second part of the entry.) I’m sure I’m not the only one who reads this blog and, despite enjoying/finding value in your strictly-technical posts, also looks at your success in general and thinks, “man, how does this guy do it?” So it’s really helpful to have this look at your personal habits and the like.
The bit about using your computer almost exclusively to keep organized is great, because I try to do this myself, but sometimes to excess. I take my macbook to every class, and don’t even have a paper notebook most of the time. My school isn’t a tech school, and I’m in an arts program, (English major) so many people assume those with laptops in class are just goofing off. And in lower level classes, this is pretty accurate. However, I’ve become really serious about my digital note-taking; I’m meticulous about how I do it and how I keep track of everything, and definitely don’t try to multitask on Adium or anything. I’ve been trying to stay organized with apps like Things and Dejumble as well, but like you, I just can’t get into it. I think I’ll follow your lead with the physical to-do list on my desk.
As for my own little bit of advice, and as you hinted at by showing the evolution of your living situation over the years, the amount and quality of work you can do really does scale with environment. Sure, a super mature and motivated individual can probably do great work in a messy/loud dorm room, but most of us aren’t like that. Having a home you’re proud of is absolutely conducive to doing work you’re proud of. That might sound hackneyed or whatever, but I swear by this now. I think people should look at getting a place comparable to your current “super-senior” setup as early in their school years as possible - skip living with housemates if you have the means, because, cynical as this might sound, those arrangements turn sour more often than not.
Sorry for the lengthy comment. :p
I see from the pictures of all your bedrooms you have been that only the desk, the bed and the couch have survived the moving from apartment to apartment (townhouses…).. LOL..
Good you have your own place finally.
This is a great post. I just missed the digital age of college. No one had laptops, barely anyone had cell phones. Everything was written down and then entered into a massive desktop upon return home. Discman ruled the world, and you actually had to make plans in person because most people didn’t have cell phones. I can only imagine how much better it must be now (and how much more expensive all that stuff is).
I have not attended college yet.
When my sister had roommates, she made sure they were halfway neat and set up a cleaning schedule. One week, she’d clean the bathroom, and the next week, they would.
Very very good post, Paul. Definitely relevant as I just moved into my first off-campus house (in home park) as a third-year. Hard to believe I first started reading this blog before I was even a freshman and I remember talking to you about your opinions on Tech before I made the decision to go here. Of course, I didn’t think then that I would end up hopping the M-Train from CS, but yep, I made the big switch. It’s not all just people who fail classes who make the switch. I wasn’t doing too bad at the CS major, I just realized it wasn’t what would help me succeed in life. Just like your explanation of motivation, it just wasn’t worth it for me to continue taking classes I didn’t want to take, that didn’t interest me, and that wouldn’t help me in what I want to do.
Working my co-op job at a consulting firm and doing software dev. made me realize that I had most of the technical skills and the programming background I really wanted in order to get into the industry. I’m not looking to go into CS academia, just maybe work on some awesome web apps and work with other people who do. I still am working towards a CS minor, so I get to take all the classes that actually look interesting and might help me out in the future. The management degree fits perfectly as I can work to develop more than just software, but to develop a business based around software in the one of the fastest growing business sectors in the country.
Now granted, the MGT degree really is pretty easy, or at least the classes I’ve taken so far are, compared to my average CS class, but still, why not enjoy myself in college while learning what I’ll actually use, instead of spending night after night working my ass off on a damn state-machine for systems, which I’ll never have to do again if I can help it.
Sorry, kinda got off track there, but completely agree about the place. Having my own place to do what I want entirely would be nice, but for now I enjoy having roommates that are always around to hang out and do stuff with instead of sitting around by myself. I don’t have one yet, but I plan to make an HTPC media center (a few more paychecks into this co-op semester), at which point I’ll definitely make sure to get renters insurance. I didn’t know it was that cheap! Do you have a recommendation on a place to get it?
wow, way too long a comment.
Engineering’s not so bad… Just make sure you pick a school with a good business program too!
this is a great post. thanks for posting this
Very great article. It’s very useful for me, as I want to improve my magazine styled blog. Thanks :)
Nice man! Thanks for the post. Awesome timing for my first year at U Pitt
@David Re: WikiPedia- it all depends on the class/course you are taking. I take a pretty good mix taking the insane “Arts/CompSci” and my professor’s reactions to the wikipedia range from:
“it’s the DEVIL!! never ever look at it!!!”
to
“never quote it in an essay, but wikipedia is a good start to give you some other resources.”
to
“wikipedia is pretty cool! I do a lot of my research on Wikipedia” (this prof had updated his own wikipedia page with a flattering photo.)
Hey Paul,
Just wondering what kind of desk you use? I see it made it through some years, so it must have been workable…. Looking for a new one myself so that’s why I ask…
I’m just going to throw this out here and I know this is a tech centered blog. College kids need some more style these days. Pleated khakis and grungy jeans don’t cut it and those “designer jeans” are played out and to be honest… make us guys look like every other corny db in the bar.
Two of my good friends started a pants company while they were in business school. Some are priced a little above the typical college budget but a few pairs are around $110.
They only sell online and are currently looking for a CTO.
check them out and don’t be afraid to go for some of the more colorful pairs in your school’s colors.
I know I’m pimping these pants here but I have about 10 pairs myself and wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think all of you guys would benefit.
http://www.bonobos.com
I live in Bogotá. Here in Colombia we don’t go to college dorms, but when you from your hometown to an other city for the school you wanted you usually go to external private dorm where you share bathrooms and have you own room where some old lady deals with your laundry usually destroying your best clothes. HOWEVER, there’s an otehr optino, I move to a small flat with one of my best friends, she’s a law major and i used to be a computer science major -now i’m on design-. We have 2 baths one kitchen, a small living room and one room for each other. OUR OWN PRIVATE MANSION, THERE’S NOTHING BETTER THAN LIVING BY URSELF OF SHARING WITH SOMEONE YOU CAN REALLY RELY ON.
I enjoyed this article because I’m going to school and always looking for advice and suggestions on surviving the college life. I’m more of an non-traditional student because I am a single parent and live in an apartment rather than the dorm but I experience a lot of the same situations the other students do such as living on a budget! I have learned to cut corners here and there, switching to the cheaper shampoo, rediscovering ramen noodles (just glad my kids still love them), walking instead of driving, studying early in the morning because that seems the only time i can really focus without distractions and it seems to work :) and making use of the time i have in the computer lab(s)