Essential Gear for Surviving Freshman Year
If Amazon doesn't have a Whole Foods grocery near you, there are non-perishable groceries ( food that doesn't spoil) that Amazon can ship to you
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2
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The second iteration of UE’s grapefruit-sized Bluetooth speaker is markedly better than the first. It kicks out clear audio with improved bass in a 360-degree arc for study breaks (of up to 13 hours!). If your friend has one, you can sync the two to double the size of the party. The rugged design is waterproof too, making the Wonderboom the perfect accessory for the shower or the beach; it even floats.
Dell XPS 13
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This sub-3-pound Windows notebook comes with a nice full-size keyboard, a nimble Intel Core i3 chip, and a 128-GB SSD for stuffing full of coursework, games, and memories. Dell’s 13-incher has long been our top PC pick for college students because of its solid mix of price and performance; now that the camera has been moved from below the screen to up top, we can make that recommendation more heartily. No more awkward “nose cam” Zooms during internship interviews.
Yeti Rambler 14
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A lidded and vacuum-insulated mug like this one is essential for dorm life, where you’ll be consuming many hot things you want to keep hot and even more cold things you’ll want to keep frosty. The extra-wide mouth on this 14-ouncer not only gives you plenty of room to spoon your late-night oatmeal, it also exposes your scalding coffee to more air, cooling it down to sippin’ temperature much more quickly.
Lenovo Smart Clock
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Just tell Lenovo’s fabric-covered wedge what time to wake you, and in the morning it’ll play whatever gets you going: news, a podcast, even a YouTube video. Google Assistant is built in, so the 4-inch touchscreen can display and read out answers to spoken questions. (“OK Google, what’s an iamb?”) And unlike many connected bedside devices, it doesn’t have a camera; Big Tech can’t watch you sleep—or whatever.
JABRA Elite 85H
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It’s hard to concentrate on chemistry when your roommates are rocking Chromeo. Slip on these comfy wireless, noise-canceling cans for up to 36 hours of distraction-free study; mics on each earcup pick up all the noise in the room, then electronics blot it out, leaving you alone with your ambient dub mix. Yes, they’re expensive, which makes them a great gift for an incoming freshman.
Styling Anna Raben
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If Amazon doesn't have a Whole Foods grocery near you, there are non-perishable groceries ( food that doesn't spoil) that Amazon can ship to you
Save money on books, school supplies and everything you want to enjoy college! Financial aid, back in the olden days meant grants, scholarships, work study jobs. Loans were part of the package, but since they are available, ‘common thought’ was it is not financial aid – it was however a low interest loan. If you’re dependent on your parents, and they are below a certain income, most colleges give you much monies to help you attend their school. The middle class student with 2 working parents pays much more for their child to attend school and that student often can’t get work study job on campus. Those jobs are limited to the kids with financial aid.
If you can, or your parents can, to lower your loan debt when you leave school, if you have any monies, try to pay at least the interest while you are in school. Many loans start adding interest the day they are used to pay for school. So a $10,000 loan becomes a $12,000 amount when you leave school (example each loan is different) If you pay the interest (example $25 per month) then the $10,000 loan is only $10,000 when you leave school.