Start College

Everything you have to sort out between the acceptance letter and the end of week one — what to pack, what the dorm actually needs, how to split rent, what the meal plan really costs, how to email a professor, and where your classes are. Sixteen free tools and guides, no sign-up, all of them work offline.

Illustration of a sunlit dorm room with moving boxes, a bed and a desk lamp
Freshman year 10 tools · 6 guides Printable No account needed

The move-in kit

Start at the top if you are packing this month. Jump to the money tools if housing is already sorted and the bill just landed.

The order to do this in

  1. As soon as housing is assignedMessage your roommate. Agree who brings the fridge, TV, rug, microwave and printer — that is what the dorm checklist is for. Two of everything is the number one move-in day regret.
  2. Three to four weeks outWork the packing list. Buy nothing bulky yet; bedding, storage bins and cleaning supplies are cheaper at a store near campus than they are to ship or fly.
  3. Two weeks outDo the money pass: budget calculator, meal plan sizing, and rent split if you are off campus. Choosing the wrong meal plan is a four-figure mistake you cannot always undo after the add/drop deadline.
  4. Move-in weekFill in the roommate agreement in person, not over text, in your first week living together. Sign it, keep a copy, give one to your RA.
  5. First week of classesBuild your schedule grid, check for conflicts, and export it to your phone before syllabus week ends and everything real starts.

What this module covers

Starting college is mostly logistics wearing an emotional costume. The academic part — picking a major, surviving your first exams — comes later. The first six weeks are boxes, bills, keys, a stranger sleeping four feet away, and a dining hall you have not figured out yet.

Everything here is a plain HTML page with the calculator built in. Nothing is uploaded, nothing needs an account, and every checklist saves to your own browser so you can close the tab and come back. If a page saves data, it uses your browser's local storage only — clearing site data or switching devices starts you fresh.

Numbers on these pages are national averages or your own inputs. Housing rules, meal plan structures, credit-hour definitions and prohibited-item lists vary a lot by school. Your housing portal and your registrar are the authority; treat these tools as the first draft.

Frequently asked questions

What should I pack for college first?

Bedding, a week of clothes, toiletries, your laptop and chargers, and your documents — ID, insurance card, immunization records, bank details. Those five categories cover the first 48 hours. Everything else, including storage bins, cleaning supplies and anything bulky, is easier and usually cheaper to buy near campus after you have seen the room.

How much does room and board cost per year?

Room and board on campus averaged about $14,400 for the 2025–26 academic year across US institutions, roughly $8,200 for housing and $6,200 for the meal plan, according to the Education Data Initiative's analysis of federal NCES data. Your school's published rate is the only figure that matters for your budget, and it varies by hall, room type and plan tier.

Do I really need a roommate agreement?

Yes, and most residence-life offices ask for one anyway. University housing programs recommend completing it within your first week together and giving a copy to your RA. It is not a legal contract — it is a written record of what you both agreed about sleep hours, guests and cleaning, so a conflict in November is a conversation about a document instead of an argument about memory.

Do these tools work without internet?

Yes. Every page is a single HTML file with the styling and the calculator inlined and zero external requests — no fonts, scripts or images loaded from anywhere else. Save a page to your laptop and it still runs by double-clicking it, which is useful during move-in week when campus Wi-Fi is at its worst.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. There is no server, no account and no analytics. Checklists and calculator inputs stay in your browser's local storage on your own device. Printing a roommate agreement or a schedule produces a document locally; nothing is transmitted.

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