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The college-stuff worth having in Ames: dorm basics, study gear, game-day extras, and rainy-day backups, matched up with the guides they belong to.
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Send a little home
Themed boxes parents and grandparents can put together from Amazon: pick a theme, tap the items, and ship it straight to the dorm. For birthdays, finals week, sick days, and the Iowa winter that shows up every January.
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Send this in late November so it lands right before dead week. Snacks, caffeine, and something to squeeze when the studying gets real.
For the weekend after a big exam. Popcorn, candy, and something soft to hide under while the snow does its thing outside.
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Nobody plans a sick day. When the campus flu goes around, this shows up before the dining hall soup does.
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The first birthday away from home hits different. Deck the door, add cake, and let the roommates do the singing.
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An Ames January is no joke. Hand warmers, a scraper for the car, and the thickest socks known to humankind.
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For the hard week in October nobody warns parents about. Comfort snacks, something soft, and a reason to call home.
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The one size every ISU dorm bed actually needs.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Posters up, deposit safe, the dorm decorating essential.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
For the shared-bathroom trek down the hall.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Dorm closets are tiny. This buys you a whole shelf.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Cough drops and band-aids before you need them.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
For claiming a corner of Parks Library and staying there.
Goes with Ames Study Spot Guide
Turns any coffee shop table into a real desk.
Goes with Ames Study Spot Guide
Deadlines, syllabus weeks, and game days, all in one place.
Goes with Ames Study Spot Guide
For the 11 p.m. study-session screen stare.
Goes with Ames Study Spot Guide
Jack Trice Stadium dress code, basically.
Goes with Game Day In Ames
Carries itself to every tailgate lot.
Goes with Game Day In Ames
Game-day tailgates and parks picnics alike.
Goes with Game Day In Ames
Background music for tailgates and broomball watch parties.
Goes with Game Day In Ames
Iowa weather changes its mind hourly. Be ready.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
Lives in your backpack from August to May.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
For snow-piled sidewalks and slushy Crossroads crossings.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
CyRide bus-stop insurance for January.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
Parks, campus lawns, and skipping the study room entirely.
Goes with Ames Parks Guide
Farmers market mornings made comfortable.
Goes with Ames Farmers Market Guide
For café mornings and downtown people-watching notes.
Goes with Ames Book Lover Guide
Rainy-day hall parties start with a deck.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
Keeps a downtown latte hot all the way to class.
Goes with Ames Coffee Guide
Café-quality mornings without leaving your dorm.
Goes with Ames Coffee Guide
Coffee, tea, and instant ramen, dorm-legal in most halls.
Goes with Ames Coffee Guide
For sketching the Campanile or doodling through a slow café hour.
Goes with Ames Art And Culture Guide
A free afternoon in a park turns into a painting.
Goes with Ames Art And Culture Guide
Give your Ames art print the wall it deserves.
Goes with Ames Art And Culture Guide
Print the Lake LaVerne shot on the spot.
Goes with Best Photo Spots In Ames
Group shots at the Campanile without begging a stranger.
Goes with Best Photo Spots In Ames
Somewhere for four years of Ames to live.
Goes with Best Photo Spots In Ames
Turns a $4 thrifted sweater into a favorite sweater.
Goes with Ames Thrifting And Shopping Guide
Thrift hauls, market produce, and library stacks.
Goes with Ames Thrifting And Shopping Guide
Rescues thrift-rack wrinkles in about a minute.
Goes with Ames Thrifting And Shopping Guide
Hems, buttons, and secondhand fixes.
Goes with Ames Thrifting And Shopping Guide
Campus bike racks are busy. Lock it properly.
Goes with Ames Without A Car
For dark rides home along the trails.
Goes with Ames Without A Car
Refill stations are everywhere on campus.
Goes with Iowa State Campus Guide
The thing every first Iowa winter teaches you to buy.
Goes with Things Nobody Tells You About Ames
Small enough to carry to a Sunday service across town.
Goes with Ames Area Church Guide
No-bleed pens for notes, sermons, and margins.
Goes with Ames Area Church Guide
A quiet page for a slower kind of Ames morning.
Goes with Ames Area Church Guide
Reading past your roommate's bedtime.
Goes with Ames Book Lover Guide
Rainy-day movie marathons and cold lecture halls.
Goes with Ames According To Your Mood
The fastest way to make a cinderblock room feel like yours.
Goes with Ames According To Your Mood
Cardinal and gold, from tailgates to the couch.
Goes with Iowa State Traditions
Farmers market tomatoes deserve better than a plastic bag.
Goes with Ames Farmers Market Guide
Packed lunches beat campus prices every time.
Goes with Things Nobody Tells You About Ames
A little hometown pride for the wall above your desk.
Goes with Ames Iowa Guide
Housing says XL twin, every time. The lofted beds are not regular twins.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
The only wall hanging allowed in the halls, so buy plenty.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Housing asks for UL approved with a long cord, since outlets sit far from lofts.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
For the non-AC halls: clips to the loft and doubles as white noise.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
The rectangular kind that actually fits a residence hall window.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Every hall room has hard floors. Housing recommends 5x7 or 8x10.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Housing specifically suggests one for Iowa winters. They are right.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Doubles as seating and an end table, which is the whole trick in a hall room.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Flat containers slide under a loft or futon and swallow off-season clothes.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Clips to the loft for late reading, or sits on the desk you actually study at.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Housing caps hall fridges at 4.5 cubic feet, so check the size before you buy.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Allowed in hall rooms, and the fastest route to a late-night snack.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
No open flame means coffee makers, kettles, and espresso machines are fine.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Tea, ramen, oatmeal. Approved for hall rooms and endlessly useful.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Plate, bowl, cup, fork, knife, spoon. That is genuinely all you need.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Zip bags and small containers for stashing a snack in your backpack.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Bathrooms get cleaned daily, but the walk down the hall still needs both.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Housing puts this on the list for a reason: getting ready down the hall.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Every room has hanging space, but Iowa State does not provide hangers.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
The halls want HE detergent. Add stain remover while you're at it.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
For career fairs and presentations, without hauling an ironing board.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Iowa gets all four seasons, sometimes in one week. Housing is not exaggerating.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Campus is a walking campus, and February in Ames is a real thing.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Custodians handle the bathrooms; your room is on you and your roommate.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
The three-item kit that keeps a hall sink from becoming a science project.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Rooms come with a wastebasket. Bags are your job.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Vacuums check out at the hall desk, but a small one saves the trip.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
On the housing list if you bring a bike, and smart on Lincoln Way regardless.
Goes with Ames Without A Car
License, Social Security card, insurance and aid forms, all in one folder.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Two small things the housing list calls out, and you'll want both by October.
Goes with Ames Rainy Day Guide
Some tools check out at the hall desk, but a small kit lives in the closet.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
For Frederiksen and SUV: pots, pans, hot pads, knives, cutting board.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames
Apartment life adds floors nobody else is cleaning for you.
Goes with Freshman Survival Guide To Ames