14 College Hacks Students Need To Take Advantage Of

We all know college isn’t easy. Below I’ll go into detail about 14 hacks every college student should be taking advantage of.

15 College Hacks Every College Student Should be Taking Advantage of

1. Student Discounts

There are so many stores, restaurants, and other places that have discounts specifically for students such as Amazon Prime, movie theaters, dunkin donuts, etc. Look at my post 6 Ways to Save Money in College for more details.

2. Raise Your Bed

If your beds are adjustable in your dorm room, immediately put it in the highest place that you can. This allows you to utilize the space underneath. Personally, I put bed risers in addition to lifting my bed because I just wanted as much space as possible. It’s a great purchase because you never know the amount of space you will need.

3. Office Hours

This sounds pretty obvious, but you have to make sure you continue going to office hours. If they gave you a grade worse than what you expected, go talk to them. There’s this misconception that Professors are rude and don’t care, and while that may be true, more often than not, it’s false. They are completely understanding and are willing to work with you. 

4. Go to Class

Similar to office hours, GO TO CLASS, especially during your freshman year. You will most likely have big lecture hall classes where your professors won’t take attendance. You’ll go for the first couple of classes and then feel like you could just write your notes from your bed off of the powerpoint. This might work for some classes but for the majority of them it won’t. Professors sometimes give extra advice on upcoming exams so make sure you go to all of your classes.

5. Brita Water Pitcher

Buying a brita water pitcher will not only save you money but also time. You just fill it up once a day and then you don’t have to make trips to a water fountain while you’re in your dorm room. It does come with a filter that you will probably need to change every 5-6 months but they are pretty cheap. 

6. Exercise Important

It’s good to stay active regularly but also during midterms and finals. There have been many times where I start getting anxious because I’m constantly cooped up in my dorm room or in the library. I try to run or do some sort of exercise, whether it’s in the gym, outside, or in my bedroom. Exercise will help you shut off your brain for a while or it’ll give a chance to sift through all your thoughts.

7. Remember to Sleep

Just like exercise, sleep is so important. A lot of college students have all-nighters studying for exams and, personally, I can’t function without sleep.

Try to get the recommended amount of sleep a night by being productive during the day. Figure out at what time of day you are most productive and stick to it. Obviously, stuff will happen and there will be late nights, just try minimizing those situations.

8. Fold Clothes Vertically

Ok, so for organization, this tip I started using before college and it saves me so much space. When you fold your clothes, try laying them in the drawer vertically rather than lying down. This way, when you open your drawer, you’ll see all your clothes and won’t have to mess up other ones while reaching down towards the bottom.

9. Collapsible Drawers

Buy everything so that it is COLLAPSABLE. I can’t stress this enough. I have seen so many girls bring in shelves for extra drawer space, and while they look cute for those ten months on campus, you’re stuck for the summer. If you live in a dorm, you will have to take everything out at the end of your Spring semester.

I bought miniature shelves from the Container Store that fit underneath my raised bed. When collapsed, it’s about 3 inches thick and it’s about 1 x 2.5 feet. I slide it into one of my bins for storage and that’s it. 

10. Hanger Space Saver

Your closets will not provide much space in terms of the quantity of clothes that can fit in it. I recommend buying hanger minimizers. They’re easy to use and save so much space. You can typically put 5 – 6 hangers on each one and then slide one side off so they’re all hanging together. 

11. Fan

Freshman dorms as a majority do not have air conditioning. You need to look into getting a good fan that’ll really circulate the air in your dorm room. You don’t want to move in August with high temperatures and feel like you’re living in a boiler room because you didn’t buy a fan. 

Even after freshman year, it’s always good to have a fan because you never know what could happen in your room or in the building that could make you lose air conditioning.

12. Drying Rack

This depends on how much laundry you do and how often. Personally, a load of laundry at my school is $1.75. That’s $3.50 with a load in both the washer and dryer. I bought the drying rack my freshman year and it has proven to be a great purchase. I’ve cut the cost of doing laundry in half by not having to use a dryer, unless it’s for my bed sheets. I’ve saved so much money doing this.

13. Bedside Caddy

You can hang these off the side of your bed and are perfect for raised or lofted beds. There’s a wide variety of them and they don’t go above $25 typically. These also are super convenient when putting them for storage.

14. Backrest For Your Bed

You might think having two pillows standing up against the wall will help but you don’t want to put the clothes that you wore all day to put on the same pillows you sleep on. These also have armrests on them for more comfort and they are decently priced.