10 Gifts College Students Actually Love Receiving
While it would be wrong to generalise, it’s broadly expected that college students have different needs and interests than those younger or older than them. For this reason, when birthdays or holidays come along, it’s important to buy a gift that reflects these different interests. Here’s a comprehensive list of what gifts college students would love receiving and why that is.
1. Just money.
Let’s be honest here; the large majority of college students could use a bit of cash coming their way. With student loans, textbooks, food and various other costs resting on their shoulders, even denominations as small as a ten or a twenty could be useful. Money also has a good advantage in that, if you’re unsure of a gift, giving them some allows them to buy whatever they want anyway, absolving you of that responsibility. It’s overall a win-win for everyone involved.
2. Posters, of all types.
Dorms tend to have blank or soot-filled walls that are not visually appealing to look at for too long. The easiest way to fix this is to paper over it with something. Wallpaper is most likely not an option so the next best thing will have to be used. Buy a poster with something you know the college student in question will like. Easy things to look for are bands, pretty landscapes, movie posters or famous monuments but close to anything can work.
3. A coffee machine.
Coffee is a vital necessity in college and, while it is fun to travel out to a coffee shop every morning, it’s rather inconvenient and costly. Having a portable machine in the dorm room itself is a huge time saver and a quick way to instantly wake up. If the student in question is an environmentalist, then be sure to get a brand that doesn’t use capsules. They produce a lot of waste and that waste often ends up in landfills. Buy them a coffee machine that uses raw coffee beans, scooped out of a bag, in that case.
4. Some snacks to go with the coffee.
One of the things categorised under the food expenses from earlier would be breakfast. Out of all the meals of the day, breakfast is probably the most skippable and not very affordable although it is one of the most important to eat as well. A good way to solve this dilemma is to purchase a small, portable snack in bulk and have one of those in its place. For the health conscious, this could be a granola bar but for the sweet-toothed, something like cereal or dried fruit work well. This is another option for gifts college students will actually love and use!
5. Aesthetically-pleasing notebooks.
If a student’s going to be taking notes for a class they don’t really care about, why not put the notes in a pretty place? Artistically-covered notebooks are everywhere. They can feature nature imagery, satisfying patterns, incredible displays of typography and more. They can even be made out of different materials such as wood, rubber or leather. They’re a bit pricey sure but trust us, if the student you’re buying this for has a creative side, they will be overjoyed by this gift.
6. Whiteboards or blackboards.
These serve a purpose similar to the posters from earlier. Like them, they help to clean up what would be just a regular old, nasty dorm wall. But many college students also use them to keep track of events, catalogue their homework and remember upcoming test dates. If said students prefer writing to making phone notifications, buy them some of these boards. They are some of the most practical things you can get, period.
7. A good blanket.
Napping and sleeping are some of the best activities for a college student; why not make it as enjoyable an experience as can possibly be? A soft blanket and pillows are, of course, best whenever possible. The only other thing to worry about really is design because things made for beds tend to follow a few basic patterns. Get something special that the student in question is bound to love. This is one of the gifts college students will cherish!
8. Good speakers.
What exactly counts as good speaker depends on personal taste but generally speaking, you should get one that is loud and that amplifies the bass tones of any given song. A good brand of speakers will set you at least $100 back, making this one of the more costly things you can purchase for a college student. But if you do, it just might make them the life of the dorm room.
9. A smartwatch.
To many people, these devices seem overtly-expensive and utterly pointless. But to certain parts of the population, these are not just useful but incredibly helpful in achieving their goals. Wellness enthusiasts do love their Fitbits and Apple enthusiasts do legitimately love their Apple Watches. If the student in question fits into any of these groups, then consider buying them the smartwatch of their dreams. A great option for gifts college students will love!
10. A backpack to store stuff in!
This is by far the most important item in any college student’s educational inventory. Like the blanket, backpacks should have a design that’s special to whom you’re gifting one to. However, unlike the blanket, the backpack is a public thing that’ll be seen by hundreds and will represent this student to other people. So be sure to choose wisely while making sure they’re happy with it first.
So what do you think of the current list of gifts college students want? Is there anything you would add to it? Leave your responses in the comments section down below!
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
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Hi! I'm Tyler and I'm a sophomore student at the University of Vermont. I'm an English major and I'm minoring in French and Linguistics. I'm particularly interested in reading, writing, philosophy and the natural world (although the Internet is somewhere I hang out often too).