How Many Clothes to Bring to College (Ultimate Guys Guide)

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man wondering how many clothes to bring to college guys

Are you a college-bound guy wondering how many clothes to bring to college? Lucky you, you’ve come to the right place!

Okay, so here’s the deal. You’re about to head out on your own and embark on this completely new adventure in your life… college life!

College is such an exciting time and a unique experience, but it can also be totally overwhelming.

(It’s an adjustment having to live with a new person and share a bathroom!)

Packing for dorm life means considering not just what items are necessary, but also thinking about the limited space of your new home away from home.

For guys, it can be super stressful to figure out what you need to bring especially for your freshman year.

(When I helped with orientation my sophomore year, so many guys used to ask me what to pack when they come in August)

So, to help make packing easier and stress-free, I have compiled this ultimate guy’s guide to help you figure out how many clothes guys should bring to college.

In this article, I’ll walk you through all the clothing necessities that you should pack and I even give you a packing list to make your life a whole lot easier.

Sound good??

Awesome, let’s dive in!

How Many Clothes Should I Bring to College?

How many clothes you should bring to college will be different for every person.

A general guideline to follow is to have enough clothes to last you for at least 2.5-3 weeks.

This allows you to have plenty of time before you need to wash clothes and all your clothes should fit in your dorm room.

What Clothes Do I Need For College?

Generally, there are a few basics that every guy needs to have on hand first thing on college move-in day. These basic include items like shirts, pants, underwear, sleepwear, shoes, etc.

A good starting point is bringing seven or eight T-shirts and five pairs of pants.

(You don’t need a lot of basic t shirts, because you’ll probably get a bunch of college t shirts for free!)

If your college town is hot, you should consider swapping out some long pants for a few pairs of shorts. Don’t forget to add at least seven or eight pairs of underwear, some pajamas for sleeping, and a hat or two.

You’ll probably be doing a lot of walking on college campuses, so on average, you’ll need about three or four pairs of shoes.

(if you’re going to any house or frat parties, you should bring a pair of college party shoes too!)

To round out the basics, it’s a good idea for you to have at least a couple of “dressier” items in your closet too. I’d suggest at least 2 button up dress shirts, one pair of black dress pants, and one pair of dress shoes.

This is just a general guideline for what clothes you should bring to college but a lot goes into your final college packing list!

Keep reading for the total list of clothes to bring to college!

Things To Think About When Packing

Now that you know generally what you should pack for college, let’s talk about things you need to take into consideration for your clothing packing list.

Here’s a few things you should think about to determine what you should bring:

Semester Length

The first factor you should consider is your semester length and how long you will be at college. On average, a college semester lasts about 15 weeks (almost 4 months!)

Are you gonna be on campus for the entire 4 months?

Are you taking any trips home to bring more clothes back to campus with you?

These are some major questions you need to ask yourself as you pack!

In my experience, during the first year, a lot of college students will make 1-2 trips back home during the school year. They see family, hang out with high school friends, and usually will bring some clothes back that they need (or forgot to bring with them the first time!)

Regardless of the answers to those questions, the most important thing is to make sure you pack enough clothes to last you the whole time you’ll be on campus.

Weather

The weather is a HUGE factor you need to think about! Trust me, it plays a major role in the type and number of clothes you pack.

You need to think about the weather where your school is located and what kinds of clothes would be best for that climate.

(So if you’re going to school somewhere where it rains a lot, then you should definitely buy a rain jacket, maybe some rain boots, and probably bring some baseball caps too.)

To break it down even more, here’s a great idea for how to pack clothes for your college dorm:

When you’re heading out to college for the fall semester, you need to pack for two seasons, the end of summer and all of fall.

Your suitcase should have 50% warm weather clothes and 50% cooler weather clothes. I’m talking about things like tank tops, shorts, hoodies, and some jeans.

Go ahead and add in a few light jackets and long sleeve T-shirts for those chilly summer nights and ice-cold classrooms too.

💡Here’s A Gem: If you go home during Fall Break or Thanksgiving Break, that’s when you should bring back your cold weather clothes like a winter coat, beanies, boots, etc. You can take home your summer clothes so you have more room to fit your new clothes in your dorm room closets.

When you’re packing for spring semester, you need to pack for the winter season and all of spring.

You should bring your winter clothes and throw in some lighter items for when the weather changes.

(The best days on campus are when you finally get a warm day after months of freezing your butt off walking to class and every day breaks out their new spring outfits!)

Events

Events are a major part of your college experience and a great time to show off your fashion sense!

If you are really social, love going to parties, and want to show off your outfits, you’ll probably want to bring more clothes than just the basics.

In fact, for some of these events, you’ll need a more “professional look.”

(Like if you’re going to a college formal, you’ll want to wear a dressier outfit for the night)

You definitely don’t need to bring a full suit but having a nice dress shirt with the right pants and shoes for your formal wear will do the trick.

Fashion Trends

If you’re into fashion trends, you should definitely consider how this plays into how many clothes you should bring to college!

I can definitely say, you will not be happy only bringing the basics to college with you.

If you have a lot of clothes you want to bring but know they won’t all fit, try these tips to lessen your packing list:

Set out all the clothes you want to bring with you to college
Make outfits that you would actually wear
Create two separate piles, one for “Yes, it’s coming with me” and another for “No, this should stay at home”
If an item shows up in multiple outfits, put it in your “YES” pile
If an item shows up in only one outfit or no outfits, put it in your “NO” pile

And walla! You have a completed college clothes packing list!

Living Arrangements

As you pack, you need to consider your living arrangements!

If you’re moving into a residence hall, chances are you’ll have a roommate and won’t have that much closet space in your dorm.

So it’s best for you to pack light so you’ll enough room to fit all your clothes and other essentials.

If you’re moving into a college apartment for the first time, then you can pack a lot more because you’ll probably have much more space to fit your clothes.

💡Here’s a Gem: If you want to see how much space you have in your dorm room, you can search on Google, YouTube, or TikTok for dorm room tours for your school!

Transportation to College

How you’re getting to college is super important to know how to pack!

If you’re driving to school for move-in, you can fit a lot of things in a car like large suitcases, trash bags, storage bins, etc.

(Driving in is definitely the preferred way so you can fit all of your stuff in one trip!)

If you’re going to college out of state and traveling by plane or train, you are severely limited by how much you can bring with you to college.

(You can also look into shipping most of your stuff before move-in day, and just bringing your regular luggage with you on the plane. That’s what a lot of my friends did if they went to school in a different state.)

Definitely take this into consideration when you’re deciding how many clothes to bring to college.

Washing Options

You’ll have to do your own laundry in college, so make sure you factor in the washing options around you.

Is there a laundry room in your dorm?

Does your college apartment have in-unit laundry?

Do you have to travel a long way to wash your clothes?

Depending on your answers to these questions, what clothes and how many clothes you bring might change. The longer the distance to the laundromat, the less often you’ll want to make the trip!

So if you hate doing laundry, it’s a good idea to pack more clothes than you think you’ll need, so you can do less washing.

College Clothes Packing List for Guys

With the considerations out of the way, let’s jump into this college clothes packing list.

Here’s all the clothes you need to bring with you to college:

Everyday Basics

7 causal t-shirts
5 pairs of pants
4 pairs of shorts (if it’s summertime or really warm)
8 pairs of underwear
8 pairs of socks
2 sets of pajamas
1 belt

Athletic Clothes

2 pairs of shorts
2 t shirts for working out (the free college shirts are great for this!)
1 baseball hat

Going Out Clothes/Formal Wear

2 button-up shirts
1 pair of black dress pants
1 nice sweater

Lounge Clothes

1 hoodie
2 pairs of sweatpants

Outer Wear

1 rain jacket
1 light jacket
1 winter coat (only need when it’s going to be cold)

Shoes

1 pair of flip flops or shower shoes
2 pairs of sneakers
1 pair of party shoes

Want to know everything you need to bring to college? Get our free dorm room packing list below!

How Many Clothes to Bring to College (Ultimate Guys Guide)

How Many Clothes Should I Bring to College?

What Clothes Do I Need For College?