As you read this blog, you should be in the last hectic days before leaving for college.  You are so very close to starting this new chapter of your life!!!!  Since you are probably dizzy from excitement, not to mention a little dazed from all the end of summer social activities, I'm going to make your final checklist for you.

Ah, yes, there is a final checklist — you don't think I'd send you off to college without a final checklist, did you?  If you did, you have not been a faithful reader of this blog over the last 50 weeks.   Good news for those of you who have been faithful readers (and doers) — this checklist references back to lots of activities I have suggested you take care of earlier in the summer, so you'll be sitting pretty in these final days, while less faithful readers (and doers) have A LOT to take care of!

This checklist is organized into what I call the Core Four — the four areas of your life that you need to have in order when you are in the process of leaving home for college.

1)     Housing and Meal Plans (aka Food and Shelter)

• Do you know where you going to be living?  You should and you should have a hard paper copy of your housing assignment.
• Do you know what your dining plan is?  Again, make sure you do and you have documentation that you've paid for it.
• When can you move into your residence hall?  You don't want to be sitting on the curb with your stuff because you missed your window and can't get a key.
• Where is the dining hall?  What are the hours?  What will be the first FREE (aka prepaid dining plan) meal that you get?  Again, you need to know these things before your parents leave you.  If they go before you can start eating on your dining plan, you've missed some great opportunities for the parents to pay.  And believe me, all college students try to maximize the things that their parents pay for — it is a basic college survival skill.

2)     Essential Stuff (Clothes, Bedding, etc.)

• What is the essential stuff that you need for college?  See Week 44 for my list.
• Have you purchased it all or have a plan to purchase it right after you get to college?
• Is what you have packed and either shipped or ready to be loaded into the train, plane or automobile with you?  Also, if you are traveling by public transport, is there anything you are taking that is problematic, e.g. cleaning supplies that are explosive?  If so, figure it out before you are having to leave it behind with some kindly TSA officer who will pass it on to his kid.

3)     Money, Money, Money

• Are your tuition, housing and fees all paid for the first term? Do you have documentation of that?
• If you have financial aid, do you have all the documentation for that?  If your financial aid has not yet arrived, has the bursar/finance officer agreed to wait until it gets there or do you have to pay until it arrives?
• Do you have a budget and the cash to fund it for everything besides school, housing, and fees?  Understand that you'll need a fair amount of cash or credit in the early weeks of the term — why?  Books.  They are expensive and you've gotta have 'em.

4)    Relationships with the Family and Friends

• Have you done a proper goodbye and renegotiation with your family?  Week 49 gave you the directions.  If you haven't done these things yet, do them now.  You simply must.
• Have you had one last hurrah with the friends and thought/talked about how you are going to sustain your friendships across distance?  Week 50 is all about that.  Get going.

Comments or Questions?

Honestly, you really don't have time to post this week.  But if you have a burning question or comment, go ahead and post it.  We're always happy to respond and we've already been to college, so we have time right now.

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.