You won't need to tie your own tourniquet or perform open-heart surgery, but keeping a box full of basic first-aid items is helpful and safe. You can also make your own kit with adhesive bandages, antibacterial ointment, cold relief, pain relievers and allergy medication.
Doing your own laundry means beating nasty stains. A few bottles of pre-wash stain treatment will buy your ketchup-stained pants a few extra days in the hamper before setting. For stain emergencies, use a spot cleaning marker that slides into your backpack or purse.
Even if the dining center is near your dorm, keeping a coffee machine by your bedside is useful for those mornings when you're in a rush. Consult with your roommate so you don't both show up with a coffee maker on move-in day.
Unlike toilet paper and milk, you have no way to determine when you'll need a light bulb or batteries. Stock pile both items so you don't end up in the dark at 3 a.m. the night before finals when all the stores are closed.
Regardless of your dining plan, having a microwave in your room just makes things easier. Stock up on single-serve packs of oatmeal, macaroni and cheese and pasta soups for those late-night cravings. You can also use the microwave to cook tea and hot chocolate.
A small sewing kit saves you money on professional clothing repairs or, worse, discarding torn items entirely. Keep a small bag or box with your extra buttons and a few hotel-issued sewing kits.
Dorm rooms and college apartments accumulate a disgusting amount of dirt over a semester. Keeping a bottle of multipurpose spray on hand makes cleaning and staving off illness that much easier.
Unless you plan on drinking your microwavable mac and cheese, invest in a few cheap metal or boxes of plastic utensils.
Bring ceramic dishes or buy a few paper plates and bowls if you don't trust yourself to do the dishes on a regular basis.
This sounds obvious, but the standard overhead lighting in most dorm rooms is insufficient at best. A few multi-bulb lamps can make all the difference in ambiance and study capability. Check with your school's fire code before purchasing, as certain lamps are considered fire hazards.