Hey, hey, hey it’s (almost) dorm move-in day! And you know what that means: getting there first to snag the best bed, meeting the random people you’ll be living with for nine months whether you like it or not, and agonizing over which childhood stuffed animals to bring and which to leave at home (will Sir Fluffykins ever forgive you??). There’s a lot to discuss (and a lot to unpack), but perhaps most importantly, this is a time to stock up on snacks. Your parents are here and can still help you out ~financially~ with your snack stash, or at least the more tame snacks. Once your parents leave, then you can go back to the store and get the Mint Oreos, Takis, and bucket of Red Vines that you’ll stock your desk with throughout the academic year. That said, here is our list of dorm move-in day snacks—useful for dorm move-in day and beyond.
- Jin Ramen Mild Korean Style Instant Noodles
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It is a basic rule that you have to have some instant noodles on hand in your dorm. Whether it is for a late-night study snack, to make up for a missed dinner at the dining hall, or you caught that cold going around your floor, some hot salty broth and delicious noodles are the way to go. Plus, these noodles are absolutely restaurant quality. Sporked senior writer Jordan Myrick called them “bouncy and tender and perfectly chewy” and noted that the “broth is also spectacular.” Throw a couple packets of this in your desk drawer—you’ll forget they are there and then one night you will need ramen and then—TADA!—ramen you shall have.
Read the full ranking of the best instant ramen
- Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar Goldfish
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Goldfish are the ultimate study snack. They are tastier than pretzels, less messy than Cheetos, and live somewhere in the realm between junk food and acceptable snack you would feed a child, so your parents will be on board as well. They have the perfect kick of salt without being too oily. And these flavor-blasted Goldfish specifically edge even more toward the junk food realm, what with the bold “cheddar powder that enrobes these little crackers” and as Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart put it, the powder, “so wonderfully complements the baked-in cheddar flavor that you know and love.” You gotta add some of these to your dorm move-in day snack stash.
Read the full ranking of the best Goldfish flavors
- Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter
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One great way to make friends in college is to host movie or TV nights with other people from your hall and your classes. One even better way to make friends? Provide them with movie theater-level popcorn and make the whole building jealous with the smell. BUT DON’T YOU DARE F$%&@*% BURN IT AND SET OFF THE FIRE ALARM. That is NOT a good way to make friends. That is a good way to make sworn enemies with hundreds of people at once. Don’t worry though, all you have to do is stand there while it pops and when the popping is a few seconds apart, take it out. Also, get this specific popcorn that “mimics the alchemy of delicious movie theater popcorn” nearly perfectly. This is the real deal. Plus, you can convince your parents to buy it for you since it will help you make friends and they definitely want you to have friends.
Read the full ranking of the best microwave popcorn
- 365 Organic Green Tea and
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You will get sick. That is how college works. Tea and honey will help, and having them on hand ahead of time is ten times easier than trying to go to the store with the sniffles or asking your roommate to go for you.
Read the full rankings of the best tea and the best honey
- Gatorade Chocolate Chip Protein Bar
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You will sleep in later in college than you EVER have before in your life. I don’t know what it is about those dorm beds but I could never sleep past 9 a.m. and then—BAM—college made me a “sleep in till 11” kind of gal. That being said, you may miss the dorm’s breakfast window every now and then, and having these protein bars around will ensure that you are still fueled and ready for class regardless. Plus, they just taste so frickin’ good. Gwynedd described these chocolate protein bars from Gatorade as “big, fat Nestle Crunch bars,” and hey, who doesn’t want to eat that for breakfast? PLUS, your parents won’t want you skipping breakfasts and will support this purchase. PLUS PLUS, if you get tired during the actual dorm move-in day itself, you will have a little protein-packed pick-me-up to share with the fam.
Read the full ranking of the best protein bars
- Guayaki Traditional Terere Yerba Mate
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Sometimes in college, you will have what is called a Yerbamergency, aka when your group project group bails on you and you have to write a whole research paper by yourself in one night and you start at 11 p.m. and finish around 5 a.m., but then you have to wake up for class at 9 a.m. and you need some way to at least get your brain through 1 p.m., when class ends and you can conk out. Enter, yerba mate. It is just tea (is what you tell your parents so that they buy one for you). What it really is, is very, very caffeinated tea. Sometimes it takes a bit of energy drink-level-caffeinated tea to get you through the day and that is just a fact of life. And this specific flavor of yerba mate is so good. Why? Because, as Jordan put it, it “tastes like actual tea,” so you won’t feel gross drinking it in the morning, plus it is easier to keep around for emergencies than coffee is.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!