Giving gifts makes you so happy, but it is not without stress. You want the person receiving the gift to like it, use it, and hopefully like you for thinking of it! Finding a trendy gift for a college student that is also fun, useful, and affordable is particularly challenging.
Broadly speaking, gifts for college students fall into 3-4 categories. Technology, every young person has a never-ending list of tech wants and needs. Fortunately, they are easy to come by and range from expensive to affordable. Daily use items under the subcategories of cooking, laundry, travel, etc. The list below is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it does include stand out items that have been voted by college freshman boys as gifts they want to receive.
Best Gifts for a College Freshman Boy
Headphones
Here is a gift that every young guy is happy to receive. The hard part is in deciding which kind/brand of headphones to give. From the college student’s perspective, Apple air pods are by far the favorite. Wireless headphones are essential when you are busy juggling more than a couple of things at a time, and that is the life of most college students. Noise-canceling headphones are an equally valued and loved essential possession for students. Dorm life with people shouting, music blaring, etc. can make it difficult to watch the video you need for your class tomorrow. These headphones range from affordable to wildly expensive.
Splash-Proof Portable Bluetooth Speaker
College time is hard work, and every student deserves some downtime. Having your own splashproof portable Bluetooth speaker means you can take it to the beach, to a pool party, or just about any outdoor event where it will be useful. Owning one of these in college adds a bit to your popularity. Therefore gifting one of these will boost your ratings with that college student getting it!
Lap Desk
A laptop and a phone are two items that are ever-present in a student’s life. A lap desk is a gift that keeps on giving. The design allows it to hold a laptop, a phone, a wrist pad, and the in-built mouse. This lap-desk is perfect for use in bed (ideal for dorm-life) or when traveling. It provides much-needed support to the arm and wrist while allowing you to have everything you need at easy reach. It is lightweight and has a handle which makes it very portable.
A Ramen Cooker
With numerous late nights, deadlines to be met, cash-strapped days, Ramen is a staple for every college student! There is nothing like having your own 3 minute ramen cooker. Best of all, once the Ramen is ready, you can throw it in the bag to eat on the go! The ramen cooker is heatproof and lightweight. You can always consider teaming the ramen cooker with an insulated tumbler that will keep drinks hot or cold for hours.
Care Packages with Subscriptions
A very thoughtful, useful gift. Care packages include food, health, and daily use items. This site creates month-wise packages and also have care package plans that allow you to choose which months you want to send care packages. The site has an exhaustive list of schools wise packages and packages for special occasions, boys and girls, and specific diet plans.
Gift Cards
The ideal gift for cash strapped college students is one or more gift cards. There are any number of options, Amazon gift cards (for anything and everything), Starbucks cards (coffee), Netflix (entertainment), Uber(transport), Delta (travel), Bestbuy (tech)
Travel Items
Students are always on the run, and travel is part of their lifestyles. You can consider giving a single travel piece or combining two or more travel accessories. The travel kit is useful in college and for short trips. Most travel kits are also waterproof. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and are available in a wide price range. You can consider adding an accessory organizer, which will be extremely useful for forgetful and messy guys.
Conclusion
From the list of Gifts for Boys Going to College above, care packages and gift cards are probably the most versatile gifts. Before you give tech and other specific items, do a bit of snooping to find out what the gift’s recipient already has and what he wants and needs. Gifting repeats and then having to exchange them etc. is a needless waste of time and effort.
The items listed above are great gifts in themselves, and once you have shortlisted what kind of gift you want to give, you can research a bit more to find the color, brand, price range that suits you best. Gift giving for boys has never been this easy, so enjoy picking your gift and watching your college student grin with joy.