People often say an international student's U.S. experience begins by sleeping on the floor. That really was true for me.
I am now a graduate who spent three years living in the United States. As another back-to-school season begins, I keep thinking about my own arrival. If I had to do that first landing again, I would still be capable of making plenty of mistakes. The easiest one is not forgetting a storage bin. It is trying to finish your entire life setup immediately.
Many students really do begin with a new mattress on the floor. The bed frame has not arrived, there is no desk, and a suitcase becomes the nightstand. Some people spread out a thick coat and sleep on the floor for one night. If you can shower, charge your phone, sleep, and find your classroom the next morning, the day was successful.
When I first arrived, everything at the store looked essential. With a new semester's living budget in hand, it was easy to buy a full cart at regular price. Later, many organizers, cookware sets, and decorations went unused, while graduating students and local groups began offering the same items cheaply or free.
The first-week rule is simple: start living, learn what you actually have, and spend last.
Arrival Day: Make Tonight Work, Not the Entire Semester
Keep your passport, visa, I-20, and school documents with you. Do not put them in checked baggage or a consolidation shipment. At your housing, first confirm that the lock, hot water, electricity, heating, and air conditioning work.
Then photograph the room before unpacking. In a dorm, record the original condition of the furniture and walls and report problems through the school's process. In an apartment, photograph scratches, floor damage, stains, broken furniture, and missing parts, preferably sending the record to management or the landlord that day. Those photos can show that the damage existed before you moved in, protecting your deposit and helping you avoid a large repair charge at move-out.
If you still need a Target, Walmart, or neighborhood-store run that evening, buy only what you cannot manage without overnight:
- correctly sized bedding and a pillow;
- toiletries, a towel, shower shoes, and toilet paper;
- trash bags, minimal cleaning supplies, and a few hangers;
- water, simple food, and one set of tableware for that night and the next morning;
- charging accessories your phone and laptop need immediately.
One important charging note: people often call U.S. power "110 volts," but residential supply is generally described as about 120V/60Hz, while China commonly uses 220V/50Hz. A plug adapter changes the plug shape; it does not convert voltage. Check the charger's label. A device marked Input 100-240V will usually need only a compatible U.S. plug or plug adapter. Do not connect a 220V-only appliance directly. High-power items such as hair dryers, kettles, and rice cookers are often safer and easier to buy locally.
After checkout, photograph the paper receipt and keep the order email. The point is not to return everything. It is to keep an exit available. Under Target's current return guidance, for example, many new, unopened items sold by Target have an eligible return or exchange window, but exceptions can depend on the product, seller, receipt, and condition. If an upperclassman later offers the same item for less or a local group gives one away, you may be able to return an eligible duplicate.
A receipt is not trash during move-in week. It is your permission to change your mind.
Day 1: Understand the Housing Before Ordering the Room
If You Live in a Campus Dorm
Open your own school's Housing or Residential Life page first. Cornell's What to Pack page, for example, lists provided furniture, mattress dimensions, prohibited items, and supplies roommates should coordinate. Another school, building, or room type can be completely different.
Before a second order, confirm:
- Is the bed Twin, Twin XL, Full, or another size? Fitted sheets, mattress pads, and protectors differ, and the wrong size means another trip.
- Are a desk, chair, lamp, refrigerator, and microwave already provided?
- What are the rules for power strips, wall fasteners, heating appliances, and open flames?
- Should packages use the dorm address or a mailroom address? When does intake begin, are mattresses and other oversized items accepted, and how long are packages held?
That last answer determines whether pre-ordering is sensible. One mailroom may hold packages for a while; another may require pickup within days or refuse oversized items. A carrier's "delivered" notice does not always mean you can collect the parcel before campus intake is complete.
If You Rent Off Campus
Before signing or moving in, ask upperclassmen, students at your school, or people familiar with the area whether the building and the walk home feel safe at night. Attractive listing photos do not tell you whether the route works for a newly arrived student without a car.
After move-in, check the lease and move-in checklist for:
- whether the unit is furnished and which furniture belongs to the landlord;
- who pays for water, electricity, internet, gas, and trash;
- whether deliveries go to the front desk, package room, or door; whether oversized items are accepted; and how long they are held;
- whether a freight-elevator reservation, deposit, fee, or certificate of insurance is required;
- whether certain weekday or weekend moving windows are free.
Building rules vary widely. A freight elevator may cost money at one property and be free only at set times at another. If you do not ask first, a "free" desk can become expensive after vehicle rental, movers, and elevator fees.
Days 2-3: Visit Stores, but Do Not Treat Every Visit as a Purchase
It is useful to see Target, Walmart, IKEA, the campus bookstore, and neighborhood stores. Think of these trips as price and selection research. Student offers, back-to-school promotions, memberships, and campus partnerships are not permanent or universal. Target, for example, maintains a College Student Appreciation page, but the current offer, verification method, products, and dates still need to be checked. Confirm an offer in the app, a school email, or the store before counting it in your budget.
Buy the genuinely frequent-use items first: laundry supplies, correctly sized bedding, a lamp you truly need, and materials required immediately for class. Plastic drawer units, full cookware sets, standing mirrors, decorative lights, air fryers, and viral "dorm essentials" should wait until you have lived there for at least three nights.
Why wait? You do not yet know what your roommate brought, what fits, how much your meal plan covers, or what graduating students will list. The more you buy at regular price during the first days, the more frustrating it is to see the same thing given away later.
Used Is Fine, but Ask Who Will Get It Into Your Room
Campus groups, CSSA chats, local Xiaohongshu groups, Facebook Marketplace, and local Chinese communities often have moving-sale items. Desks, chairs, lamps, small shelves, dishes, and kitchen tools can be inexpensive or free.
Do not ask only, "How much?" Also ask:
- Can the seller bring it to your building or room?
- Can it be disassembled, and what are the dimensions?
- Will it fit your vehicle, elevator, and doorway?
- How many people are needed, and can pickup happen during daylight?
If the seller has a car and can make a quick delivery, that may save a substantial amount. If they will not deliver, you have no car, and you need a rental or movers plus a freight-elevator reservation, free furniture can cost more than a new item with delivery.
I recommend buying a mattress new. This is not about looking down on used goods. Upholstered furniture is difficult to inspect completely, and introducing bed bugs into a room can cost far more, financially and emotionally, than the amount saved. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains bed bug prevention and control information. For other local pickups, meet during daylight, bring a classmate when possible, avoid unfamiliar locations at night, and do not prepay before inspection.
Days 4-5: Learn the Campus Before Deciding What Is Missing
Walk your class route. Learn how the student ID, campus Wi-Fi, dining hall, laundry room, shuttle, and mailroom work. If you live off campus, try your route home in the evening and check the actual lighting, bus schedule, and walking distance.
Each night, ask three questions:
- What repeated problem from today would this purchase solve?
- Does my roommate, landlord, or building already provide it?
- Would I pay to move it again next semester?
If you cannot answer, wait. Many new students are not short of things; they are simply uncomfortable with an unfinished room. An empty corner for three days does not hurt. An impulse purchase can occupy the room for a semester.
Days 5-7: Put the Remaining Gaps on a “Supplies from China” List
After a few nights, put the items you still have not found locally, but genuinely miss every day, onto one separate list. Asking family to send that list now is far more accurate than asking on arrival day.
Spare Glasses Are Essential, Not Optional
If you wear glasses, I strongly recommend bringing at least one spare pair, and preferably two. If your everyday pair breaks, disappears, or loses an arm, glasses immediately stop being something you can “buy later.”
Getting a new pair in the United States generally requires a valid eyeglass prescription. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Eyeglass Rule guidance explains that a prescription comes from a refractive eye examination and that ophthalmologists or optometrists must provide patients with a copy after the exam. State law may also require information such as an expiration date. For a newly arrived student who does not yet understand their insurance or nearby clinics, arranging an exam, obtaining the prescription, and choosing frames can take time.
If your prescription is stable, prepare your everyday and backup glasses before departure. If you are already in the United States and your spare pair remains in China, put it on the family shipment list. Keep digital copies of your prescription, pupillary distance, and old glasses information as well.
A ¥200 Pillow Can Cost ¥3,000 to Ship in a Hurry
When I first arrived, the hardest adjustment was not food. It was the pillow. I could not sleep comfortably on the new one, and jet lag made every night worse. Eventually, I asked my family to send the two pillows I normally used.
The pillows themselves were worth only a little over RMB 200. I did not understand international shipping options and cared only about getting them quickly, so I used SF Express. This was my personal experience three or four years ago, and the shipment ultimately cost about RMB 3,000. This is not a criticism of the carrier. Pillows are bulky, and international express pricing can make that volume expensive. An inexpensive product is not necessarily inexpensive to ship.
That experience gradually introduced me to consolidation. I was still buying decor, clothing, stationery, and small daily items on Taobao because I did not yet know local stores well. I later learned that Taobao orders could first go to a warehouse in China, be consolidated after intake, and then ship to the United States through Cainiao. Purchase, warehouse intake, consolidation, and international tracking were also easier to follow as one process.
For a first walkthrough, read How to Buy from Taobao in the USA: Complete 8-Step Guide.
One qualification matters. During an eligible promotion, claim any available offer first, then try the Cainiao U.S. promo code USAVE at international-shipping checkout. Whether the promotion and USAVE can be combined, the amount saved, and any minimum spend depend on the checkout result for that order. Do not build a fixed percentage or a promised “double discount” into your budget.
Complete payment only after the page confirms that the code was applied and the amount due decreased.
Open Cainiao, check the current U.S. route, and enter the Cainiao U.S. promo code USAVE at checkout
Edit the List One More Time Before Shipping
During my first few years in the United States, almost anything beyond furniture could send me to Taobao first: decor, clothing, spare glasses, small Chinese gifts, or cravings such as hot pepper soup mix, rice noodles, Henan-style stewed noodles, and hot-pot base. Some sea shipments in that period arrived in roughly a month, but that was a past personal experience, not a current delivery promise. Warehouse handling, route availability, customs, and peak-season volume all affect timing.
Now I would take three steps:
- Check local Asian groceries and U.S. retailers first; many Chinese foods and seasonings are already available locally.
- Compare the Taobao checkout price, China domestic delivery, international shipping, and dimensional weight.
- Check current warehouse and U.S.-route rules before deciding that the item can actually ship.
Items more likely to remain on the list include spare glasses, familiar stationery and hair accessories, sewing kits, cable clips, precisely sized small parts, lightweight clothing, fabric organizers, and small Chinese gifts for roommates, professors, or new friends.
Do not order food, medicine, liquids, powders, batteries, or electronics based only on past experience. A seller saying "it can ship" does not prove that the current Cainiao U.S. route and U.S. import processing will accept it. Mattresses, furniture, plastic drawer units, standing mirrors, pillows, and bulky bedding also deserve caution because dimensional weight can erase the price difference.
Do not tell family, "Send everything in my room." Make an itemized list with purpose, material, quantity, dimensions, and whether anything contains a battery, liquid, or powder. Ask for photos. After warehouse intake, remove anything already purchased in the United States, incorrectly sized, or too bulky. Do not ship it merely because it has already reached the warehouse.
Compare total cost on the same day:
China purchase price + domestic China shipping + international shipping + possible taxes or surcharges
Against:
U.S. price after sales tax + pickup or delivery cost + the value of easier returns
If the U.S. item is only slightly more expensive but works today and has an applicable return option if the size is wrong, local purchase is often easier. A China-to-U.S. shipment makes more sense when there is no good local substitute, the item is compact, and a later arrival will not disrupt daily life.
Do not rush to fill the room during your first week. Start living, then gradually learn the school, local stores, used-goods market, and options for supplies from China. Along the way, you will find choices that fit your life and your budget far better.
This is the first-seven-days guide I can now assemble as someone who has already made the mistakes and learned the alternatives. I hope sharing those expensive lessons and later discoveries gives newly arrived international students something genuinely useful.