What to bring

A list of things that CTY Coordinators don't know you need.

General

The items here are generally universal; they may not apply to a site or two. Please do not repost this list for individual sites.

Room Stuff

• Flashlight - forbidden at some sites, although people bring them anyway
• Scissors - for cutting holes in your jeans
• Snacks (no peanut/peanut products at LAN or JHU!)
  • Ramen and other instant noodles
    • Plastic forks (unless you plan on robbing the dining hall) and a microwaveable bowl (Ramen containers are NOT microwaveable)
• Vitamin water, energy drinks (now forbidden at CAR, LAN, BRI and SAR), other drinks
  • Share with your hallmates!
• Poster(s)
  • And post-its telling people not to make out with it if it features a hot guy (such as Johnny Depp)
• Bringing a speaker for free time is always cool
• Seriously, bring enough clothing so you don't have to do laundry

Traditionish Stuff

• Duct tape
• Glowsticks - for raving, learning to rave, and hitting oneself in the balls, if one has balls, or smacking oneself on the head, if one has a head.
  • Lanyard-type objects for stringraving (shoelaces are recommended)
• Rubik's Cube
• Clothes to lend for cross-dress days (guys: bring extra baseball caps because they are usually in short supply, girls: please give out the most scandalous bras you happen to own)
• Old CTY lanyards
• Black lanyard -- be careful of confiscation (white Lanyard if you were lucky enough to get one in 2007)
• A copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- the veritable Bible
• Fishnets, corsets, and other RHPS things
• Masking tape for Love Tape Day (duct tape for LAN and CAR)
• Sharpie, if you want people to sign your shirt

Other Stuff

• Camera(s)
• Deck of cards and Poker chips - kind of forbidden at CAR, but nobody enforces it
• iPod and speakers
  • A massive amount of batteries for any mp3 player(s)/CD player(s) you bring + chargers
• Frisbees, balls, or minor sports equipment
• Permanent marker (for t-shirt signing the last day)
  • Some silver permanent markers in case the CTY shirt is black
• Water bottle
• Extra batteries for your calculator
• A hairbrush and plenty of hairties (for dances, especially)
• Nail clipper
• Bubble mix (for drinking or blowing bubbles with)
• Facial tissues
• Tide-to-go
• Umbrella
• Lip Balm (for EPIC Lip-Killing weather)

Lancaster

• Snacks cannot contain peanuts; they cannot even have been made in a factory that also processes peanuts or makes peanut products. RAs WILL confiscate contraband food.
• Bathrobe and extra Towels for Thursdays
• Halloween costume
• Umbrella - but only if it pops out when you push the button (or if it's just awesome)
• Ramen - BEWARE: Except for the Shrimp kind, Cup Noodles have peanuts!!!
  • Or Bowl Appetit or Simply Thai noodles or other instant foods
  • Other food is available at Turkey Hill
• Boxers Very short shorts for BLT Taking pants off during BLT is now forbidden at Lancaster... but bring them anyway ;)
• Fancier clothes for the dances
• Clothes for Second Saturday, as well as really gawdy and intense makeup.
• Glowsticks/Shoelaces
• Duct tape (colorful!) for duct tape love day
• A Bag O' Quarters for the vending machines and washing machines
• Band-Aids. Waiting to get a band-aid should take like 5 minutes. Instead, it takes your ENTIRE QUAD TIME. 45 MINUTES. Bring band-aids. Don't lose your quad time because you got a paper cut.

Carlisle

• Sidewalk chalk
• Assorted clothing for various theme-days
  • Fishnets and copious amounts of eyeliner for girls (Goth Day)
  • Clothes for the opposite sex to wear for Drag Day (clothes you don't mind getting ripped, stretched out, dirty, etc.)
• Large beach towel for Passionfruit (Lower Quad is wet in the morning) and just for sitting on outside.
• Nail polish remover - people will love you, especially guys at the Meet Market on Drag Day!
• Eye makeup remover! Guys need it after goth day like crazy because eyeliner is so hard to wash off
• Raincoat(or umbrella - you will make MANY new friends) It rains all the time at Carlisle. Spontaneously. Hard.
• Double-Kline gear, such as magazines, especially Cosmo, to read out loud; large quantities of shareable food, especially Nutella; assigned summer reading that never gets read in Kline; your guitar and amp if you're really hardcore.
• Many quarters - You'll need 18 quarters just for one load of laundry!! For vending machines and more loads of laundry, a bag of at least 40 quarters will do you good.

Saratoga Springs (Skidmore)

• Masking tape/duct tape for Love Tape Day
  • Also for flat-ironing it into your hair
• Insect Repellent
• Fans - boys only (or girls in Penfield), especially those in Wilmarth/McClellan
  • 17" box fans fit PERFECTLY in any window and are highly recommended
• Extra towels/bathrobe
• Old clothes
• Hats (especially snapbacks for Drag Day)
• Chalk Now banned. Sob.
• Energy drinks -- Red Bull, No Fear, Monster, etc. according to the 2012 site guide it is banned
• Catholic school girlish clothes, a.k.a. uniforms replaced with Goth clothing (first session only)
• Ballerina-ish clothes, like tights (for Rina Day)
• Boots for the massive puddles found there
• Ninja gear for Ninja/Caveman/Pirate attack days (?)
• CD player - for playing CDs bought at Borders/Last Vestige/Divinyl during a town trip
• Sweatshirt - for when the air conditioning in the classrooms is being abused and wearing when you sleep in Howe-Rounds
• Expo Markers
• Rainbow stuff for Pride Day

Loudonville (Siena)

• Duct tape, strong string, and clothes hangers for Fairy Princess Day
• Clothes for Naughty Catholic Schoolgirl Day
• A backpack
• SNACKS or change for vending machines
• Fans - Ryan Hall, the boys' hall, is cramped and has no A/C
  • Girls should also bring fans and give them to the boys, some of whom are certain to have forgotten to bring one.
• Alarm clock - you might have to wake up early for showers.
• Long-sleeved tee and/or hoodie - the movie theater and the classrooms are usually extremely cold
• An umbrella, raincoat, and rain boots
• Lots and lots of clothes - there are few working laundry machines

Los Angeles (LMU)

• Bathing suits (and waterproof camera, if you have one)
• Bathrobe - if you get caught in the shower during a fire drill (Note: Fire Drills happen the day after they tell you they will happen) (not required with or without fire drills)
• Candy
• Clothing of many different types, mostly dressy, for themed dances - girls
• Comfortable shoes for dances - NO HEELS! They kill your feet.
• Cup of noodles (the food at the cafeteria can become pretty bad by the third week)
• Drag day outfit, or clothes to lend out on Drag Day.
  • Girls: baseball cap
  • Boys: Fake hair/ hair extensions
• Fan (electric) - Huesman or Doheny are unbearably hot; Whelan & Rosecrans are better, and Desmond is by far the best (Desmond, however, is not perfect. Depending on the year, Desmond residents may need to use a fan every day or never.)
• Flip flops that don't break easily and can be used in the showers (which, at least in Desmond, get pretty nasty as the session progresses)
• Hats
• Laundry hamper/bag
• Magazines / Some form of entertainment for the weekends, in which you have large durations of personal time)
• Masking and duct tape (for Love Tape Day, and to mark your lanyard/room card holder if you're prone to losing things)
• Popcorn (can be popped in the 4th floor lounge in Desmond)
• Sidewalk chalk - they often run out in the activity
• Some sort of casino outfit (People generally wear a black dress/suit. Some talented youth bring heels, but, as a word of advice, wear pumps if you're comfortable going up and down stairs for 3 hours in them.)
• Sunblock
• Sunglasses
• Sweatshirt (for breaks during night class, when it's freezing in Sunken Gardens)
• Tennis racket/balls (If Guys, both kinds are needed)
• Towels: Beach towel, hand towel, full-sized shower towel for Last Thursday
• Your lovely self! (not required)
• xkcd

Baltimore (JHU)

• Two pairs of sneakers, or durable flip-flops -- in case [read: when] the rain soaks the Gentle Slope
• Hand-held Fans -- Because we're hot.
• Umbrella, poncho, or rain jacket -- there may [read: WILL] be thunderstorm(s) or heavy rains
• Hoodie/Sweater -- for cold classrooms
• Extra dressy clothes -- for girls, for guys, for dances.
• Ridiculously flashy clothing -- For Casino Night, and possibly Cross-Dressing Day (depends on how you want to dress for that.)
• Ghost Stories
• Laundry basket/hamper/bag
• Power strip/extension cord -- power outlets may be hard to find.
• Laundry detergent, and roughly $10 worth of quarters -- for doing laundry (laundry machines take somewhere around $1.25 for the washer and dryer, however the extra-large machines take around $1.50-$1.75)
• iPhone or iPod Touch -- JHU runs a guest wi-fi network
• A non-trivial amount of spending money -- your RA group can visit many restaurants (including Chipotle, which is incredibly expensive), the local Barnes and Noble bookstore, a local movie theater, and the Inner Harbor stores over the weekends. You can also get Chinese take-out, which costs money. The Book Thing, however, takes no money (The Book Thing is a warehouse-sized store where you can get books of all genres for free. It's a bit of a walk, though.)
• Musical instruments and/or piano sheet music -- you will be able to practice during some activity periods in JHU's music rooms
• Something to do outside after lunch period -- this usually includes books, frisbees, or footballs, because you are not allowed back in the dorms between lunch and the afternoon class

Bristol

• A lot of nice clothes for dances, Casino Night etc.
• No need for desk lamp (school work isn't allowed in the dorms)
• Food
• Plastic silverware and bowls for Ramen
• More underwear than you think necessary
• Tissues
• Casino night money from past sessions
• Multiple Sharpies of assorted color for t-shirt signing
• Lots of money for pizza (Domino's) and Chinese take-out for after dances and Casino Night
• Perhaps a soccer ball or tennis racquet

Easton

• Clothes of every color for Swashbuckler (Colors/teams: red, black, white, blue, orange/yellow "Reese's", green, pink, purple)
• At least 10 pairs of underwear in case you run short before Laundry Day
• NOT a desk lamp - we don't even do homework in our dorms
• Random looking clothes for the dances: neon, sea-themed, movie/hollywood, outer space, etc
• Nice looking clothes for Casino Night & Semi Formal
• Extra Money for:
  • WaWa
  • bookstore trips
• Tennis racket
• Bug spray<especially if in Easton dorms>
• Girls: Lots of hair products for dances
• NOTE: There is no need to bring quarters for washing machines/ dryers. As of 2008, all washing machines/dryers are free.
• Expo Markers to write on the white-board on your dorm door
• Guys: Bring a lot of colgne and nice clothing for the dances. DONT MAKE OUT IN THE UPSTAIRS FARINON BATHROOM!
• SPOONS: BLAMMO! made a comeback in 12.2 however due to lack of spoons except for RAs assassins game, and a group of nevermores who brought them, markers were used.

Princeton

• Flashlights are not banned
• Tennis racket if desirable
• PASSIONFRUIT JUICE! There was none available in 2012
• Badminton racket
• Bathingsuit if desirable
• Dress clothes for semi-formal dance
• Your heart
• Your brain

Berkeley

• non-flashy clothes which you don't mind getting dirty
• water bottle
• tennis racket (although actually playing depends on availability of courts each day)
• spending money for the local area, thrifting etc.
• Power strip/extension cord -- power outlets are in awkward corners
• sidewalk chalk
• henna cones