With summer winding down and Labor Day  just around the corner, you should have most of the stuff you need to head off to school; in fact, this is the next-to-last installment in our Prepping for the Fall series.

By now , you should be pretty much down to labeling items, shipping, and reducing your load- thinking about what you don’t need and what is too much.

Label Everything
Get your parents to help.  Use Sharpie markers, name-tags, name stickers, and engravers (for the calculator and possibly the computer).

Don’t Bring Basic School Supplies
Bring the special kind of pens or pencils you can’t live without. For the heavy stuff- paper, notebooks, etc. get them at the school store.

Instrument and Art supplies
Bring/ship if appropriate.

Pack Efficiently
If traveling by car, pack in “milk crate” type containers. They make moving into the dorm and setting up your room easier.

End Vacation a Few Days Early
Give yourself at least 3 days of transition time before you have to leave for boarding school.

Don’t Bring too Much!
Too much ‘stuff’ makes passing room inspection very tricky. You can always bring more when you come back from breaks. Plus, with experience under your belt, you’ll know what you really need.

To double check you planning and packing, our full packing suggestions list is available via this article: Going to a Boarding School?

Additionally, our friend Rob Kennedy who covers private schools for About.com has put together some packing tips of his own (Essential Gear for Boarding School) and I noticed that he touches on item that I omitted- a charge or ATM card. Each school addresses student spending differently. Some schools reply almost exclusively on school- administered/school charge or drawing accounts. Some schools require students to open and maintain a local bank account. Make sure you know how your school works with student spending and plan accordingly.