While preparing to send his first child to college, Jeremy Marks quickly realized that all the free “dorm essential” checklists online were incomplete. He spent hours and hours cobbling together a comprehensive list to ensure his son didn’t show up to school having missed something important.

Then there were more hours upon hours reading reviews and shopping for individual products. And the worst part was trying to organize when and where it would all arrive on campus since Jeremy’s son was attending school across the country. What needed to be purchased in advance? What could be picked up at local stores? What should ship to the dorm vs. mail centers?

Jeremy shared the massive Excel spreadsheet with his wife Julie, who nearly passed at the overwhelming number of items, product links, and tracking notes.

With their second child only a year younger, Jeremy wanted to make the daunting list of building a college packing list, selecting items, and managing the whole process of getting ready for move-in day easier for himself and other families.

So, The Dorm List was born to help rising freshmen and their families save time and money while reducing stress.