College Apartment Move-In Checklist: Paperwork, Utilities & Setup

Moving into your first college apartment is a different job than moving into a dorm. Nobody hands you a key and a furnished room — there’s a lease, utility accounts, a security deposit to protect, and an empty kitchen. Miss a step and you’re eating takeout on the floor with no wifi for a week.

This checklist covers the whole sequence in four phases. It’s part of the first apartment collection, and if you’re coming straight from a residence hall, Dorm to First Apartment covers what changes.

Quick answer: Two weeks out: confirm the lease start date, set up electricity and internet in a tenant’s name, and get renters insurance if the lease requires it (most college-town leases do). Move-in day: before unpacking anything, photograph every wall, floor, and appliance — timestamped photos are what get your deposit back. First week: kitchen basics, cleaning supplies, shower curtain, trash cans. First month: everything else. Total first-apartment budget: roughly $1,000–$2,500.

Phase 1: Before Move-In Day (1–2 Weeks Out)

The paperwork phase. None of this is fun, and all of it is worse if you leave it for move-in day.

• Confirm your lease start date and key pickup time. In college towns — State College, Ann Arbor, Madison, anywhere thousands of leases turn over the same August week — leasing offices are chaos on turnover day. Know exactly when and where you get keys.
• Set up electricity. Call the utility or sign up online with your lease start date. In most college apartments this must be in a tenant’s name or the power gets shut off after the previous tenant’s account closes.
• Schedule internet installation. The one everyone forgets — installation appointments can run 3–10 days out during August turnover. Order two weeks early.
• Check what’s included in rent. Water, sewer, trash, and gas are often (not always) included. Your lease says which; whatever isn’t included needs an account.
• Get renters insurance if the lease requires it — and consider it even if not. $10–$20/month covers your electronics against theft, fire, and water damage.
• Split accounts with roommates. One person takes electric, another internet — so no single person floats every bill. Track shared costs with our expense splitter.
• Change your address with your bank, Amazon, and the campus registrar. Forward mail through USPS.
• Reserve the loading zone or elevator if your building requires it.

Phase 2: Move-In Day (Document Before You Unpack)

Your security deposit — often a full month’s rent — depends on the condition report. Do this before a single box comes inside:

• Photograph everything: every wall, floor, ceiling corner, window, and inside of every appliance and cabinet. Timestamped photos, backed up to the cloud.
• Video walkthrough narrating anything damaged: “scratch on kitchen counter, stain on bedroom carpet.”
• Fill out the move-in condition form and keep your own copy. If the landlord doesn’t provide one, email your photo list to them so there’s a dated record.
• Test everything: every outlet, faucet (hot water?), burner, the fridge, locks, windows, smoke detectors. Report failures in writing the same day.
• Locate the breaker box and water shutoff — you want to know before you need to know.
• Clean before unpacking. Even “cleaned” units benefit from a wipe-down of shelves, drawers, and the fridge while they’re empty. Full list: First Apartment Cleaning Checklist.

Phase 3: First Week (The Functional Minimum)

You don’t need a furnished apartment in week one. You need to sleep, shower, eat, and take out trash:

• Mattress, bedding, and pillows — the one thing worth having ready day one (bedroom setup guide)
• Shower curtain, liner, and rings (the #1 forgotten day-one item), towels, toilet paper, hand soap (bathroom essentials)
• Kitchen minimum: one pot, one pan, knife, cutting board, plates/bowls/utensils for each roommate plus two, dish soap, sponge (full kitchen list)
• Trash cans and bags for kitchen and bathroom
• Basic cleaning supplies: all-purpose spray, paper towels, broom or vacuum
• First grocery run — our first apartment grocery list covers the pantry staples
• Lamp for any room without ceiling lights (more common than you’d think)
• Power strips, phone chargers, wifi router if you’re not renting one

Phase 4: First Month (Everything Else)

Live in the space for a couple of weeks before buying furniture — you’ll learn what the apartment actually needs, and you’ll avoid the classic mistake of over-furnishing a small living room. Then work through furnishing a first apartment on a budget and the living room setup guide.

• Couch or seating, coffee table, TV stand
• Desk and chair if you study at home
• Curtains — college apartments often come with broken blinds and streetlights
• Doormat, shoe rack, spare-supplies stock (light bulbs, batteries, plunger — buy the plunger before you need it)
• Decor, once you know the space

What to Skip

• A printer, a toolbox beyond a screwdriver and hammer, and specialty kitchen gadgets — buy them when a real need shows up, not before.
• Matching furniture sets. Facebook Marketplace in a college town in August is a used-furniture goldmine; in May it’s practically free.
• Anything the unit might already have — measure and check before buying a microwave, and confirm whether the building has laundry before buying a drying rack.

Bottom Line

The apartment version of move-in is 20% shopping and 80% sequencing: utilities before move-in, photos before boxes, function before furniture. Start the paperwork two weeks out and the rest is just unpacking. For the complete room-by-room list, see the First Apartment Checklist, and use the budget calculator to plan what the whole setup will cost.