Reddit mentions of Sunbeam, White BVSBWH1001 Electric Hot Pot, 1

Aeropress. OMG, I love my aeropress.

http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm

We also have an electric kettle like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-BVSBWH1001-Electric-Hot-White/dp/B004IJ7FWU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1406214549&sr=1-2&keywords=electric+hot+pot

It takes less than 5 minutes to get from pouring water to coffee-time and that includes clean-up -- you just rinse the aeropress parts.

Super easy. So small I travel with it.

I found having a mini-vacuum really helpful. It's astounding how many crumbs and hairs collect. If you're not anticipating getting a rug/ carpeted dorms, a broom and dustpan will accomplish the same thing. There's a quality of life difference in walking on a clean floor and walking on a gross one.

A self-standing laundry bin. Freshman year I had a shoulder-bag style bag for dirty clothes. After about a month, the carry strap broke and I was left carrying a fabric tube of dirty laundry up and down stairs. The next year I got one that was soft-sided but had boning so it stood upright. So much better. Easier to get things in and out of, easier to carry, and I can fold clothes when I take them out of the dryer and put them away much easier (not that I do that now in my apartment, but as a dorm dweller it worked better).

A form of air freshener. Spray ones can be good to instantly cover smells, but they tend to be overpowering and just make everyone assume you're covering up something (ie. weed). Depending on your housing system's rules, a wax melter is a nice alternative. You're not burning anything and the smell is less obtrusive than other methods of smell coating (incense, sprays, plug ins).

Shoes for various occasions. It's easy to remember that you'll need nicer clothes, but you'll also need to footwear to go with it. Warm weather, the gym, winter, formal occasions/interviews, casual everyday. There's some cross over, but you don't want to be going to a banquet and suddenly realize all you brought with you was canvas shoes and your perfectly decent black dress shoes are at home.

Non-phone alarm. I know a lot of people are die-hard with their phones, but as someone who frequently lets their phone die or doesn't notice that it's on the verge of dying before checking out for the night, a designated alarm clock is a great thing to have. I had a dinky little thing from Rite Aid that I tucked under my pillow each night. I could hear it well enough to be woken up, but my roommates claimed they never heard it go off. I was also being woken up by literally just a clock -- I didn't have to go into my phone to shut off the alarm so I could just roll out of bed without being distracted by notifications.

A mug. Preferably one you can fit in a microwave, but also a travel mug is helpful. I bought a cheap kettle (specifically, I've had this little fucker for four years and it hasn't quit on me yet. Also good for making ramen since you can pop the top off and clean it easily in a sink) and would make tea/cocoa on a regular basis. Most dining halls I've seen will let you bring in a travel mug to fill up with coffee so you can take breakfast on the run if you didn't have time to sit down or wanted something before class. You also don't know you want a mug until you need one. It's a good thing to have laying around. It won't go unused.

You don't need to pack this ahead of time, but when you move in, make sure you've got snacks. Pop corn is great (takes up very little space and is an easy warm snack), pretzels, fruit snacks, etc. Dining halls are great (from my experience, even shitty ones are premade food that you just have to walk in and snag some food at without thinking too much), but when you're studying or just hanging out in your room snack are nice to have. Most dorms have vending machines, but a few bags of vending machine cheez-its cost as much as a full box at Walmart. It's a simple joy but a real one.

Something I think every college student ABSOLUTELY needs is this. It can cook anything and provide hot water for tea, hot chocolate, etc. I use mine at least once a week (junior in college at the moment). Also a snuggie. Let your sister buy her own university swag. My parents bought me stuff but I didn't like it.

In my experience, creams lather fine with tap water, even if it's hard. You might want to try it again now that you have some experience to work from. But if turns out you need distilled water and want a warm shave, you can always keep one of these in the bathroom.