This post was sponsored by Sears. All the opinions are mine.

I love, love, love back-to-school time. Though I don't have a kid going to college (yet, but it's closer than I like to think about), I get ideas and find odds and ends for my kids' rooms when the stores reveal their dorm room collections.

So, if you're like me, or you really do have a college-bound student, be sure to check out Sears CampusReady.

I like this site, it makes a good starting point to get your thoughts together to prepare your student for being away from home. There's lots of different areas you can examine to make sure you've covered everything on your to-do list for heading to college:

Dorm rooms - a fun and interactive way to get dorm room "look" ideas. Dorm rooms most certainly didn't look like that when I was in college!
Interactive Checklist - a pretty comprehensive online checklist of the essentials for college, or you can download and print a list of things you need if you're shopping in the store.
Shop by need a listing of Sears items by eating, sleeping, studying, playing and cleaning.
Money sense - a casual to budgeting and saving money, important concepts for someone on their own for the first time.
Fill my closet - apparel and accessories ideas for guys and girls

Don't forget to check out the CampusReady App on Facebook.

There you can make a wish list of things you need for school with the "Gift Getter", design your dorm room in 3D or find out what you and your roommate have in common (or don't) with a compatibility quiz.

Also, as college tuition costs continue to rise, be sure to enter for your chance to win money toward your child’s college tuition from Sears and Upromise!

A total of $25,000 will be awarded. Upromise members are automatically entered with a sears.com purchase through Upromise.com, or enter free at sears.com/campusready. See sears.com/campusready for full rules and complete details.