<p>1) Any suggestions for other than the Holiday Inn?
I called Holiday Inn (800 # as well as called directly), but it is already booked. I asked them what they'd recommend for another nice close hotel and they said the Best Western. Anyone have any experience there? I did hold rooms at the Coconut Grove Doubletree but don't know how convenenient that is? (I know there will be ALOT of traffic!) We stayed at the Courtyard Dadeland in Feb and did not like it because of the construction/distance. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
2) also, we will buy most dorm items there - is there a Bed Bath and Beyond closeby? or Target?
One last thing - anyone have any experience with collegeboxes for shipping clothes etc. It looks pretty efficient.
THANKS!</p>
<p>There's both a BB&B and a Target about 2 miles down the road from the school. We plan on hitting both ourselves.</p>
<p>As for a hotel, I think anything within a few miles will be fine. They are all going to be crowded that weekend. The Doubletree seems like a good option-we are considering it also. We want to go down a week early, stay at the beach and make this our family vacation, then head over to CG on the 18th. Any suggestions for somewhere in Miami Beach?</p>
<p>What are collegeboxes?</p>
<p>When we visited, we ended up at the Gables Inn, as the Holiday was booked. Its only advantage was it is right across from UM and our S could get back and forth on his own, which he did a few times. But it is not like a Holiday Inn or Doubletrees - more like a Motel 6! It was clean enough and servicable but nothing more. Some things were broken - like we couldn't use a drawer because it had no drawer pull. They provide breakfast in the tiny lobby (you can carry it back to your room). The cold cereal, unimpressive bagels, and white bread toast were nothing to write home about but enabled us to eat quick and get going. If your budget is tight, it is cheaper too. So if you want to be close and are willing to "rough it" give them a call. Ask for a room on the quieter side.</p>
<p>I wasn't sure if I could put down websites, but if i can, it's <a href="http://www.collegeboxes.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeboxes.com</a>. It's a delivery service, but they will deliver right to the drom room door. UM is listed - by dorms - but it's too early for the delivery date.
Best Western has a shuttle to UM, so that's why I was considering them...</p>
<p>A word to the wise.......any purchases at BB&B and Target should be done early morning. We, unwisely, waited till late afternoon to do some shopping at Target and most items were gone or picked over. Had to make a trip back the next morning after night re-stocking of shelves in order to find some items. Also much easier lugging the stuff into the dorm using the carts while parked in the drop off parking. Once your car is unloaded you will be asked to move your car into long-term parking (which for Stanford/Hecht is the Parking garage out by Ponce). Then when you get back from Target, you have to lug all the stuff on shuttles or walk the 1/2 mile to the dorm in what will amount to amazing heat. Of course....it will immediately cool down after all the work is done. LOL Move-in day is always the hottest day of the year. Learn from my mistakes!! :)</p>
<p>UM's freshman move-in was relatively painless, especially if like us were in the first group of move-ins. If you find yourselves in the later afternoon group, you might call housing and see if you can move in in the earlier group. There is just too much to do for both parents and students alike to try to fit it all in during late afternoon. </p>
<p>A couple other tips:</p>
<p>Students.....first thing after getting your room key.......go get your CaneCard ASAP. You'll need this almost immediately. This is usually located in the UC. During summer break you will get an application which you can do prior to arival on campus. This will save you time, so do it in advance and let others stand in line for hours! :) Then all you have to do is pick it up.</p>
<p>Parents: Be sure and check out the parents seminars. They really are very helpful.</p>
<p>1tcm-Thanks for all the tips. I'm sure we'll be looking to you for advice all summer. Fortunately our last name starts witha B and we are slated to move in with the first group on 8/19.</p>
<p>Thanks also from me, 1ctm! We are in the second group (Friday afternoon). I think that will work fine as my guys (H and S will do move in) will arrive by Thursday morning. They can use Thursday to run errands and get over jet lag, sleep in or do some more stuff Friday AM, and then move in. I feel bad for the folks who don't move in until Saturday AM. With orientation starting Saturday PM, that's a bit tight. </p>
<p>I will miss the move in but it is hard to justify spending for another coast to coast trip. Anyone know when parents weekend is????</p>
<p>Wish-
Family weekend is Oct.7-9.</p>
<p>How do we know what group we are in? Is it alphabetical?</p>
<p>candie.....It has been alphabetical the last couple of years. Like a to h Friday morning, i to r Friday afternoon and s to z Sat. morning. As long as you realize that while moving the stuff into the dorm doesn't actually take that long.....organizing it, building lofts, getting other supplies bought, setting up bank accounts, mailboxes, dealing with scheduling questions, financial aid and even having enough time to start making friends will take the better part of both days. Or maybe we were just slow?? :) No reason not to get some of it out of the way prior to actually moving in your stuff if possible if you happen to have a later checkin. You don't want to have to miss any of the orientation stuff because you are still trying to deal with all this stuff.</p>
<p>All in all...move in runs pretty smoothly. Much more so than I'd have imagined. The longest lines are at the elevator's for the towers...because I'd say 75% of the new freshman are moving in the same day...same buildings. If you are in either Eaton or Mahoney/Pierson you won't have any lines since the upperclassmen don't move in till a few days later.</p>
<p>You'll receive a packet in the mail this summer with move in directions, but it is also usually posted on the web site. <a href="http://www.umiami.edu%5B/url%5D">www.umiami.edu</a>. Look under Orientation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the everyones' ideas - luckily we're in the Friday a.m. group, and we've decided to book the Doubletree.
I was also trying to figure out Parent's Weekend reservations, but the Orientation link doesn't have much info yet. It seems to be Oct. 7-9, which is the Fri-Sun of Columbus Day weekend. Does anyone know, from past experience or otherwise, what actual days we should plan to be there? Are there events on Friday during the day (so we should fly in Thurs night) and can we plan to leave on Sun afternoon, or should we postpone to leave on Monday? (at the risk of sounding too obsessive, it's Columbus Day weekend, so we'd like to plan ahead if possible). I would think that hotels would book up too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the parent's weekend dates. Does everyone have parents that come? My H thinks we should plan a visit for midwinter, not early October. What happens to kids whose parents don't come? Do they feel very left out or is it not such a big deal?</p>
<p>Mishdood, you aren't obsessive at all. We plan ahead the same way, esp. as we have to fly in from the west coast. But I'd wait a bit before booking the graduation weekend reservations :) !</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on collegeboxes. Does anyone know when they deliver the stuff to the dorms? The website doesn't say yet. We will be shipping stuff and want to have it there when we move in - not 2 days later. Anyone have experience with collegeboxes in previous years? Or any other experiences with shipping cartons to freshman at UM? Thanks.</p>
<p>wish.....I can't speak for all kids, but for us.......we didn't go to parents weekend. We just couldn't do it with our work schedule. Our son could have care less. He said that actually it is not as big a deal as what most parents make it out to be. If I were you, I'd ask your son and if he doesn't mind, I'd make it a mid-winter trip as well. The only advantage to October over say January would be if you want to take in a game at the Orange Bowl. You could always check out the athletic schedules on the website before you make your arrangements. </p>
<p>You guys also might want to double check your parents weekend info....It was in October sons freshman year.....but it was in February this year. Have they definetely moved it back to October? I haven't heard. </p>
<p>Sorry I don't have any info with shipping......:(</p>
<p>When we were down for Admitted Students Day they gave us a list of important dates and listed Family Weekend as Oct 7-9. They said that they switched back to this weekend to include a home football game-something which the families enjoy.</p>
<p>Wish-I know with my older son's school, may parents are not able to make it for the weekend and it is fine. Parents that are there usually "adopt" their kid's friends and dormmates and include them in their plans. You could then return the favor when you go down mid-winter and the kids would get to have 2 special visits.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. When my older D went to Grinnell, I did the move in and as neither H nor little brother had ever seen the campus, we all went, along with my mom, for parents weekend in Oct. It was great and D was so proud that she was the only one or so it seemed whose grandmother came! My H had really pulled for Brandeis vs. Grinnell and D was eager to show him what a great choice she had made. We also "adopted" some kids from D's hall and took them out to dinner with us, as we did every time we visited Grin.</p>
<p>But this time it feels different. We were all there for 5 days checking out the school, and have a very good idea of what it will be like for S. An expensive trip in Oct. just doesn't seem warranted.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies - you made me feel a lot better about the possibility of not going.</p>
<p>Don't forget the BBandBeyond service of ordering at home store,picking up at location close to the University.Works really well,you scan items as if its a bridal registry.relieves the anxiety of the local U store being out of stock.A quick phone call the day before to the U location store to verifyand inform of time of arrival. This worked very well with our D's college.I believe Target may offer the same service.</p>
<p>We registered for the "pack and hold" for BBB and will pick up the mattress pads, fiberbed, etc. in FL. Great system (or hopefuly we'll find that it is a great system!)
We will have some boxes, I think, to ship (those washed bed sheets, etc) and am trying to decide between college boxes and USPS. The website says collegeboxes will deliver to the dorms on 8/19, 8/20, etc. Haven't found anyone with experience, but I think it must be OK, or the school wouldn't refer us to them.
Also, has anyone decided to buy the "back to school bundle"
Dell computer? We're leaning toward it, as the pricing is better than what I can come up with, even on Dell's small business site.
See you all soon!</p>
<p>How did you register at BB&B-can it be done online or should we go into the store? I also think I'm going to give collegeboxes a try. It sounds very convenient-let's hope it's not too good to be true.</p>
<p>S has been away most of the summer so far and just returned from a biodiversity study in Ecuador and the Galapagos, last night. On the way down, their flight connected in Miami and due to mechanical problems, they had to spend the night. The airline put them up in the HI across from campus. S was able to show his HS friends and bio teacher where he is going to school-very cool! He came home very excited and even sat next to a Miami professor on the plane. The trip was amazing and now he can't wait to get going on all this college stuff. One month to go!</p>
<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>Hope you all are having a good summer. We were away for about a month but are now back and getting organized for the move in.</p>
<p>S was finally assigned to Eaton - not his first choice, although I think it may be a better place than the freshman dorms. We were told that nearly all freshman are assigned to Stanford or Hecht, so were in no hurry to sign up for housing. Turns out that the date you sign up for housing matters, not only because your priority number stays with you all four years, but also because they have many more freshman starting than they expected, so housing is scarce.</p>
<p>Anyway, I just spoke to Housing regarding how to ship stuff so that it is there when he arrives for orientation, and was told that UPS cannot deliver until the first day of classes. Called Collegeboxes and they said they use UPS so have to follow the college's rules. The dorms will accept things that come via USPS, however, so the Housing office said that if we want the cartons there by orientation, to use USPS, but not too far ahead of time as they have limited storage....</p>
<p>So I am wondering if it makes sense to pay for extra weight and fly stuff out there with us.... Or to wait with stuff that can wait and send it UPS. We will buy as much as we can there. Maybe I should look into those machines that do vacuum packing....All along S has said all he needs is a few pairs of shorts and flip flops. Maybe he is on the right track!</p>
<p>Anyone else trying to sort this out? All ideas most welcome!</p>