We moved D into Towers several years ago and honestly I don’t remember much about it. There is a small parking lot behind the buidling, and I’m sure we were able to park there. But we didn’t have any significant problems, or I would definitely remember that!
KaMaMom–haha–good question! We have found that it helps if your child volunteers to be on the Move Crew for freshmen–the Move Crew kids get to move into their upperclass dorms before campus is officially open to the rest of the upperclass students. This greatly cuts down on the number of people and cars parked in the lanes or lots near the dorms. Also, we invested in a heavy duty thing, I think they are called hand trucks or hand carts–it is so worth having, used it for younger son and have loaned it to neighbors. (We have gotten envious and admiring looks from other parents as we wheel by with a huge load of boxes and footlockers.) All the dorms will have elevators, I think, McGill does. But back to being on Move Crew–it’s so much fun for the kids doing it and my D always enjoyed getting back to campus a little bit early to see her friends.
@LHSCary … that’s actually a great idea and I think my D would love to do it. The only problem is that we have to drive her sister to Nebraska for her freshman move in on Aug. 19. I just don’t know if I can drive from Indiana to Nebraska back to Indiana for load #2 and then to Nashville in the space of 2 or 3 days.
That just may kill me. 
Or it may cause me to kill my husband.
In all seriousness, I need to investigate the timeline further to see if that would be possible …
Thank you!!
Btw … just a reminder (because I just reminded myself!) to make those hotel reservations for move-in and Parent’s Weekend now!
I just booked online for August and there were only a couple of rooms left at our preferred hotel.
Browsing through my old emails, looks like I first received my package on June 20 between freshman and sophomore year. The following year, it was not until early July and they cited a higher volume of financial aid awards for the delay. For my senior year, came around June 20 again. If you heard May, that’s either inaccurate or they’re making some ambitious changes to the process.
Since S is in the Marching Band, we’ve moved him in the Tuesday before Move-In weekend each year. It has made move-in very easy. The first year other band members helped him take his stuff up to the room. There’s not a lot of competition for the elevator when you move in that early.
Kamamom: You can pull up to McGill on the back side (not facing the Lawn)…and get curbside parking just long enough for loading and unloading. You do have to be careful not to park in spaces assigned to a sorority house! on the same back side of McGill. Worked out fine the three semesters our son was in McGill. You do have to walk a bit more than on the Commons, but McGill does have an elevator.
We moved S out yesterday afternoon. He had a take home final that he was still working on so we didn’t get started until 2:30 PM. I ended up doing 8 loads of laundry in the basement while he and his dad packed the rest of the stuff. It was nice to get it all done at once and not have to haul dirty clothes across the country. I also washed all the bedding so that it will be clean when we move him in in the fall.
I sure hope over time the housekeeping skills he was taught will kick in. The place was a mess, but no different than the other rooms around him. He told me he and his roommate just gave up since they had no space. I think that’s a lousy excuse, but maybe there is hope for next year when they have an apartment in Lewis.
Another semester done and he is halfway through. Grade-wise he went from Dean’s List last semester to his worst performance, but all classes passedl He told us last night that he knows he has to change how he studies going forward. We could see it coming, but it’s all part of the growing up process.
We still don’t know if we’ll be sending him back to Tennessee for the summer. He is suppose to have a follow-up interview for the internship, but it hasn’t been scheduled. I don’t think that they will need him until the end of May.
Enjoy the summer with your student. I’ll set up another thread for the summer after Vanderbilt’s graduation.
The book return is complete and we have a $394 credit at Amazon for Fall semester. I calculated that we spent $190 on books for spring semester. The books that we bought and sold back were the least expensive. One book cost $1 for the semester. The other two purchased books were $20 and $66. S rented 2 textbooks at around $50 each.
I’m learning that any new edition is worth buying new and selling back at the end of the semester. You get most of the cost back since the book will still be in demand.
@KaMaMom you are correct… moving in without Move Crew SUCKS. It’s hot, crowded and not nearly so fun. Moving dollys are necessary, and short in supply. I brought scooter boards from my office and used those! Both my girls volunteered for Move crew in order to get early move in day, and even though it was less crowded, it was still hard because of parking. Move Crew is a pretty exhausting, but fun way to welcome the new class. My oldest couldn’t walk for 2 days because of the stairs, LOL! My youngest did cardboard crew, and that was a bit easier than going up and down the stairs 100 times!
So excited about graduation next week!!! Oldest finished on April 20th, and has been working in her lab and is off on a long weekend with friends right now. We are having a huge party here after graduation, and most of her friends and their families will be coming here. We will be introducing a bunch of folks to hillbilly golf and cornhole, LOL!! We even found a golden cocktail to serve. The middle one finished Wednesday, and is staying in dorms for the most part till sister graduates, or she runs out of food money. She doesn’t want to leave yet!
Thanks for the information on McGill! go2girl will also be spending her sophomore year there. Thankfully her roommate’s parents drove into town to help the girls move out. I don’t know what we would have done without them because we live on the West Coast and it is not an easy trip to get to Nashville. Looks like my husband better count on being there to help her move in. Question for those who have gone before: When do they get their fall schedules?
Question about Move Crew move-in: Will they be allowed to move in the weekend prior to First Years? Or just a couple days in advance? Hard to get from Michigan to Nashville mid-week without using up a few vacation days…
My girls were allowed to move in 2 days early. I don’t know about a whole week, though!
I know for Cardboard Crew this year, they’re letting us move in as early as the 19th (a Wednesday), with First-Year Move-In on the 22nd. It’d probably be a similar date for Move Crew.
For students who are allowed to move in early (such as move crew, etc), will the meal plan start early for them? Will the cafeteria be open?
The meal plan starts on Monday after Move-in Weekend. The Unversity does provide some food like breakfast on move-in day. The marching band program provides breakfast and dinner for the members during the week and they move-in on either Monday or Tuesday.
If a student wants to volunteer for move crew, how do they do it? Also, will we receive specific instructions on regular move in? Are there specific times that they are supposed to move in?
@gotomom. You asked about fall schedules–they should have those now, since they have already registered for fall classes, haven’t they (unless you have a freshman)?
@Faline2 … we drove behind McGill when we picked D up. It’s pretty tight back there and I foresee major traffic snarls in our future! lol!
On a bad note - D will be on the 4th floor. On a good note - she’s right next to the elevator.