<p>My son decided on Vandy. We're thrilled and figured better start planning for the hand-off/drop-off sooner rather than later. Any seasoned veterans out there with some advise? How soon to arrive before move in day? Stuff to get? Where to get it? etc. Any and all insight would be appreciated. Maybe I'll see you there.</p>
<p>They will be sending you detailed instructions ahead of time about what time to arrive on campus, and exactly where to line up in your car. When it is your turn to proceed to the dorms, you will be allowed to drive up to the dorm, whereupon some wonderful, smiling, energetic upperclass students will help you unload your car in about 30 seconds, and then you move your car to wherever you have been told you can put it. At least, this is how I remember it, but with the new Commons residential area, the program may be different.</p>
<p>We arrived by car the night before, and stayed at a hotel, so we could get to the staging area on time and with some sleep behind us. Those who lived within a few hours drove in the same morning.</p>
<p>We hauled the vast majority of the stuff in my car. There is an office supply store near campus, and the usual big box retailers further out somewhere, but I couldn’t find them without a map or a GPS.</p>
<p>Don’t get too worried about it yet. Enjoy the relief of having the decision made. Remind your son to read the e-mails he gets from VU, so he knows what is going on.</p>
<p>Congratulations, and good luck.</p>
<p>Welcome to Vanderbilt! The Commons drop-off is just as midmo described…blissfully easy. In fact, my husband had our vehicle and I was on foot and by the time I got to the drop off the car was empty.<br>
Our son returned the favor as a sophomore and worked all day unloading freshman cars, just as your son might do the following year. We have lived in Nashville twice, so we enjoyed seeing our son choose Vandy much more than we anticipated. There is a goodbye supper the night before you leave on the Commons under tents for parents and students on picnic tables that is very casual and upbeat. The next morning there is a final juice and light snack breakfast served in front of the Commons where you can informally mingle a bit with the Commons Dean and other Commons residential advisors and live in faculty families, and at that time you are strongly advised to say your goodbyes. Which we did. The students move on to their orientation programming. However we were going to dinner and hanging about with our own friends not far from campus and had heard that the freshmen march through the gates behind bagpipes and are greeted by those upperclassmen who have reasons to be on campus a bit early (band, sports, club leaders etc) cheering the new class on the sidelines. There is a rousing welcome speech from Zappos for the class only --sans parents. We were able to observe this welcome march from afar although we stayed a good bit away. Most families are long gone and on the road home. You can enjoy seeing this scene on youtube…a couple of these welcome marches are online to enjoy from the first and second opening ceremonies at the Commons once parents are gone and their freshman orientation is on the way. Your son will also be assigned an trained upperclassmen as a guide for the initial weeks for small group things.
Befriending the House Faculty advisor is a great thing to do as a freshman–each dorm has one. Our son and some of his friends greatly valued this relationship and return to see his advisor and they include her whenever she can find time to see them again. She took an interest in their proposals as they aged up and was available for those early letters of reference for their applications as rising sophomores for various and sundry things. The Commons is a success on many levels, and many colleges are altering their housing so that freshmen bond as a class. Duke also has a freshman only campus that is a happy memory for each class before they integrate into the larger main.
The dorm rooms for freshmen are very complete. There is really nothing you won’t have time to buy at Target or Walmart or Bed Bath and Beyond when you get there although some students negotiate those extra items online once they have their roommate assignment. But many just show up and work it out once they meet in person. It rains in Nashville 
so keep that in mind when packing shoes…our son wears light hikers that are waterproof on those days but otherwise pack for wonderful three season weather that is the envy of many other regions. It will also snow. Son’s freshman roommate was from LA and arrived with only southern California clothing, wisely deciding to buy winter gear based on the advice of students he got to know in his first weeks. No problem. That is what the internet is for. Packages arrive at the Post office and you get an email telling you to pick them up to fill in those gaps if you need something.
Issues that affected my sons as freshmen? One didn’t stick with sensible sleep patterns of any kind and had to back peddle his way into a lifestyle that supported rigorous academic pressure which he corrected. The other over committed to extra curricular teams and programs and didn’t realize he wasn’t studying enough-- then he corrected. </p>
<p>Make your freshman Parent weekend hotel reservation immediately when they post that date although it isn’t necessary at all to go to that weekend. There are other weekends that are challenging in hotels so plan ahead.</p>
<p>We were so lucky … transfers had their own move in date (early), and then D went abroad fall of junior year … so move in was after break (again, she got to arrive early). Senior year she had an off campus housing pass. I am not much help here! :)</p>
<p>But book your hotel early if you plan to stay near campus. If you want to stay away a bit, the airport area is fine … those won’t book up, and they are more reasonable. We appreciated being nearby so that we could walk back & forth, though. We needed a place to relax & unwind while getting things in order.</p>
<p>Faline2 is right about family weekend. It is September 16th to the 18th. If you plan on going (I highly recommend going) you should book as soon as possible. The hotels near campus sell-out quickly (they do increase their rates for this weekend). As both kelsmom and Faline2 have stated, the move in process works very well and is actually a lot of fun (my wife and I have moved in two of our children). Best of luck, Vandy is a great place with a lot to offer.</p>
<p>Try to encourage your student to streamline what they take. Move in is easy, but move out is on your own and can be stressful. S would be mad to read this as he moved himself out each year except that I provided limited help his senior year. I went down several weeks early each year for D to begin the process of transporting her stuff home. </p>
<p>Way on down the road advice - book hotel for commencement the first week in June of the previous year or whenever they will begin taking May, 2015 reservations! Prepare for price gouging and minimum 3 day stays for some of the properties close to campus. Nashville has many wonderful restaurants. Try to eat someplace different each time you visit and don’t let the line outside Pancake Pantry put you off from eating there at least once.</p>
<p>Does any one have any suggestions as to which side of campus is better to stay on for a visit-- courtyard vs. Marriott? Also is a car needed for parents weekend?</p>
<p>I suggest yes on the car for parents weekend. Your student will want you to go to Target or Green Hills to buy them things! Many of the Green Hills stores do offer special discounts to Vanderbilt students that weekend (or I guess they still do!).</p>
<p>Thanks for the car suggestion on parent weekend. I assumed traffic would be crazy and we’d be better off with a cab from airport. But of course we’ll need to go to get some essentials!</p>
<p>If you plan on renting a car, I would recommend getting it at the airport. It is a very easy and quick to Vanderbilt (basically you just stay on route 40 west until you hit the Broadway exit which is clearly marked for Vanderbilt). I have never hit major traffic in Nashville but then I’m frm NY were traffic is frequently heavy. My wife and I prefer to stay on West End by the Marriott (usually either the Marriott or Holiday Inn Select). They may both be sold out at this point for family weekend. Unfortunately there are no hotels that are close to the Commons.</p>
<p>Bed, Bath, and Beyond has a really cool system where you can go into the store close to you, scan all the things you want like a gift registry and then select a store close to Vanderbilt, tell them what date you’ll be there and they will have all of the stuff you picked out waiting for you when you arrive. I did it when I moved in last year and it was soooooo helpful.</p>