<p>Any tips for making freshman move in day at a large State university easier? Arrive early or very late on the first move in day? Wait a day or two to move in? Any supplies/tools we should bring?</p>
<p>Check the housing pages on your school’s Web site, there may be instructions there. I know the state uni I’m going to this fall has specific instructions depending on if you’re incoming or returning, in the dorms or apartments, and if you have an even/odd number room.</p>
<p>So looking at the Web site is a good place to start. :)</p>
<p>Here’s the thread from last year. You will find a LOT of useful information here!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1185076-move-day-tips.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1185076-move-day-tips.html?</a></p>
<p>Cry at home, not at the dorm in front of the new friends ;)</p>
<p>If you can - GO EARLY!</p>
<p>My daughter goes to a state flagship. We went about 20 minutes before opening time, parked right by the door and had no trouble. By early afternoon the large parking lot was jammed and people had to schlep quite a distance.</p>
<p>Your school may have set move in times or specific procedures. At our school, the families for the high rise dorms had to line their cars up across campus and wait to radioed to the dorm. The people who had to deal with that left VERY early - some of them 2 1/2 hours before opening time. Luckily, my daughter was in a much smaller dorm.</p>
<p>Just be glad you aren’t moving your kid into UPenn! Nothing else can quite compare to the horror and logistics.</p>
<p>Pack all his/her clothes in sturdy garbage bags. The big, black Hefty ones that resist tears. You can add the bags of clothes last, and tuck them into the nooks and cranies of the car. Takes up less space, easy to carry.</p>
<p>I also highly suggest using this method when they move back home in the spring when every item of clothing they own is wrinkled and dirty anyway. Drop the bags directly onto the garage floor, sort and wash before they ever come back into the house. Good way to transport the dirty bedding as well.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Bring along some basic tools.</p></li>
<li><p>Plan something to do on the way home. My wife and I planned an event on the way home and it helped her deal with sending away her little boy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s not always possible, but if it can be worked out with your child’s roommate to not both be arriving to unpack at the same time you will be thankful. It is much harder to have everyone in a tiny (sometimes hot and tiny) dorm room getting things straight. Good luck!</p>
<p>If the dorm does not have a/c your fans should be the last things packed in the car so they are the first things out…first things set up. </p>
<p>You’ll also want a doorstop to keep the door open. </p>
<p>Younger siblings can be great to help carry stuff and often really want to come along to see the school. This is a personal decision but we opted against it. There was plenty of people to help carry things to the dorm (it took literally no time at all), and we didn’t want to crowd an already small room that two people were trying to move into with extra people. We brought the younger brother up a few weeks later for a football game.</p>
<p>Our U has early move-in. It’s not publicized in move-in guide but is worth asking about. Getting there a day early is not bad. Also, bring handtruck in case you have to carry stuff a long way. Clothes on hangers covered with large trash bags. Then you can just walk in and hang them up. Extra people to guard stuff if can’t get it up in one trip or if you have to park stuff in hall.</p>
<p>Two best tips:</p>
<p>-If your school doesn’t provide carts/dollies, or only have a few…bring your own! Trust me, you’ll love it when you realize all the carts are gone and you need to schlep your fridge up to the 10th floor. Even a 2 wheel dolly lets you put on a fridge and stack boxes/bags on top. </p>
<p>-If your dorm is a high rise and has an elevator, don’t bother trying to ride it back down to the first floor. Walking down the stairs is faster, and you’ll find that people (in order to use the elevator) will hit the up button on their floor, ride it up to the top, and ride it all the way back down.</p>
<p>This was the best piece of advice I ever received regarding moving in general (not just to a freshman year dorm):</p>
<p>Have <em>one</em> box labeled “open immediately”. In that box you put everything that you will need to get through the first day/night…bed linens, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, pen & paper, windex & paper towels (if you’re a clean freak), bath towel, etc…make your own list.</p>
<p>I would suggest looking at <em>your</em> life over a 16-hour period, and note everything you grab in that timeframe, and how you would feel if you couldn’t find it. Put <em>that</em> in the “open immediately” box.</p>
<p>Don’t bring the family- there will be more room in the car and no one has to take care of them during the move. Both parents is nice, but the siblings and any others can make a separate trip to see the place.</p>
<p>We moved late in the day- almost everyone else was already there (couldn’t get son packing sooner). </p>
<p>Follow the rules/guidelines for your school. Son’s school divided each dorm up into 2 days- there was a dorm meeting the evening of move in day as well. Only 1/2 of the people arriving any one day and students should not miss the meeting of their floormates et al. </p>
<p>Do not plan on sticking around- let your child do his/her own unpacking, bedmaking et al and leave them alone to meet fellow residents without you around.</p>
<p>Be prepared to cry et al after you leave your child- no matter how much you think you won’t.</p>
<p>btw- when son had an apt with several roommates they staggered their arrival dates- much easier than everyone arriving at once. Only one person needed to pick up keys et al.</p>
<p>This Rubbermaid dolly ($69) from Home Depot was the best purchase we have ever made for our college moves. It holds 500 lbs. but is lightweight, folds flat, and fits in the back seat of my Honda Civic. Because you push it like a shopping cart, you don’t have to worry about balancing or tilting anything. You can load it up with boxes, TV’s, etc. and pile clothes on top. We were the envy of many, moving DS in and out of his dorm apartment last year. He kept it during the year for Costco runs or any time he and his roommates had heavy loads of groceries/laundry etc. , and he said that he frequently loaned it to his neighbors.</p>
<p>[500</a> lb. Capacity Triple Trolley-FG4401-20BLA at The Home Depot](<a href=“http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Moving-Boxes-Supplies-Hand-Trucks-Dollies/h_d1/N-5yc1vZarxn/R-100207528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#BVRRWidgetID]500”>http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Moving-Boxes-Supplies-Hand-Trucks-Dollies/h_d1/N-5yc1vZarxn/R-100207528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#BVRRWidgetID)</p>
<p>The night before talk about everyone being kind to one another. Emotions may be running high.</p>
<p>Agree with above and let things slide when things do get emotional on the day itself. DS was distant and grumpy and it was hard but had to recognize his way of dealing.
Talk through expectations before you go. We had plan of which events attending as parents, when we would see our son (not much) and the exact time we would be saying goodbye and leaving.</p>
<p>It’s a little late for this now, but it helps to apply Early Decision. This way, as soon as your kid is accepted, you can make a reservation for a motel room close to the college for the parent and kid to sleep in on the night before move-in and for the parent to sleep in the next night. </p>
<p>Regular Decision people may find themselves sleeping in the next state.</p>
<p>(The college in question was Cornell, and yes, I really did know an RD family that had to sleep in Pennsylvania.)</p>
<p>Oh and Febreeze (lots of it if dorm is older or has carpet or upholstered pieces) :)</p>
<p>I’ve worked for a couple years at a largish university in res life, and my S1 is going off to college this year, so this is mostly coming from my experience overseeing move-in day and other parents, I don’t really have first hand knowledge.</p>
<p>Know exactly what the dorms require. At the university I work at, most dorms don’t have wireless internet, so it is necessarily to bring an Ethernet cable. This is stated on the res life website, and a packet we send to each family, but you would be surprised at the number of families who come, try to connect their child’s computer to wifi, and then have to rush off to the nearest bestbuy/radioshack/whatever to get a ethernet cable (Or, come whine to me/ other res-life staff that wifi is a necessary thing and we should be ashamed that we don’t offer it… We are trying to get it implemented, but it’s not like making a house have wifi, its more expensive and complicated!) Same with knowing whether dorms have A/C or you need fans, or whatever.</p>
<p>Also- if you can, bring a dolly/cart/ other stuff to help you move in. Most colleges/universities offer carts either free or to rent, but these are often limited (even if they assure you otherwise) and get snatched up fast. If you can barrow (or even buy) a dolly, it can help lug a bunch of stuff up to their rooms.</p>
<p>Make sure your kid and his/her roomates/ suitemates have discussed and are clear on who’s bringing what. Nobody enjoys rolling into the dorm, and then argueing over who was supposed to bring the TV (or what not). </p>
<p>Go over the room, check all the appliances (A/C, sink, bathroom stuff (if applicable), whatever) with your kid before you leave. Make sure everything is working. If anything doesn’t work, report it. Let me tell you, many people just don’t do this step, and when a week later the A/C doesn’t seem to work, it may be harder to get it fixed, and (possibly) may cost you money to repair it. At many places, it is easier to get stuff fixed on the first day- maintenance is often out in full force, and there is no worry that your child will be blamed for something that he didn’t do (many colleges are known for nickle and diming students if there is any possibility that the damage was caused by them. Better safe then sorry, eh?)</p>
<p>Be polite and reasonable. This should be obvious. There is A LOT of emotion on move-in days. Sometimes it just takes one some-what rude comment to set people off. I’ve see catfights between grown women over who uses the elevator first. Its just a hectic and emotional time, don’t push people’s limits.</p>