<p>Great tips and the earlier threads on this topic are fantastic too! Thanks!</p>
<p>Taking along a younger sibling isn’t necessarily a bad idea. If they are old enough to carry boxes, it can ease the process. Over an 8 year period I helped move both my older sisters into college (it always that they were on the third floor w/o an elevator) and I did the heavy lifting…</p>
<p>Find out where you can and cannot park! At UT-Austin, Parking is just as ruthless on move-in days as they are every other surly day of their lives. CC is full of stories of parents who were ticketed on move-in day.</p>
<p>Sibling: We brought the younger sibling who was extremely helpful at setting up the TV, crawling under the bed to plug things in and putting things together. </p>
<p>At S2’s school you can sign up to be a “move-in helper”. You move in 2 or 3 days before everyone else, so waiting for the elevator and access to the carts was a non-issue. They even let freshmen sign up. They did have to work 4 hours a day for the 3 days of move-in, but it was worth it.</p>
<p>Pack a cooler for drinks! I did this both times and was glad to use it instead of the hall fountain.</p>
<p>At my son’s college, most families live 2 hours away, so move-in day gets really really busy at 10 AM. We stayed overnight nearby and got in and out easily at 8 AM.</p>
<p>I would provide an ethernet cable even if wireless is provided. Wireless can be extremely slow when everyone is on the web at the same time (such as Sunday evening), and it does not always work perfectly with cinderblock dorms. Wireless can also go down, in which case it is nice to break out the cable.</p>
<p>My son’s college’s wireless system conflicts with wireless printers, so you need a printer cable. Some people spent hours trying to get their wireless printer to work before they were told there was a conflict. </p>
<p>Don’t bring anyone along unless they can carry their own weight. Greatgrandma can say goodbye the night before.</p>
<ul>
<li>get there as early as possible. (D1s move-in was moved-up 2 hours bc of Hurricane Irene last year and we were #10 in line for her dorm)</li>
<li>bring your own handcart or dolly so you dont need to wait</li>
<li>bring teenage brother to carry things or as noted above, hook up stuff</li>
<li>bring various ethernet, printer & TV cables to hook up computer & TV.</li>
<li>assume the elevator will be in use, so make sure you can carry everything.<br></li>
<li>leave things that will be in the closet on hanger on them and cover w large garbage, so you can just hang and rip off plastic</li>
<li>have mom put clothes in drawers, while rest of family sorts through rest of stuff.</li>
</ul>
<p>Does anybody have any good storage/organizational tips? Ways to store and organize things during the year that one may not think of? Thanks!</p>
<p>My daughter had her bed up as high as it went, they are adjustable at her school. Or buy risers to raise your bed up. Then use the underneath for storgage. Winter clothes, boots, etc. things you don’t need everyday so it’s ok if it is hard to get to.</p>
<p>for storage:
We bought 2 large rubbermaid totes stored under the bed where she kept cleaning supplies & extra linens, also a small rolling set of drawers for small items.
Got a dorm bed shelf unit at BBBY (website not working, so can’t post link) based on recommendation of friend a year older. After H & S1 finished putting it together, her roommate showed up with the same thing, so H & S1 put it together for them!</p>
<p>Don’t depend on Target/BB&B to have everything that weekend. I needed a desk light and I planned on buying it there to save space in our car and when I got there, everything was sold out. I would ask for them to hold it for you or buy it ahead of time.
Bring a fan and electrical extension cord and put in the room first because it was so hot.
To organize, my mom bought me a Sterilite three-drawer plastic container for medicine and other small little things like an extra toothbrush. I dropped mine and needed another one fast.<br>
Another thing that I bought about after month was a divider for my drawer that I kept my underwear/socks/bra in. I had to get dressed in the dark (I had morning classes, roommate did not) and with everything separated, it was easier and faster.</p>
<p>How many towels would you suggest? I tend to over-buy, but I can’t imagine S doing laundry frequently.</p>
<p>My S’s each took two. I’m not sure S1 ever used the second one. There really isn’t a lot of room for storing extra linens and truthfully boys just aren’t that fastidious about how often their towels are washed.</p>
<p>Hmmm… I bought 4 and was thinking about buying another 2! Guess that’s overkill.</p>
<p>I brought three towels and used them. Two would have been ok but at the end of the year I got busy and didn’t have time to do lots of laundry (I can only do one load at a time).</p>
<p>If your kid only uses one towel per shower (not an 2nd one for hair), it seems like two would be plenty. At least for a start.</p>
<p>My tip, drop them off. Get a list of anything you need to purchase in town, leave them at the dorm and then get the heck away. Drop off the stuff and invite them to meet for dinner if you are staying in town and invite the new roommate.</p>
<p>I made big labels with Name, Dorm & Room #& put them on all the packages, tubs & bags.</p>
<p>Also helpful are the very large 99 cent shopping bags available at Marshalls & TJ MAxx.</p>
<p>As orientation volunteers swarm your car it was then stacked in a pile. It was helpful.
Everything got delivered!</p>
<p>We added a book shelf by buying a laminated shelf board, about 30inches long. We built four columnar feet supports for the shelf out of big old Lego blocks we already had, then set the shelf on those. We used anti-slip rubber (like they sell for shelf liners or for rugs) to keep the posts from slipping. That way she had a shelf for books, Kleenex, etc. We bought two mini-drawer plastic units that were about 10 inches tall and used those to support a second shelf.</p>
<p>We also rigged up something for the bunk bed. The container store sells a bunk bed shelf but it is small. We got a rectangular desktop organizer with a few slots and sewed fleece around it, with ties to attach the thing to the bunk bed rails. Hard to describe this, but the organizer ‘pockets’ held the alarm clock, iPod, etc. The shelf held a Kleenex box.</p>
<p>We used a stylish Target bucket as a tote. Crocks for the shower. An extra small towel for the feet in the shower. Small washable rug for wet shoes. Used one of those hanging closet organizers with see through pockets to pre pack a lot of little things like necklaces, flashlight, earplugs, etc. And an extra hanging toiletries bag for occasional use things like painkiller, antiseptic cream, etc.</p>
<p>DS had two towels but only used one whichnhensaid he washed every week or ten days. Same with sheets - never touched second sheet. Hope he really did laundry that often:)</p>
<p>Found quick-dry towels that are awesome. Light weight but very absorbent and do dry quickly which helps in wet northwest where DS at school. BB& B carries them now.</p>