<p>My son will be starting college in the fall and he lives about 8 hours from the school. He is considering driving there with two other boys. All of their stuff will never fit in the car. Is there any other way that some of you got your kids belongings to the school? I guess me and my husband can always drive another car with his belongings in it but did anyone do it any other way? Did you possibly have anything shipped? Rent a Uhaul? I was also told that at Bed,Bath and Beyond you can order and then have it shipped to the dorm. I would just like to hear what some of you did to get all the stuff there !!!!!! Thanks!</p>
<p>Our son was 10 hours away his freshman year. It took his car and ours to get everything there. The Bed, Bath and Beyond is a good one. You order at your own store (or online) and pick it up at the nearest BB&B to campus. They do not deliver to the dorm (that I know of.) Other friends of ours in Missour whose so attends Villanova really liked that option. I believe Wal-Mart also has an order online, pick up at the store you select feature.</p>
<p>There probably isn’t one “best” way, but here’s a discussion of lots of the choices:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/751543-shipping-stuff-college.html?highlight=shipping[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/751543-shipping-stuff-college.html?highlight=shipping</a></p>
<p>Daughter went to school across the country, so driving was not an option. Did the Bed Bath and Beyond pre-order thing which not only was incredibly convenient, but also lots of fun (like registering for a wedding). We flew Southwest so had two checked bags each, then rented a car and did one big trip to BB&Beyond and Target. Worked great, other than the part where I drove away and left her there, which wasn’t so fun.</p>
<p>We live 20 minutes away from my school. We loaded everything into our ford focus and my aunt came in her explorer to help. My parents said next time they are just going to rent a truck. To them it’s worth the money to not have to worry about it, plus then we can bring my fridge right side up so I can stock it right away.</p>
<p>When my sister went to school, she went 7 hours away and we rented one of those huge econoline vans, loaded everything up, and made a family vacation out of it. My mom and aunt, me and both sisters, and our three cousins all came. That was actually a lot of fun for everybody, some of our fondest memories came from that trip. Plus we were sick enough of each other by the time we got there that it wasn’t so hard to say goodbye. :P</p>
<p>I set up an Amazon seller account to get some textbooks, and one of the options they offer is a FedEx ground account with a 10-15% discount. (I forget which.) We’ve been amazed at how cheap it is – it seems to be much less than the rates I was charged when I used UPS as a retail customer, and far cheaper than the post office. You use their website to print out the address label and shipping information on a piece of plain paper, stick it in one of the plastic sleeves they provide and apply it to the box. We’ve been shipping stuff back and forth that way all year and it couldn’t have worked better. A large box of clothes seems to run about $15 – more clothes than would fit in a carry-on suitcase. I even figured out how to create the label and save it as a PDF and email it to her for when she needs to ship things back. Generally shipments seem to get there in about 2-3 days, and their tracking shows where the package is on a day-to-day basis. Given what most airlines are charging for luggage, this has been a much more economical option, and we plan to ship her fall stuff down the same way.</p>
<p>Greyhound has a package delivery service. Look on their website, you can get a student discount card for travel or packages. Then have your stuff shipped to college. You might have to go to the bus station to pick it up, but if the student has a car, it would work great.</p>
<p>Rent a bigger car, perhaps take both (if one is a student’s on campus car). Get a large van that seats 20 or so, put down the seats if you can.</p>
<p>wow, thanks so much for all the great advice!</p>
<p>I would put one caution on the Greyhound service. Passenger luggage has priority over packages, so during busy travel times your package may get delayed. This happened to us when shipping a musical instrument. Tracking was iffy also, which caused some frayed nerves before the item arrived.</p>
<p>I like ups. If you pack and seal your own used boxes it’s very reasonable. Ask if the university address can be considered a business or use their triple A discount.</p>
<p>One thing to consider if shipping items to school:</p>
<p>At D’s school and at S’s, on freshman move in day they have teams of older students to help move your stuff from your car into the dorm. We hardly had to carry anything at all. BUT… if you ship your stuff and it goes to the campus post office, you have to schlep it across campus all by yourself. :(</p>
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<p>We did the same thing…we each had a carryon bag, and two large suitcases…and she had a computer bag and I had an instrument case. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies when we had all the stuff piled on the curb in front of the rental car place. </p>
<p>We preordered all the big stuff (pillows, mattress pad, desk lamp etc) at BB and B. Made a trip to Target for toiletries and a small tv. Went to Staples and bought a CHEAP printer, all the printer cables, and a wireless mouse and keyboard to use with the laptop. </p>
<p>One suitcase had linens (towels, sheets, etc). Two suitcases had clothes (luckily no winter clothes). One suitcase had misc (some school supplies, etc) plus some clothes for ME…I was there for four days.</p>
<p>DD is moving back here after graduation in June. We told her to DITCH all the bulky stuff and sell all the things she won’t need (microwave, tv, etc). The rest will come back with us in suitcases…just like when she went.</p>
<p>We’re using the Southwest route as well. This is slightly unrelated, but given the way Southwest boards, we can’t figure out how we are going to get to sit together (the three of us). My aunt has never flown so I’d like to sit with her, and of course I’d like to sit with my mom…</p>
<p>Anyways, between us, that’s six suitcases and one carry on. Honestly, that should take care of everything. Six suitcases! Shoes and clothes take up a lot of space (I’m plus-sized so no tiny t-shirts!) as do linens, so it will look like a god awful amount of stuff when it really isn’t. Also - while I realize this is kind of a waste of money - I am going to buy my school supplies, other necessities (i.e., some organizers) and some of my toiletries here and ship them. It only costs $50 to send a rather large box. I never, ever get to shop. For the first time in forever I’m going to have a lump sum of money and I want to shop here, where I’m familiar and not rushed. So, in this case, $50 < utility.</p>
<p>I’m going to buy a printer and a bike lock, among other bulky items, in CA. If your bike is an issue, see if there is a campus or local bike shop - for a fee, you can often ship your bike directly to them (and they will assemble it!). I will probably have my air purifier and microwave/fridge shipped straight to an address in Palo Alto, where I can pick it up with the rental car. Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Target, and Walmart all seem to have store-to-store service for those who don’t have an address to use in their school’s town.</p>
<p>Pretty much did the same as thumper1 and Tulare for D’s 2000-mile move: did BB&B pre-ordering, took Southwest to take advantage of 2 free bags each, and bought toiletries, etc at nearby Target. We also UPS-shipped one fairly big box ahead of time, per the school’s instructions, and they had it waiting for us right in the quad. Helpful students in matching tshirts “mobbed” us when we drove up and carried most of our boxes and bags 3 flights up to D’s dorm room. </p>
<p>The school (Rhode Island School of Design) did a fantastic job organizing it all. Even the President of the school, John Maeda, was walking room to room in the dorms welcoming the students. Very cool!</p>
<p>Hey applicannot, we fly Southwest quite a bit, and one thing you might find helpful is to do the Early Bird checkin. It costs $10/ticket but is well worth it because you get a much better place in line (usually A15-A30 or something) and you get that # before others who don’t pay the $10 and have to wait until the 24 hour checkin time. </p>
<p>When you buy your ticket online, you’ll see the option for Early Bird checkin. Each of you should take advantage of it right then and you’ll get good boarding #s and should be able to sit together. Hope that makes sense!</p>
<p>My S is a sophomore at NYU - 22 hours from home. What we have learned about getting the stuff there and back is 1 - fly southwest, as others have said. Either my husband or I take him and we take four 50-pound suitcases total. We each take 2 carry ons, one of which is his printer. When he leaves in the spring, we ship half of his stuff (linens and light stuff) home UPS. </p>
<p>When he first went as a freshman, we went to BBB and K-Mart in Manhattan and bought all his linens and other essentials. Those stores deliver right to your dorm on move-in weekend. Not sure if that’s specific to NYC, but it sure helps. </p>
<p>This summer, we are renting a storage unit as the crap keeps accumulating!</p>
<p>Austinhills, that makes perfect sense. I did not know that was an option. $10 each is not a bad fee at all.</p>
<p>I will likely rent a storage unit over the summer, especially since I don’t plan on coming home for the summer. I rental unit for a couple of months can’t be THAT expensive… certainly not considerably more expensive than shipping stuff across the country.</p>
<p>OP, We had a 14 hour drive. We decided to rent a van and pack it to the gills. We waited to buy some things there after seeing room. If I were to do it again, I would use more of the BB&B program where you order the stuff at home and pick it up at school. </p>
<p>Son joined several other students to rent storage each summer, so the trips home were much less complicated, though it turned out that some of the things he left in storage were needed when he was living in apartments for internships in other cities. Oh well, his post-college kitchen will be in better shape than it would otherwise have been.</p>