Brown Parents Thread

<p>Great choices. I just wondered if you’d be getting in-state VA tuition which might tip things.</p>

<p>We didn’t visit Brown before DD applied, and she went to ADOCH on her own last year-- scheduling hurdles and she didn’t mind/preferred some independence. We saw the campus for the first time when we moved her in. I might have liked to see the campus earlier in the process, but I don’t think I missed much (anything really) in not going to ADOCH. One of these days I might go on an official campus tour and a rah-rah Brown session.</p>

<p>@mom58- Had your daughter already made up her mind before she went, or did ADOCH persuade her to choose Brown?</p>

<p>Sorry to post twice in a row, but I was wondering if veteran parents would mind sharing their advice about move-in day. It seems like parking would be the biggest issue. Also, are there students who help you move in or are you on your own? Where one of my kids went, there were students with big wheeled carts right there when we pulled up but at a different college we were on our own. Also, are there any things that your child found essential to have that might not occur to us (especially those of us who don’t live in New England)? Thank you for any and all help, it is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Parking: It depends on what dorm your kid is in. Some dorms have parking lots right outside the door. The key thing is to move your car once it is empty, and that frees up a space for the next family. I’ve watched families move their kids into Keeney, which is the largest freshmen dorm, and didn’t get the sense that anyone had significant issues. </p>

<p>Assistance: My daughter moved in a day early, so we were on our own. I just don’t remember if there were upperclassmen around to help the next day, when most kids moved in. </p>

<p>Things you need: First, remember that Providence is a city with lots of stores – so anything your kid needs can be bought there. I would recommend a fan, because sometimes it is very hot in early September. It does rain a lot, too, so rain boots are important.</p>

<p>There are enough differences among the dorms that until you see your room, you can’t know whether you’ll need bed risers, hooks, etc. Plus, if you explore the Parents Cafe here on CC, you’ll find lots of threads with lists of what to bring to college (I found those useful – my daughter gave me dirty looks when I packed duct tape and a tool kit, but both have been used.) Oh, don’t buy a safe/lockbox – there are ones in the room that cost money if you decide to use them (really irritating, too, because they take up space).</p>

<p>Thanks fireandrain. I hadn’t even thought about a lockbox. It’s funny that you mention the toolkit-- that’s actually become our default graduation gift for our nieces and nephews (along with that book about what to do about the naked roommate) after our oldest went off to school and had a neverending line of other kids needing to borrow hers.</p>

<p>Supposedly there are Bear something or others that help move people in. If you arrive early they you can get your early move-in for free (I think) if you help with that. I once helped a girl I didn’t know at all move heavy stuff into her room, from then on when I’d see her in the cafeteria she never nodded or smiled or said hey or anything. Be nice people!</p>

<p>You can buy stuff at one BB&B and do a p/u at another one (I recommend the one in Seekonk since you can park out front unlike at the mall.)</p>

<p>Thanks wolfmanjack. DH and I are getting pretty creaky so I fear we will need help. If DD’s room is 3rd floor or higher, we may be in trouble!</p>

<p>you can rent dollies from res life inside wayland arch (brown st across from maddock alumni)</p>

<p>That sounds great. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, are there elevators in the dorms?</p>

<p>freshmen dorms…Andrews might be the only one. mochamp does but can’t recall if it’s freshmen</p>

<p>Emery-Woolley has an elevator.</p>

<p>that’s the one, but they’re connected</p>

<p>@3andout</p>

<p>We are from the West Coast, so getting all of our sons things to Brown was quite a challenge. Here’s a couple of tricks we used to move our son in:</p>

<p>Bed Bath and Beyond: We ordered all his bedding, mattress cover and pad, towels, fans, lamps, closet storage and hangers, laundry hamper, etc. at the local store here at home. They give you a hand scanner to roam around the store with and scan all the items you might want. The local store then transmitted our order to their Providence store and confirmed that the items were available. When we arrived at their store in Providence Mall, they had all of the items set aside for us, we were able to look at all the items, decide which ones to keep and which ones he didn’t really want, found other things he wanted, then purchased them all. It worked out really well for us.</p>

<p>Brown Mail Room: We sent via UPS a trunk and a couple of boxes to the Brown Mail Room. The folks at the Brown Mail Room were really nice and helpful. They let him use a hand truck to haul his trunk to his dorm. </p>

<p>Lock Box/Safe: Brown supplied a lock box/safe in the dorm room. Our son uses a 15" Macbook Pro and it fit in the safe so he could lock it up when he wasn’t in the dorm room. His roomie uses a 17" Macbook Pro and his did not fit into the safe.</p>

<p>Thanks DSTDOR, for all the good ideas. Mailing a trunk ahead of time sounds really good, I never would have even thought to ask about that.</p>

<p>FYI the BBB thing is nice but if you have car I can point you to much cheaper (and less busy) stores in the area to find the same stuff more or less. There’s an Ann & Hope in East Providence a few miles from Brown. What I said about using the BBB in Seekonk stands. New people to Providence all go to the same places because they don’t know much about the area.</p>

<p>I have a feeling that, given DD’s and my neuroses, we will have purchased everything we need and more before we leave the house. DSTDOR, the mail room may be coming after you for letting me know I can send things ahead of time!</p>

<p>Seekonk is where all the big box stores are: Target, Wal-mart, BB&B, etc. There are hotels there, too. We frequently stay there because the hotels are cheaper than ones downtown. You take I195 east, it’s the first exit in Massachusetts, Exit 1.</p>

<p>Lots of students ship things. UPS sets up these temporary … not sure what they are, stations? … where the boxes are stored. I assume your boxes end up at the location closest to your dorm. We’ve never done it, and I’m not sure exactly how it works, but it looks like an impressive operation.</p>

<p>I just remember buying lots of stuff at BBB and then later going to other stores and realizing I was ripped off a bit. It seems like they charge $20-$40 for every small item. For instance an over the door coat rack thing is $15 at wal-mart, probably more at BBB, and $1.25 at Marshalls. Yes, a buck twenty five.</p>

<p>Here’s a map from Brown area to East Providence and Seekonk (East Providence is a different city FYI) </p>

<p><a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;

<p>B: Marshall’s, Dollar Tree, a grocery store, second hand store Savers (worth browsing)
C: Ann & Hope a bedding/bath store, another grocery store
D: Bed Bath and Beyond and all the stuff over there.</p>