<p>I have been fretting about how my son is going to pack, move out of his dorm room, and get his things to storage over the summer. His last final is on May 21st and he has to be out of the dorm at noon on May 22nd. I can just imagine all the smelly moldy things that will be in his trunk/boxes when he unpacks next Fall. I’ll probably drive my son crazy nagging him to dryclean/wash/dry everything before he packs (and he will promptly ignore me!) so I think Dad should fly out and help him! LOL</p>
<p>Oh, I can relate to that, DSTDOR. Allow me to quote my son: “I was supposed to wash this stuff before I packed it?” Seriously, it was like a hazmat situation when we unpacked.</p>
<p>Yes, this past Fall Brown was very organized with boxes or trunks that were mailed. They will receive packages from USPS or from the private carriers UPS, FedEx and DHL. UPS had a temporary pick-up site in the lower level of the Graduate Center on Power Street just before Tower C. But, my sons trunk ended up in the regular mail room. They sent him email notices of arrival that told us where to pick up his trunk and boxes.</p>
<p>I have a freshman – and will have another freshman in the fall at Brown. We’re from the westcoast and so I used Bed and Bath, and also shipped some boxes ahead of time. We picked up the Bed and Bath stuff at the mall closeby – no problem parking by entrance. Also we got to campus a day early, and so the Bed and Bath pick up was easy, otherwise I’m told there are lines. We moved my son into the dorms early in the day and there was no trouble parking to unload even though he’s at Keeny. (I think the key is to do it early in the day.)</p>
<p>When we were at school on family weekend we drove to the outlet mall and bought my son all the warm clothes he needed: coming from California he couldn’t imagine how cold it gets and figured he’d be fine in a sweatshirt through the winter. Right. (He doesn’t like the weather now but loves the school.) If you return on family weekend you see how beautiful the campus is – even if it’s raining, which it seems to do often. </p>
<p>By the way, my son is so happy at Brown that he convinced my younger son to choose the school, which surprised me since they’re not particularly close.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, everyone, I feel very reassured about the whole move-in process. Thanks especially for the advice about getting there early. And it’s always nice to hear about happy kids!</p>
<p>By the way, I saved up my Bed, Bath coupons which come in the mail – they don’t seem to care if the coupons are years old – and used them to buy all the school stuff. (I’m saving them again for this year.) That way everything is 20% off – and BB&B takes everything back if there’s a problem. I was worried about getting all his things to school, but it really was no big deal. I guess it may be more difficult with girls if they have a lot of stuff.</p>
<p>For those whose kids are attending ADOCH, remember that the students organize this–not the school–so there might be a bit more chaos than normally run things like move-in day. My son told me today that he will be a “host” for ADOCH–pleasantly surprising us as he’s not the uber social type. Last year, it poured rain for most of ADOCH, but the kids just put on their ponchos and kept going! Mercifully, we had beautiful weather for move-in day.</p>
<p>@ 3andout: My daughter was deciding between St. Olaf and Brown. Early in April we put some pressure on her for St. Olaf (had visited and liked it, good school, merit aid). I thought she was still undecided when she came back from ADOCH-- she hadn’t bought a Brown sweatshirt. I think she would say she finally chose Brown because she believes it is a better school and because of the open curriculum. I think part of it is that Brown is a place where she can spread her wings and expand her comfort zone.</p>
<p>She is very happy at Brown, and I am glad she chose it.</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a current Brown senior - sorry to crash the parents’ thread - but I just wanted to mention something for those of you who have been on campus tours with your kids. All the tour guides are unpaid students. So many people want to give tours (even in awful Providence winters!) that there’s a pretty rigorous application process, and even though each guide has like one tour a week, plenty of people get turned away. That’s how much we love talking about Brown. We’re not “selling” it; all that gushing enthusiasm just finds an outlet when we have a captive audience of people who actually want to hear how much we love it. (Our friends and family tired of the “Brown’s the best place on the planet!” spiel after about a week.) And I bet your kids will be trying to get a tour guide slot one semester after they start here ;)</p>
<p>josiah, please don’t apologize for crashing the thread! I started it hoping to share information, and I’m going to bet that no one has better info about brown than a current student, hmm? So feel free to crash away and share anything and everything you think would be helpful for we parents to know. (Or is it “us parents?” I can never remember.)</p>
<p>I’m an alum (my tenth reunion is in a month…ahh!) and am getting a kick out of reading this thread - it’s so great that the Brown parents have found each other and have a resource for planning, commiserating, celebrating, and meeting. I wish my parents had this when we were deciding where I would attend in the mid-90s! I remember trying to convince my parents to let me attend Brown - it was by far their least favorite choice for me. To quote my mother, “that’s where rich kids who don’t know what they want to do with their lives go to school!” However, after coming to visit me for Parents’ Weekend my first year, they were completely blown away by the place and continue to support Brown. </p>
<p>I think more than anything, Brown taught me how to think and try to answer life’s “why?” questions. I was such a curious kid and Brown indulged me intellectually in ways I could have never imagined. Coming from a low-performing, lower-middle class school and community, the experience and opportunities at Brown were nothing short of mind-blowing! My only regret is that I studied abroad for a year and only got 3 years at Brown :). </p>
<p>So many schools teach their students what to know, but Brown teaches its students how to think critically and I will forever be grateful! Congratulations to all of the new Brown parents - your kids are indeed lucky to have your support and what Brown has in store for them!</p>
<p>My daughter has decided to attend Brown, so I’m proud to join the parents’ thread! I’m originally from MA and my extended family is in MA, ME, and VT, so it feels like she’s hardly leaving home even though we live in the D.C. area now.</p>
<p>I have a question for current Brown parents. I know you talked about packing and moving in, but I’m wondering about timing. I guess the timing for arrival in Providence would depend on how much running around we need to do to still buy things. But on move-in day, we just get her settled in and then clear out, correct?</p>
<p>After you move them in to their dorms, there is some programming that Brown does on campus to give parents something to do and help us feel less cast aside. I think there was some talks, a speech by the president – stuff to do on Saturday and Sunday. We had friends who took advantage of this – I think they said it was pretty good. After we moved our son into his dorm, we left, then met back with him for dinner. We’re from the west coast, so we flew out on Sunday. If we were driving distance to Brown, not sure if I would just turn around and go back home on Saturday. I guess that would depend on how long a drive back. Once the kids are moved in, parents are definitely not needed anymore.</p>
<p>Thanks, palimom. It’s a long drive back (7 hours) and I’m happy to hang around if appropriate. Just didn’t want to hover if parents are expected to clear out. I’m trying to plan ahead on flights back and forth since we had a hard time getting flights for ADOCH, but since we’ll drive this time, I don’t really need to plan as far in advance–just for the hotel. (Obviously I have too much time on my hands now that the college search and selection is OVER–what a relief!)</p>
<p>There is programming for parents – I am an alum and I still learned new things. Plus there’s shopping for dorm items, helping them set up the room, etc. Once Simmons gives her talk on Sunday afternoon, parents are supposed to leave. It makes sense to get there Saturday and leaving on Sunday.</p>
<p>We didn’t have any meals with our daughter once we got on campus – we let her hang out with other freshmen.</p>
<p>Adofficer: I’ve been reading your comments on CC for awhile, always found them helpful, and half-hoped that you went to Brown. I was thrilled to learn that you did.</p>
<p>astromom–Congrats on making it thru the process and on your daughter’s acceptance and decision to go to Brown! My son’s a freshman and we’re in the DC area as well. Last fall, we made a longer trip of it since the area was totally unknown to us (husband hadn’t even seen Brown yet). So we drove up on Thurs.; checked out Brown and the area on Friday with our son; moved him in on Sat., then did some misc. shopping for him Sat eve. On Sun., we took him to brunch, did more misc. shopping and went to a few parent activities including the address by the President. We didn’t leave til bright and early Monday! But you could leave Sat. since once they are move it, they’ll be staying in their rooms, not in the hotel with you! My son would have been fine with us leaving Sat, but was okay with the schedule we chose… but I wasn’t ready to leave Sat.! Just wanted to be nearby in case…(can you tell he’s our only?!). But we were just in the background, not trying to hang out with him or anything of course. The longer trip reassured me, but certainly wasn’t required.</p>
<p>Adofficer–thanks for the words of encouragement from your perspective–that insatiable curiosity of my son’s was exactly why I thought he’d be such a good fit for Brown…so far, so good, he’s doing well.</p>
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<p>That’s precisely why my daughter did NOT study abroad this year!</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. We’ll plan to stay through Sunday then. I definitely want to hear Ruth Simmons speak. I like the idea of taking an extra day to explore the area. H and younger D have not seen much of Brown and it would be fun to check out Providence a bit more.</p>
<p>We are from the DC area, too (Maryland) and I’m glad to hear about the specifics for orientation. I got the impression there were some activities for parents on Saturday, too – or is that all a move-in day?</p>
<p>How long does it take to get to Brown from DC? Have you found any great short-cuts. We haven’t driven directly yet and flew up for ADOCH. </p>
<p>How does you son/daughter get home for breaks and holidays? flights? train?</p>
<p>What is the orientation actually like? (I’ll try to search this one,too)</p>
<p>Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>I got to this page [Brown</a> University Orientation](<a href=“Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University”>Undergraduate Orientation I Brown University) by logging into the admitted student’s page with my daughter’s name and email address. I didn’t think to look there before since I don’t know her login id’s, but you just need name and email. There are activities on Saturday and Sunday, ending (for families) with the President’s Welcome at 2:00.</p>
<p>For travel, Google maps gives I-95 or I-84 as an alternative route. When we visit family in MA, we usually take the NJ Turnpike to Garden State Parkway to Tappan Zee Bridge to 87/287 to 684 to 84 through Hartford. Maybe we’ll do a variation of that but get back to 95 after Danbury like Google maps recommends in their I-84 route. Every time we’ve tried the GW bridge instead of the Tappen Zee, it’s been a mistake, so I hesitate to take I-95 the whole way even though it is so direct.</p>
<p>Re. student travel–my daughter likes the train and took it for Summer@Brown, but it can sometimes be full and you may not get a seat. And it can be as (or more) expensive as a flight. Student Advantage gives a discount on student train travel. My D will probably do a mix of train and air travel.</p>