<p>I'm a new member, and this is my first post. My daughter will be going to Carnegie Mellon (majoring in architecture). Any advice from experienced CMU parents to new CMU parents? (Info about move-in, orientation, non-typical stuff to buy for her dorm room, parents' weekend, and the architecture department all greatly appreciated.)
Thanks!</p>
<p>Welcome! I am a relative newbie. My son is finishing up his first year in Fine Arts. Other mom’s were very helpful last year with advice so I will try to play it forward.</p>
<ol>
<li>If possible, get reservations now for orientation for the night before move in so you can be there first thing in the morning. If it is hot, like it was for us, you will be grateful to do things early. If your kid is rooming with someone who will be there early (foreign students and some minority students have early orientation) ask if you can drop off stuff the night before.</li>
<li> I found move in day extremely well organized. They have people to help unload cars, give out packets and id stuff etc. I have one BIG complaint, h owever about move in day. Very few of the cafeterias/cafes are open and they give a small credit for families to use. The lines at noon were horrendous, you still end up paying if you are even a moderate size family…go off campus or bring a sandwich. It was disappointing but was typical for the one big downside of CMU–the food service. My son says it is OK for him but for the $$ it is not particularly great food or well run service. </li>
<li>The different schools do offer an overview for parents. The fine arts one was informative, but this is not a school that holds the hands of parents. There was little opportunity to hang around, talk to faculty, etc. Arch may be different.</li>
<li>Get reservations for thanksgiving and christmas soon if your kid needs plane tickets. Southwest is ideal because they will give you credit if you cancel or have to switch reservations. Buses are pretty good option to NY, DC, Philly.</li>
</ol>
<p>There are some u seful threads (and amusing) on CC about what to bring/not to bring to college. I am lucky to have a minimalist son and the story will be different when my D leaves. Try to have your daughter pack as if she is going camping for 5 days. Bring as little stuff as possible! The rooms are small; there is obvious accumulation of new stuff for classes; you don’t need the super warm clothes or blankets until after Thanksgiving. For example, more than 2-3 towels is a bit silly…Laundry is free. </p>
<p>My son’s top 3 items th at I made him take and he thought I was nuts:
- a little clip on electric fan that he could direct onto himself during the very very hot days of late August and early September.
- A first aid kid–sadly this was used a LOT-- for minor injuries. Unfortunately, it was useless for his major injuries (none related to the studio time…but a real saga behind this)…I put in the usual bandaids and stuff but also decongestants, allergy stuff, lotion,
- A little gadget to hold small stuff and a big box of kleenex that hung next to his top bunk. Colds and flu were shared by one and all in that dorm and having rapid easy access to kleenex was helpful. </p>
<p>His roomate got a fridge and a microwave (rental)…I think it was not that useful since the common area had both and his room was so tiny.</p>
<p>His roomate brought a printer; this is not strictly necessary since printing services are included and easily accessible. It was nice to have the scanner occassionally and to have the printer right there but certainly kids should check with roomate and see if it is okay to share occasionally. my son provided toner sometimes and paper.</p>
<p>If you have extra time…come early or stay a little longer, the best gift for your kid is to get them familiar with the area around campus and to try out the Pittsburgh public transportation. It is free for students and getting on a bus to Squirrel hill or downtown will give a general orientation of the city; try to give your kid a general sense of the layout of pittsburgh. I had lived in Pittsburgh for a while so we spent quite a while the day before just driving around oakland and environs to get him oriented to the layout so he felt confident walking or busing right away. He is a big fan of the bus system. </p>
<p>Feel free to PM or ask more questions. I know this is just the beginning.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the detailed reply, fineartsmajormom! </p>
<p>We already made our August hotel reservations; we will be bringing our son to Cornell, then our daughter to CMU (they’re twins). We do plan to stay in Pittsburgh the night before, but we’ll probably arrive fairly late in the day/evening since there will be parent/family activities at Cornell that day. It will be an intense few days for us, physically and emotionally, especially since this will be our first “parents of college kids” experience! </p>
<p>We did explore Pittsburgh and the area around CMU when we were there in April for the accepted students’ days. We also have close friends who live in Pittsburgh, and they’ve been great with lots of helpful hints about the area. </p>
<p>Thanks again! :)</p>
<p>I have one suggestion that is not CMU specific, but over the years, many people have thanked me for it - so I’ll chime in. </p>
<p>If you are flying (or car is too full with twins “stuff” to bring everything along), and you are going to ship some items to campus… have it sent to your HOTEL - not the dorm or mail center. </p>
<p>Call hotel and let them know you are doing this, mark the boxes with your name and arrival date. Hotels are usually happy to store items for a day or two.</p>
<p>The advantage of this is that you will have all your boxes the night before move in, and collecting it at mail services can often involve a very long line, and then a bit of a hike to the dorm. </p>
<p>Not sure how CMU handles packages… so this may or may not apply. Something to keep in mind, though.</p>
<p>Thank you for that great suggestion, colbye! We may actually rent a small trailer since we don’t think our car will hold everything (even being careful not to overpack), but I’ll keep this in mind if we don’t.</p>
<p>I am a CMU student, but I thought that I could offer useful advice.</p>
<p>
- Show up as soon as you are allowed to move in(actually, a little early would be even better)…or cars are going to be backed up the entire block waiting to unload stuff…(at least for dorms on Morewood ave.)
. The air conditioning dorm doesnt matter after the first 3 weeks(Stever House/ New House), you are going to prefer a private bathroom/prime room(Mudge). Residence on Fifth is REALLY nice. Donner is really close, but it is kind of an eyesore. Hammerschlag and Scobell actually have a nice community…</p>
<p>
Dont Buy:
. Desk Lamp
. Trash Can
. Storage Things
. Twin XL Sheets
. **** that takes up room that doesnt offer a utilitarian use…amount of stuff in the room piles up over the school year, and things like storage bins take up valuable space.</p>
<p>Do Buy:
. Lots of NICE paper.
. Lots of pencils.
. Backups of all supplies
. Mini Fridge
. Toiletries/Shampoo/Soaps/Toothpaste/Laundry Detergent/2 Laundry Hampers/Febreeze
. Winter Clothing</p>
<p>
She isnt going to have a chance to spend a lot of time with you. Ask her what day her architecture projects are due and come the day after. I remember parents weekend being at a horrible time, like exam week or something.</p>
<p>
Buy:
. Battery Operated Alarm Clock
. Energy Drinks
. Febreeze
. Backups of all Architecture Supplies</p>
<p>. Choose Donner Dorm. Shes going to be living in Margaret Morrison(architecture building), and should be close to her bed.
. Assignments are really difficult, make sure she starts as SOON as they are assigned.
. Make sure she pays attention in class…
. I remember the first-semester studio teachers not liking symmetrical designs.
. I remember first year architecture teacher liking the following architect and design style:
[Le</a> Corbusier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier]Le”>Le Corbusier - Wikipedia)
. Design things that conform to professors preferences first semester, while simultaneously giving designs your own flair(of course).
. Expect a C
. The geometry class is hard. Get schaums outlines
. Make sure everything is completely straight and perfect.</p>
<p>Congratulations on having your children attend two wonderful schools. My S graduated from Cornell a few years ago, and my D is currently at CMU.</p>
<p>I concur about the printer. My D preferred using the printing centers throughout the campus. She brought the printer home after her first year.</p>
<p>If you are in town early, visit the bookstore a few days before orientation to pick up school related supplies, logo clothing, books, and gifts. The bookstore gets extremely crowded on the first day of orientation. This situation applies to Cornell as well.</p>
<p>BTW…make your hotel reservations for Cornell’s graduation now. Most hotels will take reservations 4 years in advance because rooms are extremely scare in Ithaca. And don’t forget to get a cone at the Cornell ice cream shop. Simply delicious!</p>
<p>The advice about booking a hotel room for graduation 4 years in advance made me laugh! My son would be worried that it would jinx him! Do it without telling them…no pressure!</p>
<p>Congrats OP on getting two ready for launch. Don’t worry…there are also cc threads on post launch mourning (or celebrating). GOod advice there about keeping it together, or, conversely, not letting them see how glad you are that you are about seeing the back of them… </p>
<p>Oh…one of the pearls of advice from another mother here…FEDEX…set up an account and you can just load up a pretty big box, print and stick the label on it and for $10 a very rapid delivery to your kid of essentials and non essentials. Much cheaper and easier even than the prepaid boxes with the post office. Fedex pick up from my house in this area (DC burbs) so I can pack it and leave it on the doorstep…2 days later it is in pittsburgh. You can track it but also CMU sends an email to the student letting them know that a package has arrived. They also get emails when the laundry cycle is done…pretty neat.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the detailed info, metalforever! She’s already aware of some of these things from talking on Facebook with this year’s architecture freshmen. She’s a fabulous student and extremely dedicated, and she’s expecting to work extremely hard at CMU, so I know she’ll be ok even in the really tough classes.</p>
<p>I’m curious about the Twin XL sheets comment. Does that mean the dorms at CMU have regular twin beds? We definitely want to buy the right size!</p>
<p>To fineartsmajormom: LOL, that’s cool about the laundry notifications. 
</p>
<p>Love the FedEx box idea; I’m sure it’s cheaper to buy the stuff and send it than for them to buy it on campus, and we have a FedEx drop-off mailbox about a mile from our house.</p>
<p>Thanks fineartsmom – glad the fedex worked out. I love how fast it gets there and it has beat the USPS in terms of both price and delivery time. Fedex ground is so cheap-- who would have known. Boxes I send are typically $6.50.</p>
<p>You cannot get hotels for graduation 4 years in advance-- not even three years. I tried to reserve this fall over parents weekend-- both in person and online-- and discovered that all the major hotels are set up for only one year out reservations- I’ve got my calendar marked to reserve for next May in just a few weeks! YAY!</p>
<p>Twin XL are the “standard” for college dorms-- regular sized twin fitted sheets do not make it on the bed. But you do NOT need a special comforter-- that’s a waste of money. A regular comforter fits just fine since it isn’t being tucked in like a sheet. Everything starts going on sale for return to college sales in mid June and certainly by July. Avoid buying from CMU in the mailers you’ll get-- walmart, target and bed&bath beyond are all fine.</p>
<p>If you have an ArchE-- she’ll appreciate lots and lots of coffee or gift card for such.</p>
<p>
^^ Listen to this.</p>
<p>
And this…lots of coffee…dont forget the febreeze …</p>
<p>god yes febreeze. so good. Also, those clorox wipes are GREAT for wiping down one’s drafting board to clean (everything first semester must be very clean).</p>
<p>metalforever pretty much summed up a lot about architecture, but some other things…</p>
<p>descriptive geometry is a really hard class, but it mostly depends on how you think. It’s not typical math (I know kids who got 5’s on AP Calc BC get D’s), but it’s actually pretty interesting. And some people are really good at it, so who knows. for the entire semester, working with others is key.</p>
<p>Also,first semester studio is all about aiming for perfection. Perfect drafts, perfect models, blah blah blah. It isn’t too much about design; its purpose is to simply teach one the tools to CONVEY their ideas. A’s (and B’s) are really rare in studio, but possible. Also, don’t put off the woodshop project.</p>
<p>I loved drawing with Doug Cooper. A big key to success is doing things the way he teaches you. I know that might sound silly, but it’s better to turn in a drawing that is done by his instruction rather than one that you think “looks better”. Also, don’t put off the drawing assignments for the end. it will kill you.</p>
<p>Architectural History is an easy class. when studying, be sure to not only read the textbook and notes, but also write out possible essays. all of diane shaw’s tests last year were essays.</p>
<p>Ok that covers the basics. Good luck to your D. Architecture didn’t really work out for me but there are so many people who love it! enjoy your summer!</p>
<p>For the parent CMU veterans…here’s a question.<br>
On move-in day I’ll be coming in with a loaded minivan full of my daughter’s stuff. I need to stay somewhere the night before in Pittsburgh somewhere near CMU. I don’t necessarily want to unload the entire contents of the van into the hotel room. Can anyone recommend a hotel with safe parking?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about other hotels but the Courtyard by Marriott - Shadyside has required valet parking. That doesn’t mean they will be responsible for losses if your van gets broken into. I think the Residence Inn Pittsburgh University/Medical Center has a garage. That said, I was late to make reservations and ended up staying overnight at a Courtyard in Monroeville. I didn’t have any problems and there were several other people there with college freshmen.</p>
<p>My husband is paranoid. He was going to make us unload most everything in the hotel room but luckily roomate was there early for special program and we unloaded the night before. We stayed at the Oakland/hospital holiday in. The parking lot is right behind the hotel…unloading would have been near impossible. It was full of cars full of stuff with no problems that I could see or hear. It would have been very difficult for theives to have broken into one or more cars without attracting the attention of someone. On the downside, I thought it was expensive and not very nice. I called to say we would arrive late but they gave away our room with two beds so our kids slept on the floor using some extra blankets…did they at least give us a discount? NO! I will never stay there again. </p>
<p>When we dropped S off in January, we decided to spend the night and I used priceline and got a really really huge nice hotel room in the WIlliam Penn down town (3 or 4 stars)…$85!!!. there is parking in a covered garage in front or valet. Consider staying downtown. It is 10 minute drive to Oakland and you can wander around downtown and go to a show or just walk by the river. I do not plan on staying in Oakland again for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>And after the first year are there storage services that come in campus to store our kids stuff for the summer and deliver back to campus when school starts?</p>
<p>No - I don’t think any college offers a service like that.</p>
<p>However, there is on-campus storage as well as local off-campus storage companies where your child can store his/her own things and pick them up by him/herself in the fall again.</p>
<p>The university allows you to store five sealed boxes free of charge. They will count your mini fridge as one. </p>
<p>Reality-- you will probably have friends staying for the summer or know someone in greek life and dump most of your stuff there. Five boxes works well and you haul clothes home.</p>
<p>There are off campus storage units where friends chip in.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not sure if it’s still true or not, but when I was living on campus this was only until the storage filled up. If you tried to put stuff in there towards the end of finals then there would be no space left. I think it was also only available to students living in the dorms. (I lived in Shady Oak where they made us move out over the summer because they were going to clean, yet the pen I left in the middle of the floor was still there in the fall as well as a nice layer of dust. :mad:)</p>
<p>I’ve had a few times where I subletted an apartment or a room in a house over the summer and the people doing the renting out will just pack all their stuff up and pile it in one bedroom. That way they all store their stuff for the summer for the price of one bedroom (and they hardly have to do any moving when they come back into town).</p>