College Dorm Tips and Purchases

I totally agree with all the posts advising that less is more. Boys understand this. Girls, not so much. Although our son denied us a normal college experience, I was a bit tongue-in-cheek upthread as his boarding school dorm experience was exactly the same as a civilian college would have been. On the prep school forum, we’ve had a running thread comparing supply lists and tips since '07. What can I say? If you think you need a U-haul, you’re doing it all wrong. (I’m looking at you, girls. :woman_facepalming:)

As for move-out. We never helped with that. The school recommended a company called All Campus Storage (there are many of these types of services in the NE) that would drop off boxes, tape, and pre-printed bar-code labels based on an online form the student filled out prior to the end of each school year. The student packed the boxes, affixed the labels, and left the boxes (or furniture) in the room for the company to pick up. The following school year, the boxes/items were delivered to the room as/before the student arrived. Price was per-box based on box size and was extremely reasonable, something like $50 for a large box.* Our son was able to pack up in four boxes. He shipped his electronicals and instrument home and boarded a plane with a backpack, roller bag, and one checked piece of luggage.

The academy had onsite storage for cadets and handled all of the logistics of getting them and their stuff to their first duty station post commissioning. So, after that first boarding school move-in (where seniors did the heavy lifting), we were superfluous.

*For seniors, for an additional fee, they would deliver/ship the boxes to the student’s college the following fall. Many students continued to use the service throughout their college years.