<p>There are parent activities as part of Orientation, so presumably there are parents who around then to attend them. Are they seen in the dorms during the first move-in, or is that a social faux-pas? I know the frosh all have to move again so there isn't much setting up in the first room. I'm just thinking in terms of schlepping stuff in and seeing the dorm.</p>
<p>I'm not going to bother to go to Cambridge during move-in before Orientation. From what a current student tells me, there's no guarantee, even if you are temped in the dorm you ultimately want to be in, that you'll get assigned a room there. (In that case, the whole "rank your preferred dorms in June" thing is pretty silly, methinks.) Given that seeing the dorm your child is temped in won't even necessarily mean you've seen the dorm they'll be living in, I can't imagine it's worth going for that purpose. Unless you were planning to go for Orientation activities anyway, then, sure! When I called to ask about Orientation attendance, I was told that many parents have never been on campus before: if you were there for an extended eariler visit or for CPW, you've seen what you need to see and heard what you need to have heard, so Orientation isn't likely to offer much in the way of new news or experiences. For parents who are unfamiliar with the campus, haven't toured the dorms, or haven't heard from the medical or advising staff about procedures, it's a good chance to get this exposure.</p>
<p>Or so I've been told. I'll be patting the kid on the back as he walks onto the plane and saying, "Bye, have a good freshman year!" (Snif.)</p>
<p>mootmom - I know, I'll help YOUR kid move in. That way, my kid won't be embarrassed. Even though we've seen the campus, we're planning to go to drop the kid off in Cambridge and then spend some vacation time elsewhere on the east coast.</p>
<p>I so worried about this when my d. moved to NYU but when I got there, I noticed there were lots of parents around. Your kids get over the embarassment quickly because you have your credit card or checkbook handy and can take them to the store to get all of those last minute items that they left at home or were too bulky to pack. Throw in a couple of great dinners somewhere and you'll find out, it can actually be quite nice. My d. knew I couldn't rest without seeing the dorm, roommate, facilities, etc. She went off to the orientation classes, we shopped for hardware to hook up the computer, supplies, etc. Basically, we did the less than glamorous moving duties which gave her more free time to do other things. We gave her lots of personal space and we got to tour NY. It worked for us. I hope it works out well for you.</p>
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From what a current student tells me, there's no guarantee, even if you are temped in the dorm you ultimately want to be in, that you'll get assigned a room there.
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<p>Eep!</p>
<p>I was the Macgregor rush chair last year, and I can tell you that, at least last year, that's not how it works. Anyone is allowed to "squat" their dorm; the Readjustment Lottery at the end of rush is for people who want to change dorms. People who don't enter the lottery stay in the dorm they were assigned by the initial housing lottery.</p>
<p>I can't find any official confirmation that this is also true this year, but I can't imagine they'd change it... the Housing Office has enough issues with rush as it is, and I can't imagine they'd endorse anything like that.</p>
<p>There are plenty of parents on-campus during Orientation. There are lots who don't come, but enough come that I doubt your freshman would be embarassed. :)</p>
<p>If we're participating in a preorientation program, are we supposed to bring all of our stuff when are arrive at MIT for preorientation?</p>
<p>Thanks, mollieb!! It's reassuring to hear from someone who knows, that if he gets temped in a dorm he'd like to stay in, he's got a reasonable guarantee of not having to enter the Readjustment Lottery.</p>
<p>Thanks, texas137, if my kid will let you anywhere near him, you're welcome to help! :) Then again, you're not his own parent, so he's more likely to be polite to you about stuff like this.</p>
<p>ladybug, if this worked like normal school move-in/orientations, your plan would work great! But this being MIT, it doesn't work that way. ;) They're not assigned to their actual rooms at the start of Orientation: pretty much everyone appears to move, even if just to another room in the same building, at the <em>end</em> of Orientation week after the Readjustment Lottery mollieb mentioned... which is pretty long after most of the parents have gone home (they're invited the previous weekend, not during moving weekend). So there isn't really any opportunity to do the "get stuff for the kid's room while they're enjoying Orientation" duties, at least from what I can tell. Otherwise that plan would work great! (Presuming the kid will let us anywhere in the vicinity...)</p>
<p>Yeah, it's really preferable to bring only what you need when you come for preorientation/orientation, then somehow have it all magically appear when you've been assigned your permanent room.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the "make stuff appear" method doesn't really work for people who are from far away. (I definitely brought every last bit of stuff with me at the beginning of orientation my year.) There will be tons of upperclassmen helping everybody move after final assignments are up, so at least you won't have to do it by yourself.</p>
<p>The readjustment lottery is only for those who don't like the dorm they were put in and want to switch. It's hard to switch because somebody needs to be moving out of the dorm you hope to get into.</p>
<p>But in every dorm, there will be a separate in-dorm room lottery - and it is unlikely that you will be able to squat the room you were temp'ed in.</p>
<p>I heard that every time they raise another color on the terrorism scale, you have to bring 10lbs less of stuff. So, even if I were to carefully allocate my parent's luggage space, I still probably couldn't get all my stuff there. So after my parents and I take a 30 hour drive to Boston, I guess my plan is just to "sqat" at whatever dorm MIT decides to give me, if it's one of my top three choices. I think it would be near impossible to get baker or simmons in a readjustment lottery anyway if I didn't get it in the first housing lottery.</p>
<p>I've gotta tell you, waiting for the dorm assignment notification later this month is almost as bad as waiting for admissions decisions. (Life is tough when you've decided there's really only one dorm you'd be happy living in...)</p>
<p>If a couple of incoming students put in as roommates in the housing lottery, will they be told whether they're rooming together when the assignments are sent?</p>
<p>Penthesilea, if you're going to drive, then why does 30lbs matter? It's not so much trouble to move yourself, really. As for switching to Baker/Simmons in the lottery, I was one of maybe 5 people who managed to switch into Baker in the readjustment.</p>
<p>Mootmom, I can't remember when they tell you about that. You'll get the dorm and room number, and eventually the roommate's name (but I was temped in a single). But each dorm will have a rooming lottery later on, and if you want to room with somebody you almost certainly can - so it doesn't really matter who roommates are beforehand. Although, many people who get temped as roommates just stay paired for later on.</p>
<p>The important thing is which dorm you get put in.</p>
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<p>That's the situation at our house too. I think our kids have a similar dorm list, although different heartfelt #1's.</p>
<p>(Just in case anyone cares)</p>
<p>So I figured out on my way to lab today why somebody told mootmom that temp assignments don't guarantee you a room in that particular dorm. (Strange thing to be thinking about on the way to lab... but it's a long walk from Macgregor to E18.)</p>
<p>That's how the lottery used to work prior to my class (2006). Once upon a time, before the Freshmen on Campus policy, freshmen used to be assigned a truly random room for Orientation/Rush, then ranked their choices for a lottery at the end (or moved into an FSILG). With that system, the lottery was at the end of Rush rather than during the summer, and the temp assignments were random, so students weren't guaranteed to be placed in the dorm in which they were temped. (The world makes sense once again.)</p>
<p>And let me reemphasize this: moving sucks. And it would suck to get to campus in August, discover that you liked dorm X better than your temp dorm Y, and have to lug all your stuff halfway across campus/Briggs Field/dorm row. But I promise it will suck more when it's the middle of term and you're unhappy with your dorm and you want to be anywhere in the world other than your current dorm.</p>
<p>There will be helpful dorm residents moving people at the end of rush. There will be helpful frat boys helping people move at the end of rush (they're strong, they can carry your fridge). There will be moving vans for free helping people move at the end of rush. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY IN YOUR TEMP DORM, THE END OF RUSH IS THE TIME TO MOVE.</p>
<p>/ex-rush chair rant</p>
<p>We went last year & it was no problem. There were lots of parents on campus. He packed a week's worth of stuff in one suitcase, then let everything else boxed up until he moved to his permanent room, one floor down. We had only made a quick trip junior year, so we enjoyed all of the information. And he enjoyed the restaurant meals and having a car for a couple of days. Have fun!</p>
<p>im really confused about how we are supposed to get all of our stuff there. I am from texas so it would not be reasonable to drive...
If we pack what we need until we get our permanent rooms and then have a box with the rest of the stuff, how do we get that box there. Do we have to ship it to those storage places or is there another way? </p>
<p>also, what kind of desk chair do we get with the room if any at all? is that something we should purchase there. my parents wont be coming so i will have to go buy everything myself. basically i am asking what should i ship, what should i buy there, and how to i get my stuff there.
Im more worried about bigger items like chair, computer printer, stereo, etc.</p>
<p>thanks everyone</p>
<p>Bring all the suitcases you can on the plane. You can have other things packed up and mailed to you once you're there. Buy everything you can once you're there; the easiest way is online, and just have them ship it to you. The chairs that come with the room are fine, but if you want a big comfy desk chair, then just order one online and have it mailed to you.</p>
<p>My son flew home for the summer and needed his computer. He had it shipped from PakMail for about $45. It arrived in about 10 days with no damage at all.
Also, there will probably be someone with a car who will take you to a store. There's also a t-stop you can take to Target, Home Depot, Old Navy and an office supply place. Get off at "Andrew" on the red line. It's about a 10 minute walk from the t-stop. He's carried some big stuff home from Home Depot.
I would just ship anything you can't get on the plane.</p>