<p>The Arrival Survival booklet indicates that Forbes Hall move-in begins on Saturday, Aug. 21 and our parking pass is for Saturday, while all the other dorms begin move in on the following Tuesday. Does anyone know why the earlier date for Forbes?</p>
<p>Also, are those of you moving into Forbes planning to come on Saturday? Or will some of you be coming later?</p>
<p>This poses a problem for our family because my soon-to-be Pitt freshman's twin is also scheduled to move to her school that same Saturday. There is no way both parents can help both girls move the same day. The Pitt twin will not consider moving later for fear she'll miss out on something; the other twin has less wiggle room with her classes starting the following Monday.</p>
<p>I think I remember seeing something about Forbes having some early orientation programs over the weekend, that may be why they have a Saturday move-in date.</p>
<p>The early move in for Forbes is due to the Honors College orientation programs, which add a couple of days to the freshman orientation schedule.</p>
<p>Kdoubled - It’s unfortunate this causes a conflict for you. In our case it was so helpful to be able to get D1 moved into her dorm before the mass of Pitt students moving in later.</p>
<p>Well to add to the confusion - I just called and was told that they are trying to figure out the move-in date. They said now it is th 21st but they might move it to the 24th.</p>
<p>Since I have plane tickets already for the 23rd as well as hotel reservations I hope the move it back to the 24th.</p>
<p>They said they would be sending out an email within a week or so.</p>
<p>“The early move in for Forbes is due to the Honors College orientation programs, which add a couple of days to the freshman orientation schedule.” This is very interesting because not every honors college freshman lives in Forbes…Hmmmm</p>
<p>Aren’t the dates when you are allowed to move in? So you could move in later? They must have changed it this year. Last year, you moved in based on the first letter of your last name.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s confusing. I hope they stick with the 21st. It will be less hectic. I wonder if the new Dean didn’t realize he would need to plan for an orientation, and now he wants to cancel that. That would be a shame. These kids could really use some bonding time.</p>
<p>I know. But when we attended PittStart on June 21-22, the professor from the Honors College who led an info session referred to his new dean. He said he received emails from him that morning with assignments for him. So “somebody” is acting as Dean currently.</p>
<p>Well, this is all very interesting and confusing. I’ve taken Riley13’s advice and just e-mailed Arrival Survival. I’ll let you all know what I hear back.</p>
<p>Ok, I am not sure about Forbes Hall move in etc for this year because I don’t know if they have changed it. </p>
<p>We do have a new dean named Steve Husted. I have met him and he seems cool. He is sort of in charge and he is around occasionally for now but he doesn’t really start till august.</p>
<p>The dean doesn’t really attend to details like that anyways. Your best bet would be to contact Lute White in the honors college. He is in charge of honors housing so he would know for sure.</p>
<p>When I lived in Forbes (way back in '08), the early move-in/orientation was optional–if your daughter is worried about missing something, she really shouldn’t be (assuming the program is the same now as it was then). Yes, it’s an opportunity to meet people, but there are other/more useful times to do that, too (to my knowledge, they didn’t even have a separate orientation for last year’s freshmen…something about budget cuts and all). Good luck to you!</p>
<p>maybe I should start a new thread, but since we have a former resident or two from Forbes, I have some questions. If I can take care of some bargains prior to move-in, I’d like to do so.</p>
<p>Unfortunately many of us never had the opportunity to see Forbes, so we’re flying blind.</p>
<p>With respect to the powder rooms, does the sink have a vanity beneath it for storage of things like hair dryers, soap, cleaning supplies, etc? Is toilet paper provided for the powder rooms or is that student supplied? I know that my D needs cleaning supplies, toilet brush, etc for powder room. Are there any door hooks or towel holders in the powder room? What about mirror?</p>
<p>Are the floors carpeted? Even if there is carpeting, do students typically bring another carpet (assuming the carpeting is not in good shape? </p>
<p>What’s in the kitchenette area? Do students supply own dish soap? </p>
<p>What about bed risers? Are those supplied by school or do students purchase elsewhere?</p>
<p>What about the desk chair that is supplied…is it padded or is it wooden? </p>
<p>What length power strip would you recommend? (Not sure of the number of available power outlets.)</p>
<p>Re: clothes closets - are there doors? Do students have to provide “curtain” to cover closets? In other words are the closets in Forbes like the ones in Towers?</p>
<p>What are some things that you could recommend to new students moving into Forbes? </p>
<p>Apparently the Saturday move-in is a mistake. I called the other day and was told that they messed up and we would be getting either an email or letter clearing things up soon. </p>
<p>Quick question: Is Forbes administered by the Honors College, Housing, or some mixture of both. If the last, who is in charge of what?</p>
<p>Pittsmom–since your questions were not answered, I can answer some of them based on the two other dorms my daughter has been in.</p>
<p>Beds can be adjusted up and down so that things can be stored underneath. You do not need to by the risers.</p>
<p>Toilet paper was provided for suites, but not cleaning supplies (no dish soap, etc.). If your child is in a suite with an in-suite bath, I would suggest something with LOTS of bleach to clean it. The kids took a Target run after arrival and bought a lot of that stuff (I would wait to see what she really needs; this will give you something to do when she ditches you.) When I picked her up at the end of the year, I did not see much evidence that it had been used. </p>
<p>Desk chairs have a pad.</p>
<p>DD took a carpet for over the carpet and I sent her a vacuum later in the year.</p>
<p>There’s no vanity, but there are (4…if I remember correctly) shelves per powder room, as well as hooks and a mirror–but they aren’t full length like the ones in Towers (keep in mind that not every room in Forbes has a separate bathroom–some people are only able to use the communal restrooms); there’s a(n old) microwave, sink, table, chairs, and white erase board in the kitchenette, so if you decide to wash dishes there, definitely bring your own detergent (or ‘borrow’ from the people who leave their soap by the sink); the bed heights are adjustable so there’s no need to bring risers (a lot of people bunk their beds, anyway); I think I just brought your standard power strip (6 sockets)–it worked out fine; there aren’t doors on the closets, but to be honest you really don’t need one. As far as recommendations, I just suggest not bringing too much stuff with you; while a good number of the rooms are pretty large, chances are you won’t wind up using the bulk of the ‘essentials’ you thought you needed. Hope I was able to answer your questions sufficiently!</p>
<p>More thoughts about Forbes: My daughter lived in a corner room with one roommate. The room was huge. It actually had 3 “closets” so it might have been designed as a triple. A curtain over the closet on a tension rod might have been a nice touch for the mothers but the kids could care less. Did not have a joining powder room. Do remember that in the communal bath it was frowned upon to leave your caddy of toiletries on the shelves provided. Seemed kind of silly and also there was a large amount of space where a storage area could have been placed. Not an efficient use of space. Maybe different rules apply to different floors. The kitchens were pretty bare bones, as I recall.</p>