Dorm Move-in Tips

Parents Forum
1

<p>Having just moved my freshman D into her dorm this weekend, I have some suggestions for those of you who have not had the pleasure of this process:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Invest in an inexpensive hand-truck. You can find them at places like Home Depot. Your back will thank you.</p></li>
<li><p>Just because the dorm has an elevator---don't bank on always getting easy access to it. Plan so that some lighter items will be transported via stairs.</p></li>
<li><p>The major crush appears to be early in the morning when the dorms open for move in. Probably better to have a leisurely breakfast and delay arrival until after the bulk of the Type A personalities clear out.</p></li>
<li><p>Bring some common tools (hammer, pliers, screw drivers). My D's desk lamp required two sizes of Phillips screw drivers just to assemble and we had to hunt these down. It may be a good idea to leave an inexpensive set of tools with the student. One parent had a set in a compact, zip carrying case that fit nicely in the top desk drawer--good planning.</p></li>
<li><p>Depending on what type of electrical cords are allowed (extension vs. surge strips) figure that the outlets in the dorm rooms will not be where your S/D wants to position their electric/electronic items. You probably want to have 2 or 3 handy.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't forget the coax TV cable.</p></li>
<li><p>Check, if possible, the sizes of the supplied room furniture before arrival if you consider lofting the bed. The desk had a built-in bookcase attachment to its desktop that would not clear a lofted bed in one case that we saw.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't assume beds designed for bunking will bunk that easily. It took us 15 minutes and five people working together to force the metal frame beds to bunk. Also, don't give up at first, it can probably be done..you just need to get the right pressure on all four legs of the bed simultaneously. Here's where students who are on the football or wrestling teams come in handy.</p></li>
<li><p>Dress cooly. You will sweat.</p></li>
<li><p>Suggest keeping the packing boxes for large items (refrigerator, TV's, printers). This should make them easier to move out in the Spring and back in next Fall--and less prone to being damaged or scratched.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Plan on making a run to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc. the day of the move-in, not the day before, you WILL forget something no matter how well you plan.</p>

2

<p>My school has carts etc. available. Wow you sound kinda like a "hostage" who lived to tell the story.</p>

3

<p>I'll second the tool kit, dvan....just got back from depositing DD for her first year. DS had his kit packed for easy access when he left a week ago for jr. year. DH had a ball building a small tool kit for each kid - he found a small canvas bag (Sears - about $10) he then spent about 1/2 hour wandering the aisles filling the bag with assorted goodies.....hammer, maybe 3 sizes of screw drivers - Phillips and regular....needle-nose pliers...tape measure...small level...matte knife...sticky tak for the walls. Of course, he also managed to come home with some new 'must-have' tool for his own collection, too!</p>

<p>It was a big help with bunking and unbunking of furniture, plus a great icebreaker with the other students moving in.....several parents and kids would pop into their rooms to borrow something, which led to group efforts in bunking, moving furniture, etc.</p>

4

<p>Last year we found a tool kit, canvas roll-up type bag, at Home Depot for about $25. He and half his floor used it last year. He said it had everything he needed except a power saw. (I didn't ask.)</p>

5

<p>Great tips! I like the note about the type A personalities. :)</p>

6

<p>We flew cross country & packed a collaspible luggage cart & bungy cords. This was not as heavy duty as a hand cart, but worked well for the plastic bins & milk crates.</p>

7

<p>One word on lofting, watch the space it's going in. S's room is a strange L-shape and roommate lofted his bed in the narrow part, with the plan of putting the desk under it. Three fathers didn't catch that they needed to get desk under loft before finishing it, as it didn't fit around, so they had to remove then replace a couple of end boards to squeeze desk into its spot.</p>

<p>School suggested that roommates show up at same time so they could work together at setting up room. Very good idea as the moms did a great job at working together on room arrangement while fathers worked well together at putting together a loft.</p>

<p>Bring long roll of ethernet cable so internet can be set up anywhere in room.</p>

<p>Beware of putting window fan in open window, especially if screen is loose. Ours fell out the second floor window, taking the screen with it which hit the fire plug below and broke the screen. Fan was fine (thank goodness), moms were blamed.</p>

<p>Last suggestion from school was probably the best of all: bring a sense of humor.</p>

8

<p>Oh, how important is moving in together, if possible. D's first roommate lived in town; we were three hours away, and the school instructions were that closer people move pre-12, farther people post-12. Roommate had already moved a couch in, which was ok, but also had a huge computer desk, separate from her school-issued desk, which took up most of the available floor space. Room was kind've S shaped, and my D was tripping over this desk trying to maneuver around it all year. </p>

<p>Perhaps if we'd come when they did, there'd have been more negotiating.</p>

9

<p>Coax TV cable? Does that mean there was a TV at the other end?</p>

<p>Why do you need a TV at college? (My kids use their computers to watch DVDs.)</p>

10

<p>I asked my D the same question.My D's school requires laptops. D says that it is hard for more than one or two people to have a good viewing angle with laptop screen to watch a DVD.</p>

11

<p>If your kid is moving into a room without air conditioning (like mine) and you're driving them, pack the fan last into the car so it's first out and set up first. Leave stuff in the hall until the room is arranged - there is nothing worse than moving boxes just to be able to move a bed. Again, if you're driving, bring some ice cold bottles of water to drink while you're unloading.</p>

12

<p>dmd77, i watched movies on my laptop last year in my dorm room. it's great to have that ability, especially if you love movies. But this year, am bringing a tv and dvd player. the larger screen is a plus, as is what dvan mentioned about the laptop screen angles. Also, I like to be able to work on things on my laptop while a movie is playing in the background. (so if you have a tv and can bring it with you, by all means, do!)</p>

13

<p>Other suggestions</p>

<p>have a cooler ready with cold drinks and ice fights - good ice breaker - no pun intended LOL</p>

<p>WD40 for the stuff that is supposed to move and doesn't - or squeaks</p>

<p>Duc tape - for the stuff that is not supposed to move and does - and maybe could get real creative and win a contest while they are at it ROFL</p>

<p>(would have been great for that fan LOL)`</p>

14

<p>Type A? Who? (Looks around.)</p>

<p>Tips from the woman who took 2.5 hours to unload, unpack, and decorate her dorm room:</p>

<p>*Pack things according to where they are going to live in your dorm room. For example, things which are going to go on the top shelf of a closet should all be packed together. I used those plastic storage bins for under-bed storage, so I just packed things in those that were going to stay in there, permanently. That way, once I moved in, I just had to shove them under my bed and presto! dorm room is set up.</p>

<p>*Bring the rug in first! Well, second to the window fan. Same goes for the refrigerator.</p>

<p>*Don't leave boxes in the hallways for other people to trip on. Leave them in the car until the furniture is arranged.</p>

<p>*Label boxes with what is in them (which prevents the "junk" box) and where the contents are going.</p>

15

<p>Since we were flying to a distant location we did a mapquest search for directions from the 1)hotel and 2)university to several different stores. We not only located the closest Target, Walmart, Kmart, Ross, Marshall's and TJ Maxx but also Home Depot for the plastic tubing that hides the coax cable for the TV and a box cutter but also for farther away ones that had not run out of everything needed for a dorm room.</p>

<p>Believe it or not, going to the farther one actually saved money. The same microwave, fridge and TV were cheaper at the more distant Walmart/Target and in-stock. Turned out to be 3.2 miles farther, but cheaper, fully-stocked and not crammed with 27,000 colleges students and their families. Our journey also led us to some nice eateries had we not ventured out as far.</p>

<p>We found the nicest bookshelves at Staples, easy to put together, metal in 4 colors, will hold up to 150lbs. per shelf (3 shelves) and 14 inches deep (will hold a microwave or small TV/dvd) for 29.99. Doesn't clash with any of the less than attractive dorm furniture, and has wheels that can lock. DD picked the red. Sooooo cute! Desk chairs can be assembled there as well for $5 additional. I opted to put it together myself, hmmmmmmm not doing that again.</p>

<p>If rug is not plastic-backed you will need the rug-gripper, can be bought at Walmart $6.88 for 5 x 6, but can be trimmed. That is for dorms with hard floors. If dorm has carpet, than TJ Maxx and Marshalls and Target sell the ones that stick to carpet.</p>

<p>We bought the box cutter at Target and saved the TV/microwave/fridge boxes for storage at the end of the year. Just put them at the very back of her closet and the very top of her storage closet. Also left her with packing tape for sealing them back up later.</p>

<p>Also brought the tool kit others have mentioned, picked up the tools (pink) at Target's $1 spot and the canvas tool bag at Walmart, made by Rubbermaid (also added scissors to the set). Used all of them and they held up well. Especially used the tape measure.</p>

<p>Also used the plastic hanging hooks which have the peel-off-sticky-tape on the back. They peel off the walls when you need them to but the bigger ones can hold up to 5 lbs. each. We used a few to hold her favorite quilt on the wall. Stiffled a ton of noise.</p>

<p>Small plastic dishpan, sponge and soap to wash her dishes/glasses and then store them in after using. She used the pizza cutter already!</p>

<p>There was no dresser so the shelf hangy thing in her closet worked out well. </p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

<p>Kat</p>

16

<p>My kids never had TVs in their rooms (believe it or not, we all share just one), so it wasn't an issue in the dorm. I think, at least for freshmen, it's better to have to leave the room and go down the hall to the communal lounge. (Not that mine can't find a million other ways to preoccupy himself on the computer <em>cough</em> internet poker...)</p>

17

<p>But Garland, the TV was a MUST. How could she and I, on opposite coasts watch our shows together ( another MUST and yak on the phone about the shows while the show is on without disturbing others watching?????)</p>

<p>We watch Gilmore Girls and according to DD's bros we talk at each other more than the mom and daughter on the show. The boys swear we are more entertaining to watch than the show itself. They can't stand the show, but love watching us "discuss" the show.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

18

<p>katwkittens
the love you have for your children just spills over these pages.
My S says TV would be a waste--there just isn't time for it I'm sure this has a lot to do with peer group, and other things they prefer). I'm going to get myself a pink tool kit</p>

19

<p>Kat--I will happily give your kids a TV-in-room exemption. :)</p>

20

<p>haha! i want a tv in my dorm for the soul purpose of watching Gilmore Girls!! i've been TiVo-ing repeats so that at least i have that.</p>

<p>Luckily there's another gilmore girls fanatic on my floor so we're planning to take over the TV on tuesdays :)</p>