At my d’s University, due to limited parking near her dorm, we were given a specific time for move-in. We had a one hour window to use the nearby parking lot. After that, we were able to move the car to a parking garage where we could then help her unpack everything up in her room. I would check to see if there are going to be any similar requirements before deciding whether to come the night before, or later in the day.
On a different note, but related to the comment of the two girls who waited to unpack until the third arrived. My daughter actually had an assigned bed! Her room was a triple, but due to overenrollment, it was flexed into a quad (thankfully there was reasonable space to allow for this). Beds were assigned based on who paid their housing fee first. It was kind of funny b/c whoever decided on the assignments, I guess made the assumption which beds were preferential. There was a set of bunk beds and then two lofted beds. I’m not sure whose bed was considered least preferential as we never figured out who in the room paid the fee first, etc. none of them seemed bothered by who had what bed and tho they all could have agreed to swap, they never did all year. They all got along thankfully.
DH and I always were able to go for two nights but if we hadn’t been able to do so, I would recommend going the day before. Helps you to get a feel for the surrounding area, what is walkable from campus, etc. For older d, there wasn’t a set time but you were only supposed to leave your car by dorm for a set amount of time. As our first going off to school, she and her roommate had already agreed who would bring refrigerator (us…it lasted for 11 years by the way and was used in many different settings by both older and younger d) and would would bring TV and microwave (roomie). We were there early for set-up, roomie and her mom drove up later and were pretty frazzled by traffic, long drive. We had to leave campus to buy some kind of cable that was needed that we found out about when we arrived and DH realized she would need the same and so we agreed to get for her also. Went out for lunch to give them space to unpack and did the errand and picked up a case of water bottles. When we came back they didn’t want us to drive up to dorm as our alloted dorm time had expired but when they saw the case of water bottles that we had to carry, they said okay as it was a very hot and humid day. After that time for welcome convocation and good-bye. Only issue we had was hysterically crying younger d. With younger d, arrived early as room was converted triple from double (would have been incredibly spacious double) but we found we needed to leave campus as in her room set-up there was no place to hang towels as compared to older d’s room which had towel racks mounted on the walls each side of the room… We had to go to a Target or Bed, Bath and get some kind of towel rack that we were able to attach to the door of her armoire/closet. Roomie with the top bunk kept her towels hanging off the bunk on the other side of the room. Not sure where other girl kept hers as her parents arrived late driving a huge RV which could not be brought up to the dorm drop-off area. Not sure what they thought they were doing but we kept distance from them as no joke, he was a “made man” in the Mafia and lived about 20 minutes from us… so point being… you need extra time on drop-off day as you never know what you will need…
Hope we steered you towards plan one. Consider too that you could be spending parent orientation time at Wal-Mart or Target still getting the room arranged. Focus on your kid’s schedule–give them a good start
Plan 1b. Stay the night before, have a nice dinner etc. drop off at the appropriate time, go to the parent orientation, drive part way home and stay at a hotel half way home and get home earlier the next day.
Is this a school with a fall parents weekend? Often similar stuff is covered in sessions then if you can get to that - the don’t need to deal with parents orientation
Plan one. It allows more time to set up and ensures your child will have a say in the room set up because the roommate will not have made all the decisions already.
Do you need to hear a bunch of administrators make boring, obvious speeches at orientation? Probably not.
What matters is the time you get to spend helping your child feel “settled” before you leave and your child sets off for scheduled activities for the new students.
Plan 1. It feels terrible to arrive late, when others have settled in. That feeling can last. Much better to get there early and be here while others arrive. Makes a kid feel more at home.
Honestly I think you need a third day, if the orientation is so important to you. I found them pretty useless.
In our case things are up in the air. There are 2 potential move in days based on the residence hall you get. The tough part is that the school doesn’t notifty incoming freshman of their dorm assignment and drop off day until July 31st. I booked hotels, far in advance, for move-in day at the top 3 schools my son was choosing between. I have a room for the night of the first move-in day and a dinner for my wife and I booked that night as well. We’ll hopefully move him in, say our goodbyes, then head out for a quiet, celebratory dinner. If he gets the second move-in day it may be a dinner for 3…