<p>My DS is a freshman at Ohio State. We live about 2500 miles away and he has no car or accees to a car. He is moving out of the dorms on the 10th and I was wondering if anyone has had an experience with wwwboxmydorm.com? Are they good? I know they are ridiculously expensive but I don't know of any other solution. Do any parents have any other ideas as to what to do with your child's dorm room things over the summer?</p>
<p>DS is moving into a frat house in the fall so I am a little reluctant to have him leave his things there. </p>
<p>Don’t know Ohio State, but my kids have used the local storage companies that they found at their respective colleges. These companies did the pick up, the storage, and the drop off when school starts. I presume they could do the whole car rental thing and the storage unit thing, but this was simple and easy. Not sure they’re even old enough to rent a car.</p>
<p>If he’s already in a frat, he should be asking his brothers what’s best to do. Usually, kids get together and split a storage locker. he needs to network, and soon! Offer to pay him 50% of the difference between hiring the expensive company and doing it on his own or with friends.</p>
<p>My daughter found some foreign students at her school who also needed storage space. They rented a joint storage unit for the summer. She had a friend with a car help her schlep all her stuff over, although she could have gotten a cab if a friend wasn’t available.</p>
<p>My kid is the world’s biggest procrastinator, and the world’s most disorganized person. He has no experience managing “real world” things like this, and he has no car… but for several years now he has somehow managed to do exactly what the posters above suggest. He’s found some other students to share a storage space with. Somehow his stuff gets there in May and gets out again in September. Good thing. I’m 3000 miles away… happily. ;)</p>
<p>Agree with several of the above posters – it shouldn’t be too hard to find a local self-storage place. D did that for 3 summers, splitting the cost with a couple other students. She didn’t have a car, but enough of her friends did that it all got done. Obviously it’s much less expensive to rent a unit on your own and pack/haul your own stuff, rather than pay some company to do it.</p>
<p>My daughter used one of those pod companies. They drop the pod off at your dorm. You fill it. They remove and store it for the summer and return it where/when you tell them too. It was very reasonably priced.</p>
<p>Martharap: Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn’t thought about it.
MisterK and Ladsma: My son did have it all figured out. He was going to store his things with a professor who are family is friends with and lives a mile of campus. Prof. just told son that they are moving and that is no longer an option. I usally do let me son do things on his own but the students are going into finals and since my son has to get a certain GPA to maintain his full-ride; he asked me for help since this is a late developement. </p>
<p>For others: the car is a big issue. No freshman is allowed to have a car at Ohio State so none of his friends have cars. The students ride their bikes or take the bus which obviously is not an option for a move situation. My son’s roommates either live in Ohio or are not returning to the school so no one is getting a storage spot this year. The frat house is undergoing a remodeling this summer so the storage is not available. Next year my son will have his car so this issue will not be a problem. </p>
<p>I have looked for local storage companies but they all require the student brings the items. I’ll keep on looking. </p>
<p>OP - That’s great that your son asked for help. That’s what kids should do (ocassionally) when in a pinch. </p>
<p>In some cases if a student does not have too much junk, he/she could be for summer storage help from a family that lives fairly close to campus. Or one that has a huge vehicle to carry junk for two students. Perhaps a really nice family would drive stuff to storage (I know I would, if there was a chance to help an out of state student). If all else fails, perhaps he could hire an upperclassman with a car.</p>
<p>What about looking on a local to the school craigs list for a handyman with a truck. hire him for a few hours. Have your S pack up and have everything ready to go when the guy comes to bring the stuff to a storage unit.</p>
<p>How about sharing a U-haul rental with a few friends (and a storage locker)? Or one of those by-the-hour truck rentals from Home Depot? I think U-Haul will rent to 18yos, not sure about HD.</p>
<p>I live close to my daughter’s college, and as of today, I have the worldly possessions of three rising sophomores in my basement. We’re happy to help - one of the students is an international, so it does save her a load of trouble. Not sure about the logistics of getting everything back to campus - a UHaul truck may be our best bet.</p>
<p>Gourmetmom - You are a saint! I am certain that the three students and their parents are very grateful. Don’t be afraid to rent that Uhaul truck and split the cost three ways amongst those lucky students.</p>
<p>We’ve lucked out having family near college. (OK, part luck. But part pre-planning - it was a factor in our pros/cons analysis during college search. ) We probably could have gotten one BIL to pick of DS’s stuff, even though he typically avoids downtown Boston. Instead we used it as an excuse for DH to fly back east and visit with family. So although it was not really “free” storage, it was a good time for DH and DS.</p>
<p>Both my girls rented storage units with friends and I think in terms of getting the stuff to the storage spaces in both cases they either knew someone with a car who helped or a parent who lived about an hour away showed up with a van to move their stuff over to storage place. I do recall that in Sept we did make several trips back and forth as older d’s friend had been a move-in volunteer and a box was dropped on her foot, so she was on crutches and really needed our help. Given that she had been there for a few days and most of her stuff that had been stored was not needed immediately, she had waited for my daughter and friend so that they could get their stuff together.</p>