A bit of intel: I was curious if UCF Housing had an early move-in option for Fall 2020 (normal move-in date is August 21st). My daughter at FAU could pay (lol I mean I paid) a small fee that let her move in a day early, much more quiet. Looking to reduce viral exposures, seeking the same option at UCF. Discovered the only early move-in offered is to those students who volunteer as move-in ambassadors for that weekend (Fri-Sat-Sun) which is to assist other students and parents with move-in. Would kinda defeat the infection avoidance agenda…
For move out that is starting next week, we get 2 hour appointment windows. We had to sign up via the housing portal. We are required to wear masks and gloves. I doubt we will wear them when we get in her room/apartment, but it will depend on when her other roommates moved out.
I guess they could implement that for move in- but really I don’t know what that would help. Kids share rooms and bathrooms, if their parents were sick when they helped move, in the kids would be too. Touching doors and elevator buttons- I doubt those are cleaned often.
I think UCF is a campus that could open sooner since they have no hall bathrooms in their dorms, but they were already at an overcrowded capacity for their classroom space and many classes were already reduced seat time, so the next option is to go online and I know I don’t want to pay for a dorm to have my kid do online only classes.
Some tips for move in- later in the day/weekend means less people. We got there on the first day right at start time- that was kind of a mistake. We also thought that we would leave our D18 after we helped her and not see her again. Well, none of her roommates stayed around, they all went to Disney with their families. This is a crazy year so that probably wouldn’t happen, but keep that in mind.
They try to get you to unload all at once using an ambassador who has a giant bin. Honestly, having everything get dumped into a dorm room at once is a pain! You can’t move. We had a dolly that converted into a cart- best decision ever. We brought things in, in stages- so much easier.
Bring a rubber mallet so you can adjust the bed height!
Move-in is 3 1/2 months away and I suspect the risk levels will be much less then. Either that, or they won’t be opening, LOL.
My daughter will be at The Towers, so she’ll have a private bedroom and share a bathroom with one other girl. Plus she’s a biomedical sciences major and has worked all summer in a major university DNA lab. And she’s also a bit of a clean-freak, so she’s got a pretty good handle on that aspect.
I don’t know if you’ve looked at the parents calendar they sent out, but that first week is packed with special events - comedy night, concert night, movie night, etc. And then football games the next two weekends (hopefully). They get off to a pretty quick start.
Are there drawers under the bed? They do seem pretty high, and from the scant pictures you really can’t tell.
What items did you add to her room? Refrigerator? Chest? We’re in the Towers, but I can’t really tell how much room there is in the room even with the dimensions.
LOL!
We are staying the whole weekend (although we may check out a day early). My wife, however, thought we were staying much of the first week of classes! She couldn’t believe we were just dropping her off, getting her settled, and then leaving.
(She went to UM, with both parents and three doting aunts all living in Miami – can you tell?)
D18 does not think you can adjust the beds in Towers. No drawers under the beds, but the dresser is larger than other dorms. She has only been to Towers a couple of times, but that is what she remembers.
At Bed Bath and Beyond there are under the bed pull-out drawers that stack and they worked great for us, but we were in Neptune with a Twin XL (Towers has a full bed). She has space saving hangers, she did bring a fridge with a shelving unit that went above it- but I wouldn’t bother if you are in Towers with a kitchen, unless she really just wants her own. Slipcovers or sheets for the common room furniture, if you have a common room. She had a set of pots, sponge, dishes and silverware with dish soap and she didn’t have a kitchen the first year.
Having a bed you can raise is great. We fit all the boxes for her stuff (TV, Pots, Dishes) so we can just pack it back in the original boxes.
There are some 360 videos of dorms, they can be somewhat helpful.
So there is a dresser? The pictures are so skimpy, I haven’t seen a dresser. I have a feeling we’re going to have to go, look around, and then go shopping.
I think we will probably still get a small fridge. It looks like the one there is under-the-counter, and if so that won’t hold much more than a couple of six-packs of beer. We’ll see when we get there.
@JimDadinmia HA! DH remembers his parents barley stopping the car when he went to college.
We stayed the weekend until Monday and went to Disney and she ended up with us. She didn’t have classes on Monday so it made it harder on her to say goodbye.
Year 2- just her and I got in her car and took some stuff down (we store most of her stuff in FL). If it wasn’t for Disney I would have done it in one day! We might just send her by herself this year and she won’t bother to show up until Sunday before school!
FYI one of D’s classes in the Fall has gone from 2 days a week to 1- not a good sign. She will drop the class. She is there to learn from a professor not sit in her room. If classes go online she will drop most of them- online is a bit of a joke and not worth the money- especially for OOS.
Thanks for that suggestion! The 3D thing on the website isn’t working, but I found several YouTube videos that were very helpful.
And there is a full-sized refrigerator, so we won’t need one.
When I went to college, my parents drove me to Bremerhaven to catch the ship! We were stationed in Germany.
I cruised to NYC before cruising was cool, took a train to Gainesville, and a cab to the dorm at UF. But times have changed a bit!
Yeah, that is NOT good. I certainly understand that they need to make some changes for safety reasons – and also to make adjustments due to their enrollment increases in recent years.
My hope is that the professors will WANT to teach and interact closely with the students. I hope they don’t use covid-19 as an excuse to scale back what the kids are really going to college for in the first place. Once you do that reduce seat-time thing, it’s difficult to undo it.
On the parents Webinar today they mentioned a number of reasons for early move-in, and they are apparently going to be sending out info on that shortly. They mentioned the ambassador program, but also marching band, sorority rush, and just plain wanna move in early.
Should be some info pretty soon.
D18 got her room selection date for Fall, hopefully incoming freshman will be getting an email soon.
Thanks for the heads up. I have to get my daughter back on the roommate selection task. She had a roommate, but the girl delayed everything and we’re not even sure she is on the waitlist.
Just FYI, what is her room selection date?
June 10- 9:30am. One of her other future roommates was not already in housing but is a returning student and she got the 10th as well just much later in the day. It’s Rosen campus but hopefully it means main campus up starting as well.
Thanks again!
@JimDadinmia Has your daughter gotten a date yet? Just wondering about incoming freshman.
Not yet, no. I’ll post when she does.
Her housing approval date was Feb 13, and that is what determines room selection priority. She’s in a roommate group now and we’re trying to find out which of the 4 girls has the best priority so that person can select the room.
Daughter’s room selection appointment is June 17. That’s based on the roommate group captain’s priority, and I don’t know what her approval date was.
This is for Towers.
UCF announced phased move in starting August 8th-23. Kids will be tested upon arrival and they will limit helpers.
My guess is it will be much like move out. You will have to register for a day and time.
They also said classes over 100 will be taught remotely. Some of D18’s classes have already gone online. No in person classes after Thanksgiving, so be prepared for your kids to be home for a longer break.