<p>Freshman female (so has a lot of stuff), am contemplating driving to avoid the craziness of looking for essentials there. Have seen threads in Parents' Cafe, but am curious about Michigan's situation (does Target etc still have inventory? Would pre order Bed n Bath). 9-10 hour drive (would break it up and stay over somewhere) and fly back. Gas/flying cost approx. same (if flying still have to pay shipping/baggage fees).</p>
<p>Last August we drove my son from NY to Michigan. We pre-ordered some items at BB&B that we picked up in AA when we got there. We did the entire drive in one day, and stayed overnight in Michigan. It is a ten hour drive plus a few quick stops. That way, we were able to get to the dorm fairly early. Unloading the car -which is something you'll have to do whether you fly or drive - is a very tiring experience (even though there are students to help you) and if you get there late in the afternoon, you'll have a long day ahead of you.</p>
<p>I'm curious about this, too. We will be coming from S. Florida. I am leaning towards pre-ordering dorm things, flying and renting a car to go pick things up for the dorm.</p>
<p>What is the moving in situation like at East Quad?</p>
<p>Everything is very organized. You will be assigned a specific day to move in. There will be volunteers with giant bins to help you move in. The only real hassle is parking. You will receive a parking pass that allows you to park your car in front of the dorm for 15 minutes to unload everything, but then you need to move your car to a parking facility for the duration of your stay. They stagger the days you move in - everyone in the same dorm moves in the same day - so that there isn't mass chaos. Considering the size of the school, move-in went fairly smoothly (except for the fact that it was 90 degrees!). Make your hotel reservations as soon as possible.</p>
<p>The one thing I remember about East Quad was the long wait for the elevator. Son was on the second floor, very near the stairwell, so the move in wasn't awful. This year he'll be on the third floor so it could be a different story.
After unloading his things, we ended up having to park a few blocks away from the dorm.</p>
<p>Thank you breakfastclub! Your S was very helpful in answering my D's questions. She's starting to really look forward to the fall.</p>
<p>Glad to hear he was helpful. Maybe they'll catch up to each other this fall.</p>
<p>What about shipping things to the dorm? I remember reading about Johns packing and shipping. When do we get info on that?</p>
<p>There is a link to John's packing and shipping from the Michigan Housing website.</p>
<p>Last year we drove my freshman son from NJ (10 hrs on the road). We left at 5:30 a.m. and drove straight through 8:00 when we stopped for breakfast in PA. We had lunch in Ohio, one or two other bathroom/snack stops, and made it to Ann Arbor inside of 6 PM We had 3 drivers, so trading off wasn't so bad. On the reverse trip, we spent the night in Pittsburgh to break it up.</p>
<p>At the end of the school year my son put a lot of stuff in storage and/or shipped UPS via John's, and flew home.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Anything 12 hours or shorter isn't that bad. You really don't need to trade off drivers if you don't feel like it. I can't think of a single driving trip my family has done where we switched off drivers (this includes trips from Portland to Sacramento, and Ann Arbor to Minneapolis, Mankato, Albany, North Carolina, Poughkeepsie, and Disney World back when I was 5). Last year I drove 12 hours from Ann Arbor to Mankato (left 1pm EST, since I had class, arrived 12:00CST) and only needed to stop twice. It's very doable.</p>