<p>I was thinking of getting my son a bicycle for his birthday to use in college (we live in NYC so subways and walking are his main modes of transportation) and had some questions.</p>
<p>Do may kids used bicycles to get around? is it beneficial to have one? Are they just kept locked outdoors? Are there problems with bike theft?</p>
<p>Also, I was reading about Freshman Fest offered by the UD Hillel. Is this worthwhile? We are not an overly religious family (very reform) and rarely attend services, but this sounded like a nice way to get acquianted on a smaller scale, before the 1,000s show up on move-in day. My son did attened religious/hebrew school, etc, but never got involved with the youth group in high school. He may or may not decide to be involved with Hillel programs down the road (this will be up to him), but this sounds like a nice introduction. Any comments/thoughts regarding this?</p>
<p>I can address the bicycle question. UDel is very compact, and most students walk to classes and to Main Street. Students who have classes in the Ag/Animals Annex (next to the football stadium) do bicycle there. The local shopping malls are a bit far for walking, especially if one is carrying groceries for instance. And exploration away from the university proper is also easier by bicycle. </p>
<p>The university provides outdoor bicycle racks. Based on my D’s experience, these are not secure. </p>
<p>Bottom Line: Yes I think it’s appropriate to have a bicycle, but not one that might catch the eye of local miscreants.</p>
<p>We tried to get DD to take a bike freshman year. Absolutely refused. In the fall, public safety has a huge sale where they get rid of all the lost and found stuff that accumulated in the last year. Bikes are dirt cheap. We got her one sophomore year and a better one this year (the lock cost more than the bike). She is completely sold on having the bike and rides it everywhere, especially after she moved to the Laird campus. Because they were cheap, it’s not a big deal if they disappear.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the tip the-mom! SOunds like a great way to get a good deal. Do they just keep them locked outdoors all year? My son at first thought he’d have to keep it in his room, and that may make things a bit cramped (and not sit too well with his roommate). i told him I think you just keep them locked outdoors. We did notice many locked bikes while walking around the campus. I bet some kids buy them cheap like this and then ‘abandon’ them at the end of the year so they don’t have to shlepp it home.</p>
<p>Handemom- My daughter will also be a freshman at UD in the Fall. Although she will probably resist, I would also love to learn more about Freshman Fest. If you find anything out and would post it, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!</p>
<p>lucky&blue, I googled around and searched here because I was curious as to what the actual schedule and events are. I found a schedule from a few years ago (I actually think from an old post here). They are allowed in the dorms, to move in, at around 5pm on the Thrusday evening. At around 7, they all meet and go to some other location where they have a slumber party (sleeping bags and pillows are required for this). The next day they have some kind of daytime activity. The schedule I saw had a choice of going to a beach, or doing sports (didn’t specify whay sports). Somewhere in this timeframe, they introduce them to the various Hillel activities and services available on campus. They also give them a tour of the school, and show them where their classes are (they will have their schedule by then). I think you can also arrange to have your text books delivered to Hillel, instead of the regular procedure for book delivery/pickup (I’m not sure how it normally works). Then there is a shabbot service Friday evening. They can choose which service they want to attend (reform/conservative/…). After services they are on their own. The rest of the school moves in Saturday morning.</p>
<p>My son isn’t sold on it yet, but does see that possible benefits.</p>
<p>thank you so much, handemom for the info! To me (but what do I know, haha), it sounds like a great opportunity to get settled a few days earlier, get acclimated and maybe meet some people. I haven’t discussed it with my daughter yet (2 ap exams tomorrow and continuing through monday) but I will definitely encourage it. I really do appreciate the info because I hadn’t heard anything about it until I read your post. I will let you know if I get additional information… Thanks again!</p>
<p>I would advise anyone who has an opportunity to arrive early, to do so. Move in day was fun, but there is a lot of traffic, not only on campus, but also on Rt. 95 approaching the exit for UD.</p>
<p>I remember one campus tour where there was a bike room on the ground floor of each dorm, but that was a more northern clime. According to DD, no one leaves their bikes in their rooms (no room) and “it would be really stupid” to bring an expensive bike that could get stolen. I suppose there are exceptions for those avid touring type bicyclists, but the average Jane or Joe who uses it for around town and campus transport just locks it up outside. Interestingly, they seem to all put shower caps on the bike seats to keep them dry, pretty smart.</p>
<p>Freshman move in a day before upper classmen, but as Mattmoosemom said, it can be hectic.</p>
<p>lucky&blue, that’s exactly the reason why I have been ‘trying’ to encourage my son to consider it. We’re in the same boat with the APs, and he’s been fighting a bad cold and had a fever yesterday!</p>
<p>the_mom, the shower cap technique is quite clever! I’ll make a note of that.</p>
<p>As I understand it, the Hillel Freshman Fest lets you move in a day before the other freshmen. They have some activities and stay somewhere off-campus that first night. Since UDel is not as Jewish as many of the other large schools that most of our kids have been looking at, it is a good way to quickly meet other Jewish kids on campus. My son tells me it’s $50 but it seems to be worth it just to avoid the move-in rush.</p>
<p>At U of Maryland they had signs all over the campus about buying a U-Lock to prevent bike thefts. Does U Del security sell the same thing? I wonder if most of the bike theft due to insufficient locks?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend bringing a new bike. It will be parked outside all year round and won’t be in great condition by the end of the year. That being said, the school is very bike friendly, there are plenty of bike racks in front of each dorm and most academic buildings. The new shuttle buses also have bike racks on the front too.</p>
<p>About freshmen fest, I would do it if your son wants to be involved in hillel. I did not and I regret it to some degree. I found it difficult to become involved with hillel having not attended freshmen fest. The people who attended freshmen fest already know each other and its rather cliquy. It also would have been nice to meet other people would would be interested in attending hillel events. The reason I decided no to do it was because, at least last year, there was no time to unpack when you are dropped off, just time to load all of your stuff into your dorm. This would have left me having to unpack everything without my parents help a few days later. Last year there was also a full day between when freshmen fest activites end and when everyone else moves in and I was afraid I would be too bored during that time.</p>
<p>I found info on Freshman Fest and it does appear that the doors open at 5pm and you have to be done by 7:30pm. I know when we moved my daughter into college for the first time it took us longer than that to get stuff set up (like a wireless router sine the dorms are not wireless). I guess we could stay overnight at a hotel (it’s 3 hours each way if I don’t hit NJ traffic so I am not driving home and then back) and finish setting stuff up when they return and can get in the following day. I can’t imagine that I would be the only parent to do something like that.</p>
<p>I think we’ll be able to move my son in fairly quickly. He doesn’t have all that much stuff. My daughter on the other hand had tons of stuff (including art supplies, sewing supplies, room decor, and so on). We’ve moved her into a dorm room and an apartment, so have a pretty good system of getting things in order.</p>
<p>So I guess the bottom line with the bicycles is getting a cheap used bike, U-lock and shower cap!</p>
<p>My son (a freshman) has had experience with both questions you’ve asked. First of all, he absolutely loves having his bike at school. He rides it to almost all his classes. He lives on East Campus, which is pretty convenient to classes, but still would rather take a 5 min. bike ride than a 10-15 min. walk. I agree an inexpensive (preferably used) bike is the way to go. They do stay outside (the dorms do not have storage rooms) all the time.
Freshman Fest - He would highly reccommend it (as would I) In fact he signed up to be a “counselor” for next year’s incoming group. And he’s not religious, nor did he get particularly involved with Hillel this year. He met a lot of kids who have become some of his best friends. Besides that, moving in early was a PLEASURE! We practically drove up to the door of his dorm to unpack everything. And only one or two other cars were around at all. Yes, it’s true there’s not a lot of time to unpack, but it was enough for us. (boys are always easier than girls). Also, we did what another person mentioned, which was stay over, and come back the next day with other suppliwe we bought, and helped him finish settling in. It’s not like you can’t pull them away from the group for a short time to finish up.
Any othr questions you have, I’d be happy to give my input.</p>
<p>Thanks KIS360. I read thay they may go off campus somewhere the next day. Can you still connect with tme at some point to put things in their room? Were you able to do this in the morning?</p>
<p>ABout the room, what kind of ‘accessories’ do you recommend (like bed-risers, plastic bins, plastic drawers, that kind of thing). My son deosn’t have all that much stuff (as compared to my daughter), but if there’s anything we can pick up for him in advance, it would be helpful.</p>
<p>I think it would be a good idea to wait until you know which dorm he’s in. DD has been in 3 different ones and the layout of each determined the “accessories”. For example, she used the bed risers freshman year, had to rent one of those lofts second year, and has not raised her bed in any way this year. She’s in another dorm next year, might have to find the risers again! Of course, you can’t go wrong packing stuff in plastic bins for transport and some of it will depend on how far you’re traveling.</p>
<p>handemom- Friday morning the kids are still busy where they sleepover off campus, but I remember being able to meet with him back at his room late afternoon before the Shabbat dinner to finish settling in. It worked out well because we had some time Friday to go shopping for other things he needed. (typically for a boy, he didn’t care if I picked the stuff up without him). There’s a Wal-Mart just over the boarder of Maryland not too far from campus. You can get the location from their website. The following are a list of some items we bought which were very helpful:
-sticklamp with three separate bulbs that can be ajusted to shine in different directions where needed. This was probably our best purchase, since the desk area of his room was very dark.
large bins (not too tall though) for under the bed. 4 fit under his.
med. sized free standing shelves for his closet. It took up about 1/2 the width, but still left enough hanging space for him, since most of his clothes do not need to be hung.
Power strips with surge protector. these are allowed, but regular extension cords are not.
duct tape
at least one box fan and a smaller one for next to the bed. It gets hot in the dorms in Sept. Except if they are in Laird Campus which has AC. The typical window fan didn’t fit in my son’s window ( I don’t know if it’s the same in all the dorms) but he was able to hang the box fan in front of the window, which worked well.
plastic or mesh drawer organizers.
over door hooks, and wall mount hooks.
egg crate type box to raise up microwave or fridge. In answer to your question, my son and his roomate spoke and decided one would bring a microwave and the other a fridge, but I know you can rent them.
we bought some inexpensive area rugs for the floor.
memory foan mattress cover or pad.
my sons bed did not need the risers, but i guess that depends upon the dorm, so you could bring them in case (Idid) and always return them if you don’t need them.</p>
<p>That really is all I can think of now. If I have any other suggestions will write again. By the way, though you can get everything you need at Bed Bath and Beyond they are fairly expensive and I found you could get most of what you want at either Wal-Mart, Target, or a store like Kohl’s. (I bought the matrees pad there for $20.00)</p>
<p>Good Luck, and again I would encourage your son to do the Freshman Fest</p>