Freshman move in stuff

<p>My oldest S is a rising freshman and as a result....we know very little about the little things that are involved with him leaving the northeast and traveling to VA. What is the best way to do banking? Should we open an account down in VA...does W&M have a banking system so he does not get nailed with all the fees associated with ATM usage? How about setting up dorm rooms? His roommate is from VA and is bringing fridge and TV...we are providing microwave. Both are getting lofts. Should we send him with kitchen stuff...if so what do you suggest? We are going back on parents weekend...should we let things settle and fill in items later? Any suggestions on giving him a credit card or debit card? I hear the traffic is legendary so we are planning to get to Williamsburg very early. Lastly does anyone have any info on the ROTC program? Thanks for your help</p>

<p>Our S finished his freshman year last school year…
Banking…our s has both you mentioned and…
-open an W&M express account . The money put in the account can be used for laundry/dryer machines and some businesses around campus (wawa and sal’s are 2 we know of) most convienent for laundry… Check W&M website for more info.
-we ‘think’ WaWa’s ATM does not charge a fee for most banks:it did not for our S bank.
Sadler’s does.
-S never used his microwave. He used the one in the kitchen. I guess its a preference.
-bring a fan if no air conditioner.
-S brought a small bookcase,table , chair, rug.This will depend on the room size.
-FYI …if the lofts are being rented via college lofts and are the same configuration as last year; there is room for storage underneath. There is NOT room for a desk and chair to sit comfortably.We did not know this info when we rented from college lofts.
-cleaning supplies if there is a sink in the room.
-curtains /tension rod if preferred
-printer/paper
-ROTC…i don’t have any current info on the program (only that it has a good reputation) but i can say back in the 1980’s my alumni husband was part of W&M ROTC. He made a career out of the Army. and is still in 24 years later:) GO Army!</p>

<p>Hope this helps. All the best to your S.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. Anyone with experience can only help us. Any thoughts on printers?</p>

<p>printers are personal preference… you can print at various places around campus. I assume there are still a number of computer labs. Not as convenient if you want to print at 2am though. Of course, if your roommate is asleep, you might not want to print at 2am either in your dorm room anyway.</p>

<p>Printer- my older son didn’t take one at all to his undergrad- just printed what he needed at the library. However, they didn’t charge unless it was over a certain number of pages and he never hit that many. He did take one to W&M Law, but I find he is still often printing at the law library, even though there is a per page charge. Just much easier than having the paper and ink on hand at all times. Not sure if W&M undergrad does it the same way, but for law he can either charge it to his card or add it to his tab.</p>

<p>I would recommend having a printer if you can find a cheap one–I got one at Target for I believe $38 last year, my roommate and I would alternate buying ink cartilages and the overall cost was far less than me paying 7 cents simply because of the amount of papers I had to print (I had a class that the professor required the texts, which were posted online, in class but we weren’t allowed to bring computers, plus I’m in an officer of a club with a copying account but not a printing account, so I needed to print a lot of originals).</p>

<p>Your son definitely needs some sort of debit card or credit card in addition to a WM Express account just to make it easy for him to arrange rides back or if he wants to go to any of the restaurants in town that don’t accept Express. The ATM in Sadler is Wells Fargo, that’s probably the best bank to have if you’re opening an account with him. Also, encourage him to look into Amtrak if you’re in the Northeast, that’s by far the best way for students from Maryland/Delaware/PA/NJ getting home, any further north you might want to look into planes though.</p>

<p>The biggest thing I can recommend to you though is to have your son do the research on this, and make decisions on what he’s bringing and looking up info on ROTC himself. He’s going to be making a lot of decisions two weeks from now.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the info everyone.<br>
@bandgeek…thx for the banking info. I also agree that he needs to do the research himself and we put him on that for his dorm stuff. We already got his plane ticket for Thanksgiving but I told him he needs to figure out how to get to Norfolk airport. As far as ROTC…that too is on him. If he is going to be in the military…a choice he made…then he needs to do the research and be prepared.
@ tjmom…he decided he wanted the option for a printer so we went with a wireless laser printer for $90 on sale at OfficeMax. Gives him flexibility and his grandmother wanted to get him a college gift.
@berliner…Thanks for your info. Makes my wife the accountant much more comfortable. We will go with a credit card with a small limit for him along with the W&M Express account. We will probably open an ATM thru Wells Fargo as that is the one at Sadler according to bandgeek.
We are very excited to be part of the Tribe. I loved the school from the day we visited and he had his interview. It seemed like a special place then…and it has been getting better since.</p>

<p>I have just skimmed the answers but I am also from the Northeast and just finished freshman year.</p>

<p>-Banking: It seems like you have decided this but I recommend using a bank in your area. I opened a checking acct with a small local bank in the Boston area (where I’m from) and my debit card worked out fine. There is a free ATM in Wawa, where he will be spending a lot of time, trust me, and the Sadler Wells Fargo ATM is just a $2 fee that I only used about twice when I really needed money and couldn’t walk the extra 90 seconds to Wawa. W&M Express is overrated IMO, but my parents didn’t give me money on it, so I basically only used it for laundry. If you will be giving him money on Express, it will be useful because that works at laundry, Wawa, and many local restaurants as well as the campus convenience store.</p>

<p>-Fridge/Printer/Microwave is personal preference. My roommate brought a TV and Fridge and I would say those things are definitely worth having in a room. He also had a printer which I used from time to time but you can easily just go to Swem and print something out, and odds are in a pinch someone on his hall with have a printer he can borrow, but it is definitely convenient to have one at hand, so that was not a bad investment. I think there is no point to having a microwave but some of my hallmates enjoyed making popcorn in their rooms instead of walking 20 feet to the kitchen. I prefer to use the kitchen. Also, for kitchen supplies, just have about 1 or 2 of each silverware, a plate, a bowl, and a cup. There will be community supplies and if he doesn’t plan on baking anything this will cover everything.</p>

<p>-ABSOLUTELY take it easy with bringing down stuff during move-in. Parents weekend is so soon after move-in that it makes a lot of sense to have him decide what he really needs during his first month or so and have you bring it down, then you bring town a ton of stuff and have it not be used. A lot of people bring way too much stuff, and space is valuable. This method worked out great for me.</p>

<p>-Travel: Most people at W&M are in-state so it is hard to find info about long distance travel. I regrettably took the Greyhound 17 hours to Boston for Thanksgiving. Oops. Flights are pretty cheap if you book them early. Here is the deal: The Student Assembly provides a 100% free shuttle to Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News airports over Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks. Note: this is both to and from the airport. They are pretty accommodating about having multiple shuttles to each place but it is worth it to book your flight around these times. Unfortunately you might be out of luck because you never know when they will release the schedule. (Here is the site btw: [Free</a> Airport Shuttles - The W&M Student Assembly](<a href=“http://www.wmstudentassembly.com/services/shuttle/]Free”>http://www.wmstudentassembly.com/services/shuttle/)) Usually this isn’t a problem getting to the airport because the shuttles leave pretty early, but if your flight back gets in too late you might be screwed. However, I think they usually leave the airport at 3:00 and 8:00 PM on those Sundays so most people get in before that. Definitely have your son look into this, and remember you have to SIGN UP for it or else they may not have room for him. I personally fly from the Richmond airport because it is consistently the cheapest, even though it is the furthest away. Flying to and from Winter Break, the shuttles don’t run because people leave/return at so many different times, but there are professional shuttles from all three airports. However, I believe Groome Transportation, which is only from Richmond, is the cheapest. If he can find someone to share the shuttle with away from/back to W&M, it is only $29; if you are alone, it is $46. I think the shuttles from Norfolk/Newport News are like $75 even though they’re closer. I could be completely wrong though, since I’ve never used them.</p>

<p>Anyway, if you have any more questions, feel free to PM me. Hope this helped.</p>

<p>The laser printer was definitely the way to go (I got one for myself this semester too). With all the pages he will most likely be printing, the inkjet printers just don’t cut it, and it’s really not worth going all the way to the library just to print something out. As far as the microwave, might I suggest waiting until parent’s weekend to see if it’s really needed? There will most definitely be a microwave in the common kitchen, which would save some space in his room if that works fine for the first few weeks. Good luck to your son!</p>