<p>Hi all.....</p>
<p>So there is a thread for move-in tips for schools in general (i.e. door stops etc)</p>
<p>Bags are almost packed.....</p>
<p>Any move-in tips specific to Elon???</p>
<p>Take several umbrellas!</p>
<p>Seriously, we found move-in to be an absolute breeze last year. Elon obviously has a system in place that keeps things moving–pun intended–while removing much of the expected frustration.</p>
<p>One of the things we learned is that there are stores in Burlington! Like most people, we ran around for weeks leading up to move-in and bought every single thing we thought our son would need at school, crammed everything into two cars and then realized that we’d gone a bit overboard logistically.</p>
<p>Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Walmart, etc. are chock full of Elon families during move-in weekend, so you won’t be alone. The stores are prepared, have plenty of inventory AND staff and are waiting to help simplify your life. </p>
<p>Short of your son’s/daughter’s clothing, personal belongings, computers, etc., we suggest you save some of the shopping for when you get to Burlington. See the dorm room, get a feel for space, see what the roomie has brought, etc., then head out to the stores to supplement what you brought. </p>
<p>We’re heading back with our son this weekend and thanks to lessons learned, will have far less with us for the ride. We know now that we don’t need to buy & travel with napkins, paper towels, Gatorade, water bottles, even office supplies, desk lamps, etc.</p>
<p>Having said all that, we were in your shoes a year ago and probably would’ve done the same thing we did by going overboard because that’s what parents do regardless of getting assurances to the contrary. : )</p>
<p>We also found that once on campus, dividing & conquering was very effective, forced our son into some insta-independence and kept our focus on getting him settled instead of the inevitable emotions of saying goodbye.</p>
<p>It might be too late now, but we sent some posters to him ahead of move-in, so off he went to open his mailbox for the first time at Moseley, pick up his package and just complete a task by himself. Same with textbooks. While he ran errands and got used to the campus, we helped him unpack, made his bed, etc. </p>
<p>As for Elon itself, check-in was a breeze and the volunteers who help carry things from the car, loft beds, answer questions, direct your vehicle, etc. are everywhere and wonderful!</p>
<p>I hope some of this anecdotal feedback helps!</p>
<p>I just came back from dropping my son off for his sophomore year. (He is going early because he is helping out with freshman move-in and orientation. ) This year was so much easier because he had a better idea of what he needed and did not need. And yes this year we waited to by some things at the target and BB&B in Burlington. </p>
<p>My one suggestion would be to resist the urge to totally set up the room and your son or daughters things. Take the lead from them about how much they want you to help. Eventually they will figure it out and make it the way they want it. </p>
<p>As far as carrying things in- use XXLlarge duffle bags or plastic storage containers- but not so big that they are hard to carry. Remember you may be carrying things up a flight or too. Good luck everyone. Hope you all get there and back safely!</p>
<p>Thanks all…we actually did get everything down in Burlington etc. One thing to note for next year’s students…there are actually two Walmarts in Burlington…the one on Graham Rd had a much bigger selection of everything and was much less crowded. </p>
<p>Awesome move in , awesome orientation. Not so awesome drive home. Too bad Elon couldn’t control the weather.</p>
<p>We had a great move in too. My son is in Smith so we were required to off load near the tennis courts and the grounds staff moved our belongings via small vehicles pulling trailers. It was really well done. Keys were handed out a little earlier than the stated time. He was moved in with bed made by 8:30am. The day got hotter and more humid so early was much better.
We used the Walmart ship to site service for the refrigerator and the mattress topper. Very similar to what BB&Beyond offers. The Garden Road Walmart was well stocked and in a great location.
There are things that are Smith specific but may be projected to Carolina and Virginia. While the internet floor plan is good it is not perfect. There are more rooms in Smith than stated. There is a room 328 and 329 so probably a 229, 228 and 128, 129. The shower room is actually divided into 3 or 4 stalls that are 2 spaces deep each - one for dressing and the deeper one is the shower. There are curtains separating the spaces.
The closets in the rooms have two shelves in them - one about eye level that is deep and the other is about 18 inches higher and narrower.
Good advise was given above about looking at the room before buying too much for it. My sons room has two 4inch pipes that run floor to ceiling that are set about one foot into the far corners of the room. These are part of the air conditioning system. They are unsightly and create a square foot of unusable space in each corner. Many of the rooms I looked into had similar.
All beds were lofted when we arrived. There were Elon employees in the hall that would lower these for you. Most people changed the bed from the 7foot lofted to the 4 ft(approx) lower. The dresser still fit under the bed and there was plenty of room for other storage at this height. The ceilings are really high so even lofted there is plenty of room above the bed.
The dressers have 3 drawers and the desk has a middle and 3 stacked drawers with the bottom one being deeper than the other two.
The linoleum squares on the floor are probably original as are the Venetian blinds on the windows. Having a rug is a nice touch. I saw some of the rooms with the ones you could order from the school mailing. The quality was poor but good enough. You could probably spend half the money and get something better but you would have to transport and carry it in yourself. The sizes in the mailer were overstated in my opinion. While considering the pipes and the under bed floor space a smaller rug would do just fine.
On a final note I will tell you that I am still in awe over how many 40 and up inch flatscreens were carried into the building in their new boxes. I have a daughter at another school that does not want a tv. She uses her laptop to watch the few shows she likes. Maybe it is a boy thing as I know my sons room also has playstation and xbox in it. I think I will be monitoring his grades very closely and bringing the toys home if I think they are too much of a distraction.</p>
<p>RE: Xbox and playstations. My sons room mate played al ot of video games. My son could take it. He said he quickly got used to the noise of the games if his roomate and other guys were playing and could sleep right through it. He said when “quiet time” started before exams he could not sleep because it was too quiet,.<br>
Most of his serious school work was done at the library.</p>
<p>Ratzer: You were certainly more comprehensive than I was; D is in Carolina so ditto everything that was in that post…and, yes, I was mistaken…the WalMart was on Garden Road.</p>
<p>I would just like to know where they put a TV larger than 19"? If the dressers go under the beds (as they did in Carolina as well), there is nowhere to put anything “on top of”, particularly a very large TV…</p>
<p>We actually picked up a folding snack table in Walmart for $8.44 to put our old Keurig on because there was no place else to put it…</p>
<p>Wish I knew about the built-in shelves in the closet though; </p>
<p>nbd, but we pondered ALOT of options over the summer as to how to split a shelf (horizontally) in a very high closet; waste of time in hindsight…(older D had that issue freshman year at Syracuse)</p>
<p>re: the pipes…D woke up Sat morning to a dripping on her face; thought she was dreaming…it was condensation…Fixit was there in an hour to “fix” the pipes…I asked whether they would come to my house!!!</p>
<p>One more thing…not sure if it’s because it’s the first week in, or because she is in an all-girls dorm, but she has not had one night where she wanted to go to sleep early where there was noise that prevented it…this was actually very surprising to us ( and pleasantly unexpected)…</p>
<p>and she has been able to get work done (for now) in her room…that will certainly change as the semester rolls along I would imagine…</p>