<p>Through that page, you can find lots of useful info for parents about moving in, etc. </p>
<p>And now I have a question: the website says the tuition bill is due August 1. Can we expect to receive a physical bill, or is there yet another online system I need to master :)?</p>
<p>And another question: does every student already have an ID number? I have a feeling the early decision kids like my D didn't get one, but maybe we're just more clueless than most. We don't remember seeing one, and she needs it for her critical inquiry registration form.</p>
<p>I think if she logs into the portal, her ID will be under her profile information. It also is on some of the documents sent earlier (my daughter also applied early decision and I know she was able to locate her ID). </p>
<p>Can’t help you on the tuition bill. I am still working on trying to figure out how to do monthly payments and set up loans, etc.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, an actual paper bill comes 2 to three weeks before it is due. This left us with a bit of a scramble to get the money from the 529, especially the one time that the check didn’t come for almost 10 days! (The college was great about it and didn’t charge us a late fee after they were contacted by the 529 fund and told that the check was actually in the mail.)</p>
<p>Later you will get a statement showing your payment.</p>
<p>When do they get room assignments? Student ID is under Biographical info near the sign in portion of the portal. Email addresses are there as well.</p>
<p>I’m wondering how many of you are planning to show up with (what you hope is) all the items your child needs for their dorm, as opposed to those who are going to hit Target/thrift stores/Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. on orientation weekend.</p>
<p>Our strategy (thus far) is to have our daughter bring as little as she thinks she can get by with and send her the rest, and/or bring a second load down at Thanksgiving. Might send bedding and towels, etc., ahead of time.</p>
<p>Pomona is about a 9 hour drive for us, so we are considering have Thanksgiving in Claremont as opposed to having our daughter fly home for such a short amount of time.</p>
<p>Anyone care to share their plan(s) of action? Would be interested in hearing about how you’re getting your student’s gear to Pomona, or how you’re going to approach the Thanksgiving holiday.</p>
<p>Since we have no choice but to fly, we are planning on buying a lot on line and have them ship directly to school. Can’t wait to find out when the school will start receiving packages. We will also arrive a day early and attack the stores buying almost everything other than clothes in the Claremont area. We will have to be VERY organized to get it all accomplished.</p>
<p>NJMom, The orientation website states that you can send packages to Pomona that will arrive two weeks or less before school starts. Hopefully our kids will get their addresses and room assignments soon. It sounds like you will be very busy as soon as you arrive!</p>
<p>We will be driving, about 12 hours I think. We will drive a large SUV and take as much as possible with us. We are hoping we won’t need to buy much when we get there, except for large items like a refrigerator and floor lamp.</p>
<p>I’ll definitely be advocating a “less is more” approach. After seeing the hassle kids go through at the end of freshman year to deal with all the stuff they brought, plus what they accumulated, I will encourage caution. The things I think we’ll have to buy in Claremont are a fan and maybe a lamp. I guess a fridge would be nice, but I’m hoping we could first coordinate with the roommate, and then try to buy it at the first-day yard sale. D already has bedding and all the clothes she could ever need, so we will travel with those. I’m planning to make use of those space bags I have sitting in the closet after an impulse buy at Costco. While it would be nice to take ski equipment, I think that’s going to have to stay home for awhile. </p>
<p>I had thought we would drive, but D wants to fly so she can spend maximum time saying long goodbyes to all her friends. At least if she flies Southwest she can take 2 bags for free. I may end up helping my son (USC student) drive his car down to LA - it’s a 2-day trip, and he’d like the company. But he won’t have much room to carry his sister’s stuff, as he’s moving into a huge, empty house for the first time.</p>
<p>H and I already have our tickets to go to Palm Springs for Thanksgiving with the 2 kids. Fun (and sunny!) for us, and much easier than getting both of them home on their tight schedules.</p>
<p>I have a feeling the stores are going to be wild that weekend - will probably be a great way to meet parents!</p>
<p>We’re going to hold off on getting a fridge. The Consortium is trying to discourage them as they are huge electricity hogs. Has anyone read “The Little Green Book”? Really interesting:</p>
<p>We are planning to drive in our car and rent a van from the airport. I am also planning to have some stuff shipped ahead of time. BengalMom - is there a shipping address?</p>
<p>I think students just send the packages to themselves when they get their campus address. The website is quite specific about not sending anything more than two weeks before school starts. They did say it’s a good idea to put some kind of sticker on your boxes to make it easier for the clerks to find them in the mail room.</p>
<p>rickman - The Living Desert is worth seeing, IMO. Palm Springs proper has some good restaurants, and amazing thrift stores (rich people donating entire suites of furniture when remodeling makes for some good bargains!). The cable car ride up the mountain is supposed to be pretty neat. We’ve visited the area a few times, and tend to focus mostly on getting outdoors. This trip, we hope to go hiking in Joshua Tree National Monument - the single best place in the Palm Springs area.</p>
<p>Rickmanfan–My son will be a soph at Pomona this year. Last year we found everything easily…our strategy was to wait until we looked at the size and layout of his room and until after he spoke with his roommate to see how they could consolidate. </p>
<p>We left home (also a 9 hour drive) with his summer clothes, bed linens, bath items, an electric tea kettle, and his climbing gear (which took the most space). We hit the used sale at the college to purchase a fan, lamp, and a super comfy computer chair. Although there were fridges at the sale, we bought one from Costco after we looked at the sale, thinking he could use it all four years and hopefully it would be more energy efficient. He certainly could have easily lived without the fridge, though.</p>
<p>The stores were not crazy at all! Claremont is more of a boutique sort of town, so we went to San Dimas to the Costco there to get the fridge and food items, hit the Target that was in San Dimas to buy laundry soap and toiletries, and finally the Staples (or was it Office Depot?) in Claremont to purchase a printer, ink, pencils, etc. There is a wonderful whole foods store, Sprouts, across the street from Mudd.</p>
<p>He flew home for Thanksgiving on Southwest, so he was able to take back some better clothes for “winter” in Claremont. The bags flew free, so that saved money.</p>
<p>At the end of the year he and about 6 members of his sponsor group rented a small storage unit for the basics they left home with, their winter clothes, and the furniture they accumulated at the end of the year from students leaving. The storage unit came with the use of a U-Haul truck, so that saved them time and effort. He was able to fly home after finals in May with the two free bags.</p>
<p>Good luck! Don’t stress–this is fun stuff–and you won’t believe all the things your child will be able to do without you in one academic year!!!</p>
<p>Thank you, FauxNom; we love thrift stores and re-use in general, so that’s a great suggestion. Have always wanted to see Joshua Tree, too.</p>
<p>West coast mom, the electric tea kettle is a terrific idea, and thanks for all the other great info, too, from someone who’s been there!</p>
<p>Anyone have a favorite way of hanging stuff on the walls, since tape and tacks are taboo? Have read some reviews of “removable” tape and have not been impressed. Was thinking of a giant bulletin board?</p>
<p>I read in the “Students Room” section that there is something called 3-M Command Strips which hold most items to walls and don’t leave marks.</p>
<p>I love, love, love Palm Springs. There are some great hikes up mountains and also one to an Oasis. </p>
<p>I am embarrassed to ask this but, does anyone know how to set up the password for the student’s school email? I thought I was a reasonably bright person, and am fairly certain that my child/student is or he wouldn’t be going to Pomona, but neither of us can figure it out! I guess he needs to use it for something on the Facebook site and although we have found his email, he can’t seem to use it…</p>
<p>2)
Go to mymail.pomona.edu
Your email will be: your log in to the portal + @mymail.pomona.edu
(For example, <a href=“mailto:xxx02010@mymail.pomona.edu”>xxx02010@mymail.pomona.edu</a>)
Your password is what you changed it to in step 1.</p>
<p>3) Follow the Hotmail instructions and you will have your Pomona email.</p>
<p>As I have not tried this myself, I can’t guarantee it will work, but here’s hoping!</p>
<p>Thanks Rickfanman, I will have him check it out. IT services also sent some instructions so between the two I am sure he will fulfill the all-important-facebook-obligation!</p>