You will be schlepping all of those plastic bins home…as well as some of the contents. There is NO ROOM in a dorms room for that much stuff. None. It sounds like you are taking more stuff than we did when we moved our kids to three room apartments for grad school.
And remember…anything that the upperclassmen help you schlep now, YOU will be schlepping yourselves at move out time. There are no upperclass Sherpas at the end of the year.
It’s fine if you bring the plastic storage bins just to transport things like lamps, but you should empty those out before you leave your daughter and bring them back home. Unless they specifically state that readily available storage space is available for student use, don’t count on it. Most schools don’t offer it.
sheets and towels - 2 sets max
For school supplies, she needs a couple of notebooks, a few pens/pencils, stapler, paper clips. Done. She is not going to Siberia; every student center will have a little store where she can buy more paper clips.
Get cardboard boxes instead and pack the stuff that’s in all of those plastic bins in the cardboard boxes. Then recycle said cardboard boxes after move in day…OR pack them flat and put them under the mattress so you can use them again at the end of the school year when she moves out of the dorms.
Realistically, you truly only need 2 bath towels. And if you use a washcloth, 2 of those. Skip bringing a ton of towels. The reason for just 2 of each? 1 that’s in use and the 2nd is in the hamper to be washed.
Don’t count on a storage area capable of holding 6 plastic bins, unless you already know such a thing exists.
Honestly, just remember that most people can fit their kids’ needs in a passenger car so think long and hard about why you and she are bringing so much. Are you just “stuff” people? Some people are.
I’d take this one step further. Tell her SHE will be responsible for packing and carrying everything down to the car at move out day. Then stick to your guns about that.
If she is taking THAT much stuff…including a bed headboard, which frankly I would just say NO to…I would insist she find and pay for storage at her college next summer…and pay for this herself. No need for your living room and one other room to be cluttered with this stuff all summer next year…and that IS what will,happen if she doesn’t store it on campus.
We stocked our kids up with lots of toiletries (shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste) enough for the whole year and still didn’t take as much as you are proposing. Clothing/shoes. Toiletries. Bedding/towels. Minor desk supplies. That’s really it.
when i was a freshman last year i brought a truck bed AND a mini van (with the back seats folded down) full of stuff and it all fit into my room. The only thing I sent back was the TV that I decided I did not need, I wish I could post a picture of all the stuff I brought because it was honestly impressive
How far away will you be? If it’s doable, I’d take a minimum and promise to bring & drop off anything critical in a week or two.
“when i was a freshman last year i brought a truck bed AND a mini van (with the back seats folded down) full of stuff and it all fit into my room. The only thing I sent back was the TV that I decided I did not need, I wish I could post a picture of all the stuff I brought because it was honestly impressive”
It’s not really impressive. Such huge amounts imply disorganization. It’s not cute or funny to try to cram stuff where it can’t fit because no one had the maturity to make choices.
Another thing to picture…if the student is in a double, what if the other student brings the same amount of stuff?
My daughter had a HUGE dorm room with a small walk in closet. Beds were not high, but high enough to put a suitcase under. She had tons of drawer space as well.
Still…we took 2 suitcases of clothes, one of linens, and one with school supply things. That’s it.four suitcases total.
It all fit in the back of a PT Cruiser (our rental car when we got there).
I never heard of or saw a college student schlepping a headboard around until the recent posting on this site. Ridiculous, just say no. How much storage is in the room? Where is all this junk going to go? Who is going to move it all twice a year and pay to store it?
My kid had 7 drawers amounting to the storage you’d get in a kid-size dresser, 2.5-3 ft of closet hanging space, and 3 small desk drawers. By the time her bulky down jacket and long coat and laundry hamper were in the closet there was maybe 2 ft of hanging space. There were 2 shelves over the desk for books and toiletries which meant that there was no room for a full size lamp on the desk (her tiny lamp just barely fit). There was room for 2 cardboard storage boxes under the bed and a little space on top of the closet. That was it.
Take what would fit in a minivan and no more.
Take less than that. You never know whether the next move will involve a minivan. My kid’s first move in fit in the back of a minivan (seats not folded down). It was too much stuff.
I"m pretty sure all of my D’s school supplies fit in her backpack, along with her laptop. How do you need even one large bin for school supplies?
We had the kids’ stuff and our overnight bags in the minivan. Worked. Older s flow to college. We had , IIRC, 2 large duffels of his stuff and that included most of the bedding (we bought some there) .
Has your D communicated with her roommate? Do you know what the other girl is bringing? Can duplicates be eliminated? Can anything be shared? It could be the height of inconsideration to show up with so much stuff that the other girl doesn’t have enough room for her own things.
My husband INSISTED there wasn’t room for my daughters 30 plus pairs of shoes, 8 bins of stuff plus rolling duffles and a huge shipped box. Wrong buster as DD liked to say. The shoes fit in these weird drawers. The bins stacked under her lofted bed and there was ennough room in the closet. I can’t even tell you the number of kids who borrowed stuff from her and the friends she made as a result. So I’ll be the one voice here saying try to fit it in and see what happens.
30+ pr of shoes? I can’t even…
What does she need a tea kettle for? Never seen a tea kettle in a dorm.