<p>I suppose by now everyone is packing cars and getting ready for the big move-in day! I hope all goes well with everyone.
My son was already on campus in a summer dorm, so husband was at USC today at 8 AM for early move-in into official fall dorm. Got it done and out for a late breakfast by 10:30 AM. Weather is a bit humid, but slightly overcast and not terribly hot. I hope all of you have a smooth move-in, too!
Let us know how it goes!</p>
<p>Moved D in to Maxcy yesterday and everything seemed to go well. It was not at all as CRAZY as I thought it would be! Although the room was much smaller than expected. The room that they showed us at orientation was on the corner and a handicap room. Very misleading. But first night was good and as long as her suite mates stop locking the bathroom door so she can get in (HA HA ) I think it will be GREAT! Hope all others had as good as experience as we did!</p>
<p>wahine
glad your move in went well! S lived in Maxcy freshman year and had the smallest room imaginable but loved it there.You reminded me…they had that same bathroom locking problem! They finally made notes and hung them up on the insides of both bathroom doors reminding them to unlock after using!!</p>
<p>We did it! Got my son all moved in yesterday at McBryde. Not the greatest place, but okay for now. His floor neighbors seemed friendly and his roommate did too, even though they just met. Room could have used some shelves and a broom, but S didn’t seem to mind. This hurdle has passed. Hope things go well from here on out. On another note…went grocery shopping today and it was significantly cheaper. Kind of bittersweet! 
Good luck to all!</p>
<p>Cotelizard</p>
<p>For the future, tell him to avoid grocery shopping at the Publix in the Vista, it’s convenient but the prices there are pretty high.</p>
<p>wahine- Here’s a secret about the Maxcy bathrooms: the doors can be unlocked with just about anything, including your key and a pair of scissors. You just need to get in a little way in to the lock, fiddle for a few seconds, and it will open right up.</p>
<p>HAHA Thanks for the advice betterdays. I will pass on the info! :-)</p>
<p>Daughter is all moved into the new Honors Dorm. Weather cooperated, hot – around 87, but not as hot as it could be. Thankfully we got all her stuff in before the downpours that arrived in the later afternoon.</p>
<p>Honors dorm are very nice, however we were surprised at the lack of elevators. The dorms are built in various wings with only one, slow elevator serving each. Bottom line, we got our workout having to lug all her stuff up the stairs to the sixth floor. Thank goodness we brought along 2 strong teenage boys. </p>
<p>Overall the building is beautiful, although portions are still under construction. Dining facilities will not be open until later in the week. Location is excellent. One long block from Strom fitness center, fairly close to Blatt, and numerous restaurants in the area. Each floor has numerous lounge/gathering areas.</p>
<p>Rooms have very high ceilings and everything is nice and new. Window in daughter’s room was much smaller than that described in the floorplan – a HUGE change from her room last year in Maxcy which had gigantic windows on 2 sides (she had a HUGE, corner room very similiar to the one shown on the orientation tour). That being said she didn’t seem to mind. These new rooms are definitely superior to an “average” college dorm – we’re just a bit spoiled from last year.</p>
<p>The one aspect of the new dorms that seems odd is the miniscule closets. They are only about 32 - 34" inches wide and about 6 feet tall – moveable not acutal built in closets. Actual space to hang stuff is much smaller and I have no idea where the heck my daughter will put all her shoes, let alone clothes. Hate to sound sexist, but this closet had to be designed by a man! Room could also use shelving units about the desks – with such high ceilings seems a waste not to utilize the verticle space. </p>
<p>Anyway she’s in and we even managed to fit a couple chairs and a table in. </p>
<p>NOTE: In SC all Target, Walmart-like stores are closed until 1:30 p.m. on Sundays. We had forgotten and had held off on the errands until Sunday morning. Thankfully Lowes are open and we found the smaller carpet, chairs, and other stuff we needed there – whew.</p>
<p>Kids and staff at new dorm were really friendly and helpful, kudos to them all. Daughter loved Maxcy but says that the larger dorms has a more diverse population and good mix of freshman, sophomore and even some upper classmen.</p>
<p>DonHo - If you have any misgivings about the Honors Dorm…step about 1/2 block down into McBryde. It is anything but new and reminds one of a prison cell. Metal doors once painted white are now scratched and room numbers are written on the door with red magic marker. In son’s room there was a bag hanging from above pipes holding a water leak. This was our 4th choice on son’s original list. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind too much…not as much as Mom! No elevators here either although there are only 3 floors. Guess the grass is always greener. Hopefully we will do better next year.</p>
<p>Operation Freshman Move In completed here as well!</p>
<p>We spied our first fellow USC traveler (boy wearing a USC baseball cap) at 5:30am, checking luggage in Providence, RI. I sat next to an incoming freshman from Nashua, NH on the flight into Columbia. A mother from Stamford, CT asked us if we had a freshman too as we waited for our luggage at the airport.</p>
<p>The trio of father, mother and freshman was so ubiquitous that the salesclerk at Bed, Beth and Beyond whipped out her pack and ship list as soon as my daughter walked in the door.</p>
<p>The early rising hour and my inability to drive and figure out directions at the same time lead to some cranky moments, but we got the Target and BB&B run done on Friday before our delightful dinner at the Blue Marlin. Our stroll around campus was very nearly drowned out by a torrential downpour, but the storm conveniently passed so that D could show her dad around campus.</p>
<p>I was prepared for the worst on Saturday – hundreds of students and their parents moving in with no place to park – but the university had things very well organized. Pull in parking spaces had been created on the street in front of the dorm (new Honors residence), and each family had 20 minutes to unload everything on to the sidewalk. One family member stood guard while the others, joining the ant-line stream, moved stuff in. One of the two elevators broke down, so the stream wended its way up the stairs. (Fortunately, our daughter was on the second floor.)</p>
<p>Daughter was very pleased with her room, and actually I thought it had more storage space than I expected. (I also managed to fall off the lofted bed while making it up.)</p>
<p>D got her bunk in the Honors dorm through her participation in the Magellan Explorers living-learning community, which is new this year. Apparently it only has about a dozen participants. They had a luncheon for them yesterday. D also attended the Freshman Reading Experience in the Colosseum. She said there were over 200 break out groups (she was in number 37).</p>
<p>D is anxious to settle in with a circle of friends, but knows it will take time. I think it would also be easier for her if she met some people who were undecided about their major, as she is. Everyone she has met so far seems to know exactly what they want to do!</p>
<p>H and I left mid-afternoon for Charleston. We had a lovely time, I highly recommend a short R & R trip for parents after drop off!</p>
<p>Text to my d on Sunday: Did you see many weeping parents yesterday?
Reply text from D: No, not a single one!</p>
<p>Hi All,
We moved D into Capstone on Friday, and everything went smoothly. The room was very clean and spacious. I used Tilex on the shower, since there was mold. D’s roomie’s Mom ended up re-caulking around tub and it looked great! USC Texan had a great idea for the shower/bath…a no locking the door policy. I put up a shower curtain to provide total privacy for the person in the shower, so that frees up the toilet, (which also has it’s own door). I used those really thin hangers that have foam on them. D’s closed held everything, and let me tell you, she brought alot of clothes! I’m still not sure how they’ll make their beds, as they are lofted. Okay, maybe that’s wishful thinking that the beds will be made My husband bought those pool noodles, and duct taped them to the bars the girls climb to get into bed. Very comfy on the feet. We flew home to Michigan yesterday, and having our firstborn leave the nest will take some getting used to. I wish all parents the best as we go through this transition!</p>
<p>Just wanted to add - the big crisis for my d is that she cannot receive texts or calls on her cell from her room - even though other students can. </p>
<p>This is probably largely due to the building and the fact that her room is on the inside of a courtyard, but has anyone had any luck solving this sort of problem?</p>
<p>Apparently service can vary from phone to phone, so Verizon is sending her a different model of phone to solve the problem (hopefully).</p>
<p>No misgivings about Honors Dorm, realize that we’re spoiled from last year’s good luck where she had a walk in closet! Trust me I’ve seen enough dorm rooms to know that these are superior. Daughter reports that she found space for all her clothes and shoes despite the small closet. </p>
<p>Fendrock – your daughter may have missed one of the weeping parents Sunday, thank goodness for dark glasses! Second year is easier though. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>DON HO – D told me not to cry as we were hugging her good bye - I said she wouldn’t be able to tell because I was wearing sunglasses - she responded that she would be able to tell anyway! which is probably true!</p>
<p>Operation move-in completed here as well. D is in the honors dorm as well, and we were very impressed. Her room is somewhat oddly shaped, she’s in one of the rooms with a private bath so the shape isn’t a standard square. Made for an interesting time with figuring out possible configurations, but it ended up working out great. </p>
<p>We drove down and didn’t leave until Sunday, glad to know the entire dorm didn’t witness my weeping as I walked out of the building on Sunday! D seems to be doing well, she is also anxious to meet a circle of friends. She reports meeting a ton of really nice people, but is anxious to make some real friends. It’s hard for them to leave a comfortable situation where they have tons of friends around all of the time, and go to where they don’t know anyone. She too knows it’ll just take some time. Mom is adjusting but it is difficult. I’m trying to not crowd her by calling all the time, which makes missing her difficult. I’m used to her checking in with me several times a day just to say hi and that isn’t happening! I know it’s normal, but I do miss her a ton and am counting down the days until parents weekend. Fendrock, D has also had trouble making calls and texting from her room, and yes it is a huge issue for her. I also don’t like the idea that she is isolated with no way to communicate from the dorm if need be. She mentioned that the people she met with Verizon seemed to have better luck than she has had with TMobile so hopefully the new phone will do the trick for your D. I’m going to call TMobile today to see if they have any suggestions.</p>
<p>athemom, I wish we could introduce our daughters to each other but I know it doesn’t work that way!</p>
<p>Got my D moved into the Green Quad on Friday. Unfortunately, after our intial load, the downpour hit. However, it was fun anyway. D is excited that she will have her own private bedroom, which is a big change from last year. However, it will be interesting having 4 girls with one common area and one kitchen to share. Should be a good learning experience for my daughter. :-)</p>
<p>What a great school! The Honors dorm move-in went fine, and I can’t believe all the Welcome Week activities offered. They’ve got concerts, movies, fireworks at First Night, everyone’s vying to get them to join or volunteer, and free food everywhere. Our D likes her new roommate (from Charleston), her room (5th floor means she’ll get plenty of exercise on the stairs), and the friendly sophomores who went out of their way to take her around the campus the first weekend. </p>
<p>The dorm is amazing with all the lounges, study rooms and gathering space provided. I like that the kids can customize the layout however they want since everything is stand-alone, so they can have more floor space by shoving their furniture under their loft beds, or sprawl out by putting their desk/cupboard/dresser into a T under the bed. The whole building looks great, and the RMs were very helpful with solving little problems, like showing us there were 2 jackplates so each girl had one (we’d missed one behind a desk). Once each kid’s laptop was plugged into the lefthand jack of their own plate, everyone got connected fine (thanks, CJ!) </p>
<p>Move in day, we got there at 7:50 am (big help to arrive early!) and were completely moved in by 9:30 despite one elevator being off and on all morning. D and I ran the lighter stuff up the stairs and we left my husband to wait in line for the elevator with his hand-truck hauling the heavy boxes and trunk. Much easier than using the giant carts they had. My H appreciated NOT having to hike the stairs much - he was tired by the end of the weekend! </p>
<p>We left Sun. afternoon when my D said the agreed-upon code words to us - “Go away!” It worked - we’re back in Maryland! Thanks to all you experienced parents for great ideas that made move-in weekend easier.</p>
<p>Fendrock, I wish we could as well but they do have to find their own way as hard as it is not to “fix” things for them. I am very proud of her for taking on this challenge, but can’t wait until I can hear her voice and know that she’s okay, has settled in, and is happy. Right now, she says she is fine and is enjoying the school but I can hear stress in her voice and it is tough. I’m sure we’ll all be back here a year from now telling the parents of the incoming freshman class that it’ll all work out in time!</p>
<p>did anyone get a look at the dining hall/starbucks in the Honors Dorm?Did they have an estimate on whenit would open?
is the outside landscaped?
Glad everything went relatively well for all the movers.If you havent heard from your kids yet, thats probably a good sign.
Tomorrows the first day of classes, that gives y’all a good excuse to call/text/IM/Skype/email them!!
Fendrock:How did dinner at te Blue Marlin work out?</p>