<p>We have a tiny car .. and we have to drive our daughter about 6 1/2 hour up to her school. Her orientation is the same time as parent orientation so we'll have to stay over a couple of nights, too ... This means, our stuff and loads of her stuff in our tiny '95 Toyota Corolla .. not to mention her little brother, too.... </p>
<p>I'm looking into buying stuff and having it available for pick up there .. (bed bath & beyond does this, I hear)... but beyond that -- what do people do? Rent a minivan? Looks like the cost will be over $400 for that ... Rent a trailer from UHaul? Our little car doesn't have a hitch and I think it's too small to pull anything substantial, anyway... not to mention the cost factor might be equivalent to the rental.</p>
<p>Do other families just have bigger vehicles or bite the bullet and rent what's needed?</p>
<p>We have a CR-V but we knew it wouldn’t fit everything so we asked our neighbor if we could borrow their minivan and they said yes. Worked out fine once we took the 3rd row seat out. Any relatives or friends around willing to do a car swap for 24 hours?</p>
<p>You can ship some items. Pack up her winter clothes in boxes that are ready to ship, since she won’t need those for a while. If she has some things she is not sure about taking that could be shipped later, leave them home until she gets there and decides. Once she has her campus mailbox info, then you can just send them along a couple of weeks later.</p>
<p>I suppose another option is to leave her little brother home from this excursion. He will be bored at parent orientation. He will likely have other opportunities to visit her campus.</p>
<p>One thing to think about is that everything she takes to campus eventually needs to be stored or brought home each year over the next 4 years. So take it easy on packing. For example, my D did not take/order multiple towels. She just washes her towel weekly when she does her laundry. They encourage you to order a couple, but why? We did order two sets of bed sheets, but she actually only took one to school, and washed them regularly. 2nd set is for future year if she wears the first set out. The good news is that usually the whole family does not feel a need to tag along for dropoff/pickup after freshman year (at least until graduation).</p>
<p>We had to fly my son out to school. My husband, son and myself each had two suitcases (on southwest so bags are free) Packed up everything - entire bedding set including pillows, clothes, coats, everythings. Only thing I shipped was his printer.</p>
<p>“One thing to think about is that everything she takes to campus eventually needs to be stored or brought home each year over the next 4 years. So take it easy on packing.” - So true! Less is more. Have your D start thinking very early about plans for summer storage. </p>
<p>Yes, get the linens etc locally. If there is a Bed Bath and Beyond, they allow pre-order and pickup. Other stores probably do the same. You can pick up drug store items locally too. </p>
<p>Ship some stuff if you can. Have the warmer clothes and coats set aside, and ship them later. (Perhaps they can come home at Spring Break). Use garbage bags to get optimal use of your car space. </p>
<p>thanks for the ideas … unfortunately - she’s headed to rochester and it’s cold most of the year there so winter items will be needed right away … we’ve considered leaving little brother home but he’s going to need to say good-bye… it’ll be a big adjustment for him (he’s on the autism spectrum) and needs to see that she’s okay… We will do what we can to limit what we bring but i don’t see how we’ll manage.</p>
<p>The trip up is only 1 day as is the trip back. I think you should consider renting an SUV or minivan for a few days. Check with Enterprise, Avis, etc. to get some prices but it should be less than $200 for it. Consider it as yet another school expense but it’s actually less than the physics book my kid bought while in college.</p>
<p>I would consider post 8 and post 9. Also, do you plan on visiting for a parent weekend, or sometime about a month later? If so, some things can be brought at that time as well.</p>
<p>We’ll look at bringing things later on Parents weekend… The rental van is going to be about $400 no matter what. Move in day is 8/31… Which means we have to drive up on 8/31… Parents orientation is 8/31 & 9/1 so we won’t be home until 9/2. Makes rental 4 days - which is the same as a weekly rate. Enterprise (at least near me) is not unlimited mileage And comes to $500 for 4 days!</p>
<p>We may just have to bite the bullet on this one.</p>
<p>We left little sister with friends here. She said good bye before we left. There was no need for her to be hanging around during orientation weekend and there would have been nothing for her to do…but hang around. We have a small minivan and that was sufficient for three of us and the “stuff”. </p>
<p>WE too moved another kid cross country with four suitcases and local purchases in CA. </p>
<p>This is my son’s advice (and DD agreed). Put EVERYTHING you think you will need at college in ONE room (the living room?). Then take 1/2 of it with you. Even doing that, you won’t use most of what you take.</p>
<p>The key to getting it all there…take less. There are stores in Rochester. Buy there.</p>
<p>She’s doesn’t need winter gear right away. That can be shipped up later - winter coats, winter clothes - or you can bring with you on parents weekend. If you can’t bring everything with you on two trips, you are bringing way too much stuff.</p>
<p>and maybe only one parent go, one stays at home with sib. That leaves the whole back seat for stuff to take, as well as more room in the trunk. Or drive two cars if you have two.</p>
<p>If there’s ever a time I think both parents should do something together, it’s dropping their child off for her first time at college. No way I’d want to do that alone or would let my husband do it without me!</p>
<p>We moved DS1 10 hours away. We left DS2 at home with family friends. Really, you don’t need or want the younger sibling there. He will be bored while you are at orientation and in the way while you are trying to move in.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice in this thread, especially:
put everything in a room then take half of it out. Unless your child has a single room, that’s about all she and her roommate will be able to fit in their roomm.
I lived in Rochester for four years. She won’t need her winter clothes until mid-October. She might need a light jacket for September, but fall is beautiful in Rochester. Ship the winter clothes later.
I have leant my minivan to many friends and it’s been on several cross-country mission trips filled with teenagers. It has 120,000 miles on it. So maybe you have a friend with an older minivan with high mileage who won’t mind swapping cars.</p>
<p>But most importantly, keep the younger sibling at home. Can’t stress that enough.</p>
<p>You may want to RENT a minivan for the trip if you don’t feel comfortable borrowing one from a friend. Our family has been on driving vacations where we’ve rented a car to go on it–our family car was high mileage, didn’t have good AC and I didn’t want to trust it to NOT break down in the middle of the desert.</p>
<p>I’m going to vote on the opposite site about the sibling. My D is very close to S1. It was important that she be there, see he was situated and ok, and say good-bye. She was 10 when he started college. How many more boxes are you going to get in his seat? It still won’t be enough room. Each familiar situation is different, but OP mentioned he was on the autism spectrum and this is important. It’s a difficult and meaningful ritual for many family members. If your gut says to take him, I say let him go!</p>
<p>Would renting a full-size car be cheaper than a mini-van? Might be a compromise. Most everyone we saw moving in had big SUVs, or mini-vans. We had a full size pickup with extended cab. However, I am in hearty agreement that one can easily take 50% of what he thinks he needs and still have too much. Way too much…</p>