<p>Is there a link to info on things like move in dates, hotels, and other things that parents should know about getting their kids moved in?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi Sbjdorlo — sent you a pm with some details. But quick answer is that the info is provided to students through their mymit accounts.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of information on the First Year webpage: [The</a> First Year at MIT for the Class of 2016](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2016/index.html]The”>http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2016/index.html)</p>
<p>Thank-you!!</p>
<p>One more question: Are there really cheap hotels in the general vicinity or even farther away? Motel 6 or something like that?</p>
<p>The closest Motel 6 is in Braintree, and the rates for the days you’d need in August are $85.99 per night. I think you’d need to rent a car to get in to Boston, which you will want to avoid doing, if at all possible. Car rental would bring that cost higher.</p>
<p>For around $100 per night, you can stay in the Boston Common Hotel, which is just across the street from the John Hancock Building. I’ve stayed there – it’s nice. You’re a few blocks from the subway, or you could just walk to MIT from there – it will take 35 minutes or so.</p>
<p>I just found a Motel 6 for $59.95 a night in Framingham. I guess I just assumed having a car was part of the move in process, so as to buy stuff from Target or wherever, but maybe that’s because I’m from So. Cal.</p>
<p>I don’t know Boston/Cambridge at all, so I’m not familiar with the John Hancock Building.</p>
<p>I’m thinking I can get a car for a couple days for about $55 using a discount that we have. I will definitely want a car because I can’t do much walking for health reasons. I guess I should find out about the parking on campus, too.</p>
<p>sbjdorlo, freshman drop-off at MIT may be different than what you see locally. I work at a public university so I too see the annual convoys of heavily overladen minivans lumbering in from downstate NY, Jersey, and Buffalo, ferrying cubic yards of furniture, appliances, and clothing to appoint each student’s dorm room, and all the side trips to Target, BedBathBeyond, Walmart, etc.</p>
<p>Here are my observations from our August 2011 drop-off:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Parents are almost not needed for freshman drop-off. Students don’t receive room assignments until well into orientation. You couldn’t furnish your son’s room even if you wanted to, because he very likely won’t move directly into his permanent room. </p></li>
<li><p>We dropped off our son on a Sunday night before his FPOP (Freshman Pre-Orientation Program), nearly a week before the formal orientation programs for parents. We skipped orientation altogether. If your family decides he can attend a FPOP then you will really be superfluous within three hours after arrival! </p></li>
<li><p>Our son found the returning students were incredibly friendly and helpful in getting him moved into his final room and set up. He actually scored a free bike from one of the independent living houses that had several in a garage.</p></li>
<li><p>My son is in Senior House, so my perceptions may be biased, but frugality appears to be Totally OK socially, and there is not a culture of lavish custom dorm-room furnishing. Second-hand and thrift shop is fine. Wait and see what his roommate brings. You can always order some missing items for delivery to his dorm. No one in their right mind would try to do Target and BedBathBeyond runs in and out of Cambridge during freshman drop-off!</p></li>
<li><p>I’m afraid that commuting in from Braintree or Framingham would be truly grueling and we would never do that.</p></li>
<li><p>If I were in your situation, I would skip drop-off altogether, and book a room close to campus NOW for Family Weekend! (and yes, I know how hard that is emotionally) </p></li>
<li><p>General budgeting tips: If your son is competent in a kitchen, consider a dorm without a mandatory meal plan. Also, we were amazed how cheaply our son got textbooks. Some recycled from upperclassmen, some used from Amazon, but he made out very well.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This is so exciting! :)</p>
<p>^^^ Great post – I totally agree!</p>
<p>There’s basically no parking on campus, fwiw.</p>
<p>sbjdorlo ~ We went to CPW with our son, so we skipped the parent orientation in August. Since he was registered for a FPOP, we brought him to MIT by car, with very little luggage, aside from an electronic keyboard, stand and bench. After we settled him in Maseeh (which is a dorm where you know for sure you won’t have to move), we stayed overnight in a nearby hotel, used the hotel parking and left the next day, after a quick meal with him (he was en route to a meeting). We came back home (NY) just in time for the hurricane, lol. We returned to visit him for family weekend (October) by train and brought whatever was missing. We also sent things by USPS and UPS. Hope that helps and best of luck to you! :)</p>
<p>Speaking of hurricanes and FPOPs, my son was kayaking in Boston Harbor as Irene moved up the coast. :eek:</p>
<p>A question about FPOPs - Does everyone who wants one get one as long as the student puts down enough choices, or do some people not get assigned one? I’m liking this idea of moving her in before the FPOP and not going to Parent Orientation. I’d like to make hotel reservations soon, but if she may not get an FPOP I’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<p>So, there’s really no reason to go to orientation? You all never found it beneficial? I have a lot of questions and I’ve never been to MIT. But maybe I should just skip it? My dh took Monday off of work so I could go but now I don’t know. If it doesn’t help my son by going…</p>
<p>sbjdorlo, you can safely skip the <em>parent</em> part of orientation. Your son will be engaging with orientation all summer through his MyMIT account. Once he arrives on campus, the freshman orientation process is HUGE and takes about ten days! Parents are (sadly) irrelevant to the orientation process.</p>
<p>Plan to visit him after he’s settled in. By then, you’ll be able to visit some of his classes, and meet his new friends and roommate, and have a wonderful visit. But do make your hotel reservations soon!</p>
<p>catbird,</p>
<p>When would you recommend visiting? When do kids “settle in”?</p>
<p>Here is the link to the MIT Parents Association website. Just click on “Family Weekend” at the top of the page. This fall’s dates are October 12-14.
[MIT</a> Parents Association - About Us](<a href=“http://parents.mit.edu/s/1314/04-parents/index.aspx?sid=1314&gid=31&pgid=853]MIT”>http://parents.mit.edu/s/1314/04-parents/index.aspx?sid=1314&gid=31&pgid=853)</p>
<p>My two cents though my son chose Caltech, another city school. I didn’t drive him there though he wanted me to. After all the college trips the previous August, it wasn’t going to happen. I sent him on Southwest Airlines with free luggage-two pieces per ticket. Don’t know if SW goes to Boston. He brought his cello, so that was another ticket. So he was allowed four pieces of luggage and two carrions plus two personal items. The airline rep on the phone incorrectly told us he could only take luggage fir one ticket so he had only one extra piece if luggage instead if all allowed, but we didn’t have to pay for it. I sent him another box and sent him back with mire stuff at Christmas. He has far more than he needs at school now. Thank God there is summer storage provided. All they really need is clothing, computer, phone, and bedding. Fir bedding, don’t buy it at home. Get it on Amazon and have it shipped free. Same with any bulky winter clothing you know will fit and they will like, such as a heavy winter coat. Things for their room can also be shipped this way–directly from the vendor. However, consider how it will arrive. Will it be delivered directly to the firm ir would they have to transport it across campus? If it don’t go directly to the dorm, think twice. They will be busy and so will their friends. Don’t make more work fir the. Consider also that their roommates will bring things, so don’t send things like microwaves until your kid gets the lay of the land and knows what he ir she really needs. Make sure you edit until they are moved into their regular room. A. As for bedding, send the minimum with themand get bulky items shipped from vendor. Im talking body pillows, bulky comforters, big cushions, etc. Weigh cost to buy against cost to ship stuff they already own. Hope this helps. MIT parents may correct any erroneous assumptions since I am a Caltech mom. Caltech dies have parking and is much smaller so kids can grab a dilly and haul stuff across cusps. MIT is mire work and time to get around, and I wouldn’t want to deal with a car there.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot about my son’s violin! </p>
<p>When you say you bought another ticket, you mean you had to pay for an airline ticket for the cello?</p>
<p>I would assume we can pack the violin like luggage or he can bring it as his carry on, but I guess I should ask over on the music forum.</p>
<p>Caltech would have been easier but S feels MIT is worth any trouble.</p>
<p>sbjdorlo ~ You definitely won’t need an extra airline ticket for a violin. It can be packed as luggage, but would be safer as a carry on.</p>