<p>Laundry is “free”’ too…in our family we say “included”.</p>
<p>What? Laundry, as in laundry service is included? This will be my S favorite thing about the U. I like the term “included”.</p>
<p>[Laundry</a> | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,42701-1;42749-3,00.html]Laundry”>http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,42701-1;42749-3,00.html)</p>
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<p>The laundry machines do not take money! All you need to bring is detergent and your clothing! Your child is the “service”! The dry cleaning services are no longer at the University. My DS uses Sudsies and they come and pickup and deliver at the front desk of the lobby when arranged online. I am guessing that they would do your child’s laundry, but it won’t be cheap!</p>
<p>Thanks again DinDune - I thought that was too good to ask for! Still beats needing to find 8 quarters once a month. I’m sure he’d be trying to fit a month of shorts and t-shirts into one load.</p>
<p>It really is so easy, plus they have a computer program to look at, I forget what it is called, that will tell the dorm resident if any washers or dryers are available, before they bring down their stuff to the laundry room and how much time is left on the ones in use.
Wish they had this when I was a student!</p>
<p>It’s called Laundryview 
BTW, I finally met your son the other day, DinDune.</p>
<p>And you don’t have to try <em>too hard</em> to fit a month worth of clothes into one load. :P</p>
<p>Rankinr, just curious - are the machines at UM those big front loading commercial sized ones? When I went to a state college in upstate NY, we had the small single-family-home type machines, had to pay for them, and they took forever. Plus, no shorts at t-shirts in Buffalo NY- more like jeans and sweatshirts!!!
~Zinc</p>
<p>Rankinr, he told me that. He wanted to introduce me to you when we were eating in the food court…I guess you were right next to us at some point, but I didn’t want to be intrusive.
So glad that you finally met. He is really loving the U, his job, and it is pretty obvious that you do too!</p>
<p>Oh, really? I think that must have been before we had actually met because I didn’t see him. Then again, I was probably distracted by Pokemon… by new addiction. (I just beat it, though, so now I’m free! Kinda.)</p>
<p>ZincWhiskers, I’d say they’re just normal washers and dryers. They take ~30 minutes, then the dryers have 60 minutes cycles but usually only take ~30-50 minutes.</p>
<p>What’s really annoying is sometimes, if you overload them (which I do frequently) it will hang out with one minute left on the timer for like ten minutes as the clothes are spin drying.</p>
<p>I’ll get a picture of those, too :D</p>
<p>1) After moving our son in and attending parent orientation, should we also visit a month later for family weekend or save our one additional visit from CT for later in the semester?</p>
<p>2) Is there a Fall break in October and how long does it last? If it is a week we will fly son home. Online calendar just says October 14th tentative with no date range.</p>
<p>3) Since they only have Thurs & Fri off @ Thanksgiving do most residents stay or head home? I heard there is a well attended football game that weekend?</p>
<p>4) In your opinion if we could only visit once after orientation during the fall semester should it be for family weekend or Thanksgiving weekend?</p>
<p>5) Is it possible to take a train from FLL to campus, or do most students use a GO shuttle like I have heard mentioned here.</p>
<p>6) I always read suggestions to buy smaller meal plan so we chose 14 instead of 20. Can additional money be added to dining dollars card?</p>
<p>7) Do freshmen dorm tower mattresses use standard twin or extra long twin sheets?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice so far and for any information you can provide.</p>
<p>Welcome to the U! These are some answers to your questions.
- We did not visit at all first semester, as our DS did not really want us coming for parent’s weekend. Not sure why.
- Oct. 14 is just a long weekend, no break until Thanksgiving which is also just a long weekend.
- Many residents stay, as there are RA’s on duty during Thanksgiving and some sort of organized dinner for those that stay in the dorm. Most go home or home with local friends. Our DS came home freshman year, and came home Wed PM-Friday PM and then went back to the U for the weekend for the game!
- He didn’t care if we visited or not, so we didn’t.
- We use the GO shuttle. Always reliable. There are shuttles every 2 hours to FLL before Thanksgiving and Xmas break that you can sign up for, but use the GO shuttle upon return.
- We had the 20 meal plan for our DS and he has had it both years. You can add money to the Cane Card which can be used for dining. The 14 meal plan and 20 plan is only 100 different, I believe, so we chose more and he was happy that he did not have to go and buy milk, cereal, etc. He likes the dining hall food just fine!
- XL twin…don’t forget a comfy bed pad too!</p>
<p>Those were great questions, Classof15parent, and great answers, DinDune, thank you. I have a few additional questions.</p>
<p>If we want to get a rug for the dorm, is it easier once we are there, or are the choices limited?</p>
<p>Do students get a list of textbooks they need early enough to get them discounted online?</p>
<p>What kinds of events do they have for parents during orientation? Meetings? Tours?</p>
<p>We brought the rug because we live in Florida and it is very easy to drive it down. They sell them on campus and there are Home Depots etc. near campus. Either way works! There is a floor map of both freshman dorms to get measurement ideas, too.
The classes start a few days after the students register. My son bought the first semester books on campus so that he would have them ready to roll. In subsequent semesters he ordered online and had them sent. Clearly we overspent first semester so that he’d have them. Not sure if every student does this, but he didn’t want to start classes without being able to do assignments right away. I’m sure that many ordered online and just waited. Teachers are fairly lenient and understand if a freshman does not have books the first day, but if your student is not comfortable with this, budget ahead!</p>
<p>Orientation is in a word…fantastic. From the keynote speaker to the sessions for parents on any and all subjects, it gave us a comfort level that we were leaving our DS in good hands. It started with a session from the advisors and Dean in the school where your student is currently registered. Good info and good names to get there for the future. There are sessions on the Health Center, Wellness activities, study abroad, separation issues (with a therapist in a group setting…lots of tears shed in this one!), Hillel, clubs and ways to get involved for students, safety on campus, volunteer opportunities on campus for the students to get involved in the community…etc. I think we went to 5 or 6 of them.
The Keynote speakers are amazing…inspirational. Ours was George Will, the next year was Fareed Zakkria (I’m sure I misspelled that) . Your student sits with their floor and the parents sit separately. The students have their own orientation while the adults do their thing. After the last session, we met up and had dinner before our departure!
Great few days. And yes, there are tours, but we didn’t need one!</p>
<p>How common are bicycles on campus, especially for dorm freshmen? Are they necessary and easily accommodated?</p>
<p>are washers in freshman dorms top load or front load? This affects the detergent we send!</p>
<p>Front load, but you put the detergent in a slot that you pull out of the top. I use liquid detergent, but you can also use powdered detergent. But I recommend you wait until you get here to buy detergent… there’s a target ten minutes from campus where you can get all of your necessities.</p>
<p>And VHFather, bikes are definitely not necessary, but they are common, and can be helpful, especially if you work on the other side of campus, or want to go to Sunset place, etc. Just be really careful when crossing roads, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks Rankinr! I really do owe you for all of the help you have provided! It is much appreciated.</p>
<p>This question is for Rankinr who’s been so incredibly helpful. How do the students iron their clothes. I assume they bring their own iron but do they need one of those mini ironing boards for their room or is there something in the laundryroom?</p>