We are so excited! We’re moving our daughter in on August 17. She is attending the Women’s Welcome. We’re playing SUV Tetris as we try to figure out if all the boxes will fit in one vehicle. Good times! I hope move-in goes smoothly for everyone. Remember to pack a cooler with plenty of water and snacks.
I’m so excited for you and your daughter! What’s the Women’s Welcome?
Halliburton Women’s Welcome: it’s a women in engineering dealio. The girls move in a few days early and have an itinerary of meeting engineers, faculty, getting to know one another and so forth. Strengthening ties among women in the field. It’s so neat!
We moved our son in on the 17th also, in his case for marching band camp. Everything went great. We didn’t even break a sweat as the student helpers moved everything out of our car into cardboard bins. They delivered it up to his dorm room and all he had to do was unpack.
I did have to make a trip yesterday to bring her bicycle (wouldn’t fit in the first trip) and an astonishing amount of other items suddenly needed.
Care to share the “other items suddenly needed” so I can add them to my list for next year? 
I should have put “needed” in italics, as it’s playing fast and loose with the definition of “needed”. It was mostly stuff we forgot:
a mug for coffee/tea (everything we packed was plastic or disposable)
toilet paper holder
binder clips
furniture sliders (those floors scratch if you just look at them hard)
still MORE plastic storage bins
tub cleaner
paper towels
another power strip
a towel rack to go over the door; the kind with the bar, not just hooks
So there’s no tp holder in the towers bathrooms? Do kids also supply their own TP?
There are TP holders, but I brought one of the tower thingies which holds multiple rolls. TP is NOT provided in the suite-style dorms. It is provided in the community-style dorms.
Power strip is an essential. I brought three and and loaned two of them out to friends. I’d also recommend an extension cord if the bed is lofted (that way he or she can charge their phone from the bed). Having a vacuum is nice, but not a necessity. I borrowed a friends a couple times during the year. If you have an extra one at home, I don’t think it could hurt to give it to your child.
Although this might not apply to some, don’t worry about your TV being too big. When I was shopping I found a good deal on a 42", but my dad thought it would be too big for the dorm room so I had to get a 32" instead. I’ve regretted it since then.
Our move in yesterday went very smoothly. No trouble at all and very little waiting. We really enjoyed all the older kids lining the streets into the housing area and cheering for the newbies. Made my son feel very welcome. The only negative for the day was learning that 16 kids on his floor at David Boren Hall share two showers! I’m trying to convince him he should shower in the evenings.
@MansfieldTxMom I lived in Cate and had community style bathrooms. Despite having even more people share 2 showers, I never had an issue with shower availability.
@mansfieldtxMom - my D’s experience last year in Boren is just like @whenhen 's in Cate. They all have different schedules so it’s really not a problem. And if there IS a busy time, the kids will figure it out and adjust. Not to worry! Hope your son enjoys his freshman year as much as my D did!
Also on the plus side, after living in the dorms and sharing a bathroom with 8 other guys, your son will be that much more appreciative of living in an off campus house or apartment.
According to my son it is a non-issue. You are right - they all just figure it out and adjust! So far he’s loving it all. We are very happy OU parents. @whenhen Is it pretty much common practice that dorms are only for freshman? I was hoping that maybe next year he might live in that nice new one - is it called Headington? He insists that only freshman live in dorms though.
I transferred to OU and opted to live in the dorms as a sophomore to both meet people and be closer to campus. I was one of a very few number of upperclassmen who lived in the dorms. When my friends found out my living arrangement, many of them were quite surprised. Although it is common for students to live in the University of Oklahoma owned Traditions apartments (still off campus though), the vast majority of non freshmen do not live in the dorms.
Personally I live in the [Reserves on Stinson](http://www.reservestinson.com/) which is less than a mile from campus. I usually bike, walk, or take the shuttle to campus. Other friends live in some of the student oriented complexes or in off campus houses. I only have one non RA friend who lives in the dorms.
@MansfieldTxMom they’re building brand new dorms just for upperclassman
http://www.ou.edu/housingandfood/residence_halls.html
My S has not had any issue with the availability of showers in Boren until one morning. There was a line waiting so he went to the showers next to his hall and there was no one there!
So far he is enjoying living at the Boren and made a lot of friends. They hang out at study lounge to study and go to dinner as a group. They do social things together during the weekend such as playing cards and going to the movie at the Union. There are quite a few NMFs (including S’s roommate) and honors students (My S is neither) on his floor. I had doubt about Boren for him before and now I think it is a great place for him academically and socially.
@sunnydayfun, my freshman is considering a move to Boren next year. She’s in Walker now. She likes Walker (and the rooms are larger), but she is attracted to the atmosphere of Boren. Has the size of the rooms or the lack of on-site laundry bothered your son at all?
Wow already thinking about housing next year?
Size of the rooms bothers me but not my son. I guess he is a boy and he is not in his room a lot. I don’t know much about the laundry…All he told me was he has done his laundry once and folded his clothes. That is good enough for me :). He has met some female students on his floor and I will ask him what those girls think.