<p>I know the students get a “window” of what time they are to be at move in. Do they have more than one session (morning/afternoon)?</p>
<p>If so, and they live in a quad, do they all move in at the same time (window) or do they not arrange it in any particular order?</p>
<p>Any additional advice will be appreciated.</p>
<p>In the process of teaching my S to drive. He will attempt to get his license 8 days before move in day. I have thought about surprising him and letting him drive there that day. I do wonder though with the amount of expected traffic, the excitement/nervousness of finally going to college and meeting new roommates maybe I should be the one with the clear head and drive us.</p>
<p>1) The ‘move-in’ window means literally nothing. You can check in anytime after 7am on move-in day. I recommend early, leading into the next question…</p>
<p>2) Traffic can be extremely busy depending on when / where you are. I would recommend not putting the added stress of traffic + a lot of pedestrians on a new driver. I also assume campus will be unfamiliar territory, meaning that you’ll be distracted looking at maps / following signs (the way they have move-in set up may render GPS devices useless once you’re on campus and going to your actual dorm). </p>
<p>Campus also has a lot of one way roads and depending on what direction you come from, there are streets you may have to drive down with street parking that makes the actual usable road pretty tight; 4 years later I still drove ways to avoid them, but you won’t know that sort of navigation at this point. </p>
<p>I assume you know this already, but don’t forget that move-in starts at the Schott, not the student’s dorm</p>
<p>You got excellent advice. Get there early and don’t have him drive. One parent should stay with the car while student move-in helpers unload your car and escort your son to his room to unpack. As soon as the car is unloaded, they will want you to move the car to parking elsewhere if you plan to stay a bit. I think we were in town maybe 3 hours getting him settled, shopping for a few last things, and getting a quick bite to eat before leaving.</p>
<p>Don’t have him drive! It can be a touch nerve-wracking even for experienced drivers, lol. People stopping, looking around, pedestrians everywhere. Keep in mind, too, that you first park at the Schott and wait in a giant (but pretty fast-moving) line to do things in the gym such as picking up the pass to unload at your dorm, get your room key, pick up fb tickets, other things depending on the kid. And then you go back out and follow color-coded signs to your drop-off dorm location. It’s very exciting for the new students.</p>
<p>The move-in day is unbelievably organized and quite a sight to see, with the traffic well-directed also. But you still have rubberneckers and nervous parents, so it’s best to let him soak in the exciting scene from the passenger seat, and he’ll have to hop out and go in his dorm with an OWL while you park elsewhere anyway. It’s the first “responsible” thing they get to do on campus :)</p>
<p>There are certain hours during which you arrive, but I think it’s the same times for everyone. It’s not as bad as it might sound, since kids arrive at various times all during the time period. Get there early if you can, though. The early bird gets the best bed choice, usually! ;)</p>
<p>On moving day, students go to the Schottenstein Arena–the basketball arena on Lane and Olentangy–and receive their keys, pay fees, pick-up tickets, etc–drive to their assigned dorm, where they are met by OWLS (student aides)–who take everything out of the car and put it into lockers which are locked and the key given to the student–the OWLS take the lockers to the assigned room, while the parents drive their car to a lot and park. By the time they get back to the dorm, the lockers are already up in the room, where they can be unlocked and items put away. If you move in early, there are not usually OWLS to unpack your car, but there are lockers or carts with wheels that you load up yourself and take up to your room. You do not go to the Schott–you usually just show up at your assigned dorm where they check you in and give you your key. This varies a bit from dorm to dorm–and because there are so many OWLS checking in early, there are usually people to help them.</p>
<p>rcefn, I remember that last year DD checked in at the Schott and got her keys and everything. This time, the directions for move-in are this:</p>
<p>**Check in at the schottenstein center from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. to receive color-coded hang tags and directions for sunday traffic patterns.</p>
<p>Follow directions to designated unloading area at your residence hall</p>
<p>Check in at your residence hall to receive keys and sign housing registration and check in materials. please note: staff and student volunteers, known as ohio state welcome leaders (owls) will help unload and transport belongings to rooms.**</p>
<p>I wonder if this is correct about receiving keys at the residence halls instead of the Schott. It seems like it would be so much more efficient to give the keys at the Schott so they don’t have to waste time checking in at the residence halls.</p>
<p>All, my S is on campus now for OWL training, so I posed the dorm key question to him and asked him to confirm. He did say receiving at the dorms may make sense this year because new dorms now use Buck ID as keys, so they may be programmed at the dorms upon arrival…but stay tuned, I will share what I know when he gets back to me.</p>
<p>Ah, that would make some sense. Still, it was nice to arrive at the dorm and be able to get things unloaded and go straight to the room with keys in hand without having to stop at the desk first.</p>
<p>My daughter moved in Thursday as an owl also–she picked up keys at the front desk. The only thing we got at the shot parking lot was a color coded rear window tag to show what dorm we belonged in. Not certain if it will be done this way tomorrow–but I imagine so. Agree completely with the advice to not let new driver drive. Just so crowded and hectic. But the Owls make quick work of moving the belongings and making the students feel welcome. There were even a group of owls to greet the new owls and help them on Thursday–which made everything run smoothly…</p>