<p>About the roll of toilet paper - my older son’s dorm had a traditional bathroom shared by two dorm rooms (4 kids total) and the boys were responsible for keeping the bathroom clean and buying their own tp. We bought a big pack on the store run that day along with a pack of those stick on air fresheners, an automatic toilet bowl cleaner and a bath mat, all of which were needed.</p>
<p>Anyone have experience with moving into third north at NYU?</p>
<p>One day post-move-in.</p>
<p>Some items to reinforce: Door stoppers, paper towels, Clorox wipes, tape measure, tools (if you are going to be assembling furniture, especially small and large screwdrivers of both types), heavy duty scissors to cut packaging ties and patience. Let your student call the shots. Once you’re gone, he will be making his own decisions so put him in charge of what goes where and what happens next.</p>
<p>All of those items proved to be very valuable.</p>
<p>Thanks OWM, and glad your move-in went smoothly. I am happy that your list is exactly what I have in my “move-in-day bag”. Plus trash bags. We launch tomorrow! :-O</p>
<p>Take a look at my take on move in day</p>
<p>[Move</a> In Day - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Gotta say, despite moving DD1 with an Escalade’s worth of stuff (pack light, right) the experience went extremely smoothly. My tips:</p>
<ul>
<li>pack a lot of small containers and use a cart/dolly - easier to pack and unpack and put into place rather than the 1 cubic yard sterilite containers</li>
<li>do NOT bring the entire Porridge family (DD1’s roomie brought about 5 people)</li>
<li>really REALLY communicate with roomie ahead of time</li>
<li>think about room layout before unloading and packing away, mindful of electrical outlets</li>
<li>label all boxes</li>
<li>cooler with snacks / drinks</li>
<li>take advantage of school loaner carts/dollies. DD1’s school had large size shopping carts available and they worked very well</li>
<li>take advantage of free food </li>
</ul>
<p>The biggest bummer in yesterdays move was the dorm (4 floors, 400 kids) had a nasty layout and a single elevator. Long lines ensued. Arrive early.</p>
<p>AND</p>
<p>Make sure you understand moving week visiting policy. If you have to move in DD1’s anvil (required Materials Engineering school supplies) or similar heavy object after 6:00 PM it may get interesting.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>I am doing that $20 under a sheet too! Funny how in the sea of posts that one stood out - makes me laugh! </p>
<p>MaMom, is your son/daughter going to BU too? I know that Harvard’s move-in is the same weekend as the FYSOP program movein. My biggest worry (ironically) is that the school has looked on TOO good so far. Every interaction - every orientation - every everything has surpassed our expectations. (e.g. They called DD when her AP results came in. “Congrats on your 5 in AP English. We recommend that you drop your rhetoric course - would you like to call us us for another elective?” REALLY?? in a freshman class of 7,000?) It can’t possibly live up to the standards that we have observed so far…can it? I suppose that if that is my biggest worry, we are in good shape. </p>
<p>*******We did have a frustrating issue that I want the other parents to know about as I know Bank of America is so common, and we are all in this together! DD had some money in a tin can in her room that we needed to deposit at her new bank to go clothes shopping. So last Saturday, I took the tin can to the bank for her and deposited $300 in cash (the green stuff? legal tender??) at the teller window (not outside - a human being). They gave me a receipt, and we happily went to the biggest mall and spent a large portion of it. Monday AM, she gets an NSF notifications and a charge for overdraft protection. Can’t get the website to work (it was “down”) so drive to our local branch. Guess what. The upshot is … B of A puts a HOLD on CASH delivered to a TELLER!!! I was so flabbergasted that I made customer service explain it 3 times - just couldn’t believe it the first two. My DH said he is not even sure this is legal, but it is reality. The cust service guy told me that if you want to get money to your student fast, do not bring in cash but rather do an electronic transfer, as there is no hold on that. To their credit, they had already reversed the overdraft fee before I complained when the cash hit her account. Lesson: BEWARE OF THE GREEN STUFF THAT LOOKS LIKE MONEY!! :)</p>
<p>Other than noting the existing damage in the room take pictures of said damage. What you think might be a small insignificant scratch or chip somewhere may come back to haunt you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Definitely always write everything down no matter where you’re moving into. This is usually part of the process for any kind of apartment/rental place, and I know my dorm was very big on making us fill out this detailed sheet of problems the room had. Also, don’t break the dorm’s rules. If they tell you not to hang stuff from the ceiling DON’T. They have rules for a reason, and they can be very serious about making sure you follow them.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Banks can be weird to deal with sometimes. Unless for some reason I absolutely had to I’d never go out and spend money that I just deposited unless I knew for sure that money was in the account. I would do any depositing money, opening up accounts, getting loans, etc. way before move-in day/when you will need that money. </p>
<p>Another tip:</p>
<p>Don’t flock to the bookstore, panicking because the bookstore has a line out the door and if your child doesn’t have their books by the first day of classes they’re doomed to be a failure. I see parents do this year after year, and it’s really not necessary.</p>
<p>Unless your child gets an e-mail saying otherwise, 99% of the time they will not be expected to have their book on the first day of class. Professors understand that it takes awhile to get financial aid refund checks in, for textbook orders to ship, etc. The first day is usually just an intro. to the class. Sometimes the professor will say they don’t even use the book, the book is optional, or you can get an older (cheaper) version of the book.</p>
<p>Also, most people learn this the hard way after the first semester, but the school bookstore is the worst place to buy books. If you compare the prices at the bookstore to on Amazon or at the local used textbook store the price at the school bookstore will almost always be more expensive. For example, one of my books was $150 at the bookstore and $15 on Amazon. Your university will always try their best to get the most money out of you as possible so they will tell you all these “reasons” to shop at their bookstore, but it’s okay to buy books elsewhere if you can find a better deal. Sometimes you can even save literally hundreds of dollars by doing so.</p>
<p>We live in Los Angeles and have to fly to New York and shlep EVERYTHING to her campus at Sarah Lawrence.
Q: What are compression bags? We have bedding to drag.
Q: Anyone know how far the nearest Target/Walmart whatever it is to campus? We weren’t planning on renting a car…
Thanks!</p>
<p>To add to the comments about the dirty room. Besides writing it all down, I would also take the extra step of photographing any issues in the room before cleaning them up and emailing it to the Housing office. A picture is worth a thousand words and harder to dispute.</p>
<p>Plus, if you have an email with an attachment of a picture and the date, you have solid proof that can’t be lost in a pile of papers! We have been charged for room damage, and this is how we handle it, now.</p>
<p>Compression bags are those Space Bags. Any large ziploc style bag will work. You roll the item or suck the air out with a vacuum cleaner to reduce the size of the contents inside. </p>
<p>We have some ziploc bags that are about 3 feet by 4 feet. Very helpful in terms of off season storage.</p>
<p>Are there any Bed Bath and Beyonds nearby campus? They have a drop ship pickup service - you order it here, pick up there.</p>
<p>Great ideas about taking pictures of any damage in the room. We moved my son in to his dorm yesterday. The dorm/apartment was in great shape, but when he leaned back in the rocker-style desk chair, it gave way (didn’t break apart, but the wood back actually bent backwards) Closer inspection revealed a crack in the wood which was most likely created by the previous occupant, but not noticed in inspection. I was in the process of warning my son not to lean back in the chair, but if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have found the crack, and would have been billed when the chair broke later in the year!</p>
<p>bioshard – I just pm’d you with the nearest Target location.</p>
<p>Son’s move-in yesterday was the best ever! His school does not provide carts or helpers, so I purchased a dolly at Home Depot that saved us from having to carry anything. It is a platform with a fold-down handle with a weight capacity of 500 lbs, made by Rubbermaid. We piled boxes, clothes, bags on it pushed it down the path. Once we got it to the apartment, it was a quick trip up the stairs to his bedroom. Several parents asked where I had gotten it, and son used it the rest of the day to help his (4) roommates move in. The platform surface is 20x25 inches, the handle folds down, and it fit easily in the back seat of my sub-compact car. The boys are going to keep it to help them unload the groceries from their Costco runs!</p>
<p>If interested, here is the link:</p>
<p>[500</a> lb. Capacity Triple Trolley-FG4401-20BLA at The Home Depot](<a href=“http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100207528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053]500”>http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100207528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)</p>
<p>For something lighter duty, I am thinking about bringing and then leaving my Magnecart, which holds 100 pounds, weighs 7 pounds, and collapses. It would fit in our biggest suitcase, but I don’t know that I want the extra weight. The Costco in Boston doesn’t have them…sigh. I bought it at our Costco, but they have it on Amazon as well. We shall see! I figured out that from CA to Mass it is roughly $1.50 per pound to ship items, so most things we are buying there.</p>
<p>I just did something that took a little bit of time but may come in handy.</p>
<p>As we were packing my kid’s three duffles, I wrote down what went into each bag. I also numbered each luggage tag so I knew which bag was #1, #2, #3 (yay P-touch!). IF one bag gets lost, I will know what to replace and also what to itemize for insurancd (just signed up for NSSI today). I spread his clothes and linens out over all three bags so he would have something to sleep on/wear if another bag was lost. Took a little time to do it but thats me!</p>
<p>I also had him put three days of clothing in his carry-on - same reason. We believe ‘checked luggage is lost luggage’ LOL.</p>
<p>I used the Magna Cart that I bought at Costco 3 years ago for my daughter’s move-in to her apartment yesterday and it was really great! It definitely saved the day. </p>
<p>[Costco</a> - Magna Cart? Personal Hand Truck](<a href=“http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11650178&search=hand+cart&Mo=6&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=hand+cart&Ntt=hand+cart&No=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1]Costco”>http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11650178&search=hand+cart&Mo=6&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=hand+cart&Ntt=hand+cart&No=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1)</p>
<p>sfmom3- excuse the typos as i am typing through tears. i don’t know you or your son but i was so moved…thank you for sharing your video with all of us. we head down to PA to take my son to school on wednesday… move in day is friday. i hope my son is as happy and excited as your son is in his next chapter.
love the ending of the video…we taught you to walk… now you must fly!</p>
<p>oh and to the brilliant mom who shared the story of taping the $20 under the sheet and writing “call me when you find this” on it… i have shared it with all my friends… there will be lots of kids finding twenty dollar bills this fall!</p>
<p>The “dolly” post brought back a memory:</p>
<p>I’m a musician, and one of my bandmates came over for rehearsal one night when D2 (about to be college freshman) was a toddler. We were finishing dinner, and he sat down with us for a few minutes. He said, “I’m really excited - I just got a new dolly.” D2 looked at him quizzically for several seconds and said, “You’re too big for a dolly!”</p>
<p>My H is very happy that I have a very nice “dolly” of my own because of hauling sound equipment. You’re never too big for a dolly!</p>