<p>As an incoming freshman whose move in day is in two weeks, I am in desperate need of advice...especially since I'm the oldest child.</p>
<ol>
<li>What is the best way to pack up the cars? </li>
<li>What is the best time of day to move in? (There is no exact time-and on a side note, I am only moving an hour away and will not be staying in my college town the previous night)</li>
<li>Any suggestions on moving items up three flights of stairs with no elevator?</li>
</ol>
<p>Other advice would be appreciated as well :) My family is new to all of this, and we would love tips concerning move in day, generally speaking.</p>
<p>I’m moving into my new dorm in three weeks as well! Transfer student, just less than an hour away and not staying in campus town the night before. So I’ll be paying attention for tips as well.</p>
<p>I would recommend a dolly or wheeled dolly to haul things from house to car and from car to dorm building. If multiple people are coming with you to move you can chain your things up the stairs person to person. Um…maybe put the heavier items on the bottom of the piles in the car?</p>
<p>I would suggest browsing the housing section of your school Web site. They may have more information there about the move in process for your school. Also, if you’re running as hot where you are as we are in Iowa, maybe go earlier in the day before the heat gets too much. And if it’s a bit warm or hotter, be sure to have some water waiting. :)</p>
<p>Somewhere in the CC forums I know there’s a big topic about move in day. I’ll see if I can find it again for you. good luck on your move in day!</p>
<p>make sure if there is anything your dorm doesnt allow (and there will be stuff they dont). also keep in mind you are sharing a room which is already small so try not ot bring too much. you can always go back if you need something.</p>
<p>earlier in the day will not only be cooler, but hopefully less crowded and faster getting checked in.</p>
<p>if you can i would try to borrow a dolly/cart of some sort, esp to transport your fridge/bigger objects up and down</p>
<ol>
<li>Pack the car backwards. The stuff you want in the room first, pack last. Make a box of a fan, extension cords, and cleaning supplies that will go up first. I had a really expensive flute and laptop and improtant papers that I put in my backpack and put in my dorm room the first trip up to the room too.Leave all clothes on hangers and just lay them on top of everything and put them in the dorm first.</li>
<li>The best time depends sometimes on the weather. If you live in area that is hot, early in the morning. Being there first also means you get to pick a bed and work without a roommate and their family being in there. </li>
<li>I would make more trips of non-heavy boxes than make a few trips with very heavy things. Bring cold water and take a break. You said you are the oldest, if you siblings are old enough, they can carry things up and down stairs. Also, bring a door stop. If someone gets tried, they can sit in the room and watch your stuff or you can take turns sitting the room. My mom and boyfriend helped me move in and I stayed in the room and started putting things away while they brought more up. </li>
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<p>If you can don’t unload until after you check in and get your room key. When you do unload make sure you have someone watching your things on the curb. You wouldn’t want something to happen.</p>
<p>Start moving stuffs in the first day. But don’t expect to move too much stuffs in, as many other people are also moving in that day. Just gradually move boxes throughout the move-in week.</p>
<p>There’s no real way to pack the car. Whatever can fit in a car is fine. Don’t try to bring too much. A single car should be enough, two at the most. Your room typically is not as big as you may think.</p>
<p>Move the small, lighter boxes first. Then have your family or other kids you met help you move the heavy ones. Don’t sprain your back, it’ll be tough the first day of class with a bad back.</p>
<p>I am also a freshman, and my move-in is 3 days long and happen in the 3rd week of August. Also, contact your roommate and see if there is anything you two can share using. The less stuffs in the room, the better. Try to share as much as possible, as long as you are comfy with that.</p>
<p>Do you have a dolly you can strap it to, rbouwens? You can ‘bounce’ the dolly up the stairs slowly maybe. I’m not quite sure how to describe it…</p>
<p>^I never thought of that as mine has wire shelves. Are you taking someone with you? If so you can both carry an end and go up. Some compact fridges have doors that can be switched from side to side. What if you take the door off, slip your hands inside so that your fists are against the back of the fridge. That way the weight is spread across the length of your arms.</p>
<p>^ Actually, that made a lot of sense!! My whole family will be coming, which includes my mom, dad, and my sister. Right now the fridge is in a box and it has straps around it. We don’t have a dolly, but that’s something I’ll look into. I don’t know how a dolly could be taken up stairs, though.</p>
<p>You can take the dolly up the stairs backwards, with the wheels pressed against the back of the stairs. Then you just haul it upwards rolling it up the back of the steps. But since it has glass shelves that probably isn’t wise unless they can be taken out and carried.</p>
<p>We had to carry my son’s fridge up to 4th floor, no elevator. We got these straps called Forearm Forklift where 2 people carry things with straps on forearms, just like the title. Google Forearm Forklift - they are available at Walmart, Target, Amazon, hardware stores for something like $20. Worth it , save for moving fridge home at the end of the year.
They really were amazing.</p>
<p>-Leave your clothes in hangers and just put a large garbage bag over them (the same way dry cleaners do). That way you just have to tear off the bag and put your clothes in your closet! Viola! And you won’t forget your hangers! Double wammy!</p>
<p>-Make use of every empty space. Use your fridge and microwave as moving storage for your towels and other items.*</p>
<p>-Pack items that already have a designated storage in them. That eliminates the need to unpack.*</p>
<p>-Pack like items together. Such as all bedding together and all dinning together.*</p>
<p>-Before unpacking anything! Clean your room. Give it a quick sweep and dust it off. At this time rearrange your room as you would like.*</p>
<p>-Unpack the larger items first, such as bedding. Also electronics and cables.*</p>
<p>-Someone should always be in your dorm at all times to keep a look out on expensive items.*</p>
<p>-Your dorm doesn’t have to be perfect on move in day. You’ll have year to perfect it.*</p>
<p>If you’re bringing a lot of stuff… optimize your space in the car. Someone in a few posts above mentioned sticking your clothes in hangars and just ripping off the garbage bag. To me, if you don’t have the space… bad idea.</p>
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<p>Subjective, depends on how big your school is. A lot of people do early morning, and it’s usually busy throughout the day, and starts to die off around 4-5 PM from what I’ve seen. As an upperclassman our suite actually sneaks in early to avoid traffic lol.</p>
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<p>I see that solutions have already been posted, but if you don’t want to use them, then it depends on your family’s upper body strength, really. My dorm has elevators, but I’m used to moving in by myself, and just lifting things up the stairs since the elevator is too slow. The heaviest thing I move is a fridge, and that I lift with someone else. Granted, I’ve always chosen second floor… lol.</p>
<p>As for tips, acappella has actually hit most of my points I would’ve given. It doesn’t matter how your room looks when you’re moving in, things don’t need to be perfect. Once you have everything in your room, you can look at it and optimize as you see fit.</p>
<p>My brothers move in people helped carry stuff into the dorm. At my school we had like 200+ volunteers helping with move in, which made it very overstaffed (I helped last year). I tried to help, but people swarmed the cars – I really only carried a few boxes.</p>
<p>The freshman did very little work. My freshman year I carried like one thing to my room.</p>
<p>I guess, reading some of this thread, not every university may have such a luxury, but you can hope. Also, a dolly can be helpful for carrying heavy or multiple boxes. Took some load off my back when moving out…</p>
good luck on your move in day!</p>