<p>Many of you are shopping for dorm essentials and getting ready for move in day. I thought I would offer a few tips. </p>
<ol>
<li>Purchase/bring a portable hand cart. They are not that expensive. </li>
<li>Bring water, it is usually hot on move in day and you will be surprised at how dehydrated you will become. A light snack-granola bar, etc. might be good too. </li>
<li>Allow the greeters to help you move in. They are great!</li>
<li>Set your room up how you want it before you put everything in it. </li>
<li>Get your fans set up FIRST. Again it is hot that day and you will be thankful for them especially for those dorms that do not have AC. </li>
<li>Have patience. It is going to be a stressful day for some, between traffic, moving in and having to say goodbye. </li>
<li>To students, your parents need you to give them a hug and say thanks. Parents, your students need their space so do not linger. Get everything done, get lunch at the Corner or wherever you prefer and leave. </li>
<li>Bring putty or tape for posters, 3M hooks for the wall or back of doors, hangers. </li>
<li>Plug in your refrigerator and get it going and working smoothly.</li>
<li>Log into your UVa network. </li>
<li>Bring a USB cable for your computer and printer. A coax if you sign up for cable. </li>
<li>Bring the numbers for Cavalier computers and for cable hook up if you want it. </li>
<li>Get your books from the bookstore if you need to. Make sure everything you ordered to be delivered to your room is there. Contact the appropriate people that day if it is not. </li>
<li>Everyone there is more than willing to assist you with whatever questions you have or whatever you may need. </li>
<li>Throw out all of your packaging materials in the dumpsters near the dorms. Do not leave it in the hallway. </li>
</ol>
<p>Please be sure to move your car to the Stadium lot after you unload so others can pull in. </p>
<p>One thing that I did was organize everything by bin and label it with what was in it and student's name, dorm and room number; bedding in one; desk/office/computer supplies in another; clothes; toiletries/towels; books. There are a lot things on the sidewalks and with so many greeters helping by chance your stuff may go to the wrong place. However, if your name, dorm and room number are on it it will make it back to you. I also had two for move in day so this kept us organized too. : )</p>
<p>It is a long day for all so get a goodnight's sleep, eat breakfast (or something) and stay hydrated. </p>
<p>Hope this helps some of you! Have a great move in day! The year goes by quickly!Best to all of you 1st years, have a wonderful time at UVa! Wahoowa!</p>
<p>Great list! I agree, use the greeters - we were so relieved to see them cart off with the big refrigerator up to my daughter’s 3rd floor dorm - made our day :)</p>
<p>One person wrote that the biggest problem in move in day was that so many people brought supersized Suburban Assault Vehicles that their oversized mirrors kept smashing into each other in narrow parking spaces.</p>
<p>Also, be sure to read the housing website for fire safety rules, etc., such as limits on what you can and cannot bring, rules on bike storage, rules on wall hangings. The fire safety rules are state rules, not UVa rules for the most part.</p>
<p>Coordinate with your roommate so you don’t bring doubles of too many things.</p>
<p>Most of the old dorms have an open corner that is good for bringing a very tall wide shelving unit. The ceilings are over 9 feet high. Hancock and Bonnycastle are different - they have built in tall closets.</p>
<p>Also, don’t leave your stuff unattended. Years ago, on move in day at my fraternity, a friend of mine lost a suitcase to two kids on a bicycle. They stole it out of the open trunk of his dad’s car. We tried to chase them, but lost them down an alley.</p>
<p>There is some more advice about this on the “IMPORTANT FOR FIRST YEARS” thread. The only things I would immediately ammend are:
Dolly not so useful since there are stairs everywhere.
Get there as early in the morning as you can. It gets exponentially worse for parking as the day goes on, and the greeters are at their best in their first shift’s hour (I greeted for 3 years). Plus, your kid has time to settle in for a few hours, explore, whatever, before first year dorm activities start, roommate arrives, and so on.</p>
<p>Target/walmart/bb&b will be a zoo, but if you wait until parent’s weekend to go get missing stuff, your student will have a better idea what they want to supplement their room. Your kid can live for a few weeks with what is provided in the room. One year, I did not even move more than my sheets and laptop and a backpack of clothes in until the 2nd weekend.</p>
<p>Great input Hazel. I agree with getting there early. </p>
<p>I think everyone has a different view, but we did use the portable hand cart a lot! </p>
<p>Also, not to worry about theft. Many people left their things on the sidewalk and came back. If you can have one person stay with it that is great, but if not it will be fine. Also, if the greeters do not come up to you go to them and ask if you could get some help. If they were assisting someone else they called over to another student to come help.</p>
<p>Great advice!!! The only thing I might add is if you’re an athlete, check with your coach because most likely you’ll be able to pay a fee to housing and move-in a few days early (depends on the sport/activity). TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THIS!!! D was able to get everything situated before roommate arrived, and it was SO nice!</p>
<p>My move in day is the 19th, but I am coming from out of state and it would be difficult to come down for the 19th because my parents have to work, so does anyone know if it is possible to get permission to move in on the 20th?</p>
<p>Send an email to housing explaining the reason. I can’t imagine it would be a problem to arrive the 20th. They are mainly spreading it out between the 19th and 20th because of disruption from the new new dorm construction.</p>
<p>Also:
-The Bed, Bath & Beyond at Barracks Road accepts expire coupons. If you get their mailers every week (and aren’t quite sure how you got on the mailing list), start saving them. There used to be a program would you could order things at your local BB&B, then pick them up at a different one. I don’t know if that is still around, but it might be of use if you are coming a great distance.</p>
<p>-About 27 miles west of Charlottesville is a town called Waynesboro that has similar big box stores. Their stores probably don’t stock as much product as the Charlottesville stores, but you probably won’t find as many crowds in their stores. Here’s a picture of what the local Target looks like just before move-in: <a href=“Twitpic”>Twitpic;
<p>-On Central Grounds, I don’t think you have to worry about stuff walking away. There are greeters and cops everywhere. </p>
<p>-Come expecting to wait in a very long line. If you get in quickly, it’ll be a pleasant surprise. Here’s a picture of the traffic on Emmet Street during move in:
[Twitpic</a> - Share photos and videos on Twitter](<a href=“Twitpic”>Twitpic) </p>
<p>-Look for CavDog…we’ll be wandering around that morning. :)</p>
<p>Googled UVA move-in and this thread came up. It seems like some fantastic information. One question though; I’m moving in on Friday and the move in time is 10-4. However my parents want to get a headstart on the long ride home. Could I move in at something like 8? We don’t need help from the movers, it’s just a matter of whether or not the door will be open.</p>
<p>UVaorbust: Your parents don’t need to stick around - they just need to make sure they drop you and your stuff off at a place that is OK in case of a thunderstorm (which is possible according to the weather reports). That could be a canopy of a building. I’m guessing you won’t be able to get a key until 10, but you can call and ask.</p>
<p>You can probably queue to get your keys a little earlier, but I don’t think they will actually be giving them until 10. The time is later because it is a work day and they were trying to avoid morning traffic.</p>
<p>Hmm alright thanks guys. I thought they would just leave the doors open. My roommate should be in the room as he is an international student and more than likely attending session H.</p>
<p>UVA, you might check on your roommate’s schedule for Thursday night and Friday morning activities. If you can meet up with him before he has to head out, you can probably be moved in by 10 AM and just head over to pick up the keys when the table opens. Two years ago my son had an international roommate. We met up with him Friday PM (before Saturday move-in) to drop off a couple things and ended up moving everything in Friday night. My son did not stay in the dorm that night, but we avoided the jam in front of the dorms Saturday AM.</p>
<p>AVA55, you see I thought of that and it would be awesome. However, my roommate is from Hong Kong, hasn’t replied to any emails, doesn’t have a Facebook, and the phone number provided doesnt even work…</p>
There used to be a program would you could order things at your local BB&B, then pick them up at a different one. I don’t know if that is still around, but it might be of use if you are coming a great distance.</p>