So move in is coming up!
Logistics question that I have been unable to find answers to (maybe I’m just not looking in the right place):
On move in day, do we just show up with DDs stuff at the dorm? Sounds like recipe for chaos with cars, people unloading etc. Is it more organized but they just haven’t told us? Will there be people there to direct us to the proper place to unload?
Also, suggestions of where to part the rental car after unloading?
I don’t know if this is exactly how it works or not (I’ve been wondering about this myself since I’m also an incoming first-year 
), but on the class of 2020 fb page one of the people asked about parking and stuff and one of the admins basically said something along the lines of “your car gets in a line with other people and helpers/o-aides will unload your stuff into bin-thingys and help take all of these up to your room”. I’m not sure if you park after you unload everything or if you bring all your stuff up to your dorm and then find parking…my parents are confused about this as well.
Also, I found this on the UChicago orientation website: “Move-In Day is Saturday, September 17, 2016. This is the first day that students will have the opportunity to move into their Residence Hall room, and it is marks the first day of O-Week. Each Residence Hall manages the move-in process slightly differently. To ensure that everyone understands the process, College Housing will provide specific move-in information for each Residence Hall on their website later this summer.”
In terms of parking, there are parking garages around the campus (North and South Parking Garages) but I don’t know how many cars will fit in those…the O-aides will probably have a better answer than me.
It’s chaotic, but actually pretty efficient if they have enough people (and they always did). The stuff gets sucked out of your car and into the building pretty quickly. Arrivals are spread out over a number of hours – there’s probably a line at the opening bell, but not necessarily around 11:00 or noon, and plenty of families are arriving then, or later.
There’s a lot more street parking available on Saturday than anytime during the week. I remember parking being an issue, but not that much of an issue. Then again, both my kids’ dorms were somewhat removed from the main campus area, and that isn’t the case much anymore. There used to be some big indoor parking lots on 55th that would work great for North, or street parking in the blocks north of 55th, and I remember lots of street parking on the south side of the Midway or the block below it on weekends.
Each dorm has different ways of doing it to try to reduce the chaos as much as possible
Got it. Thanks everyone.
@HydeSnark, I think the last time I’d checked that website there was no info. So glad to have that. I feel like we the parents on CC should get you a lifetime supply of Starbucks or something to thank you for the helpful info
Aw thanks. It’s no problem.
We had to park pretty far away in a neighborhood but all the stuff had already been unloaded so it wasn’t that big of an issue. It took awhile to get checked in and the room key anyway so the timing all worked out just fine.
You sort of do have that. The first day is really just for move in, O Day 1 starts when the parents leave (sorry guys). There isn’t much formally planned for move in day, and certainly nothing required. You have the whole day to move in and do all the additional stuff that goes along with it.
At night there is a very important house meeting, but that’s really it.
If you’re very interested in a detailed schedule, the o-book is here: https://orientation.uchicago.edu/sites/orientation.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/O-Book%20for%20Web_Reduced.pdf
Oh and here’s the o-book literally for you (they wrote this with exactly your fears in mind, so don’t worry, it’s all accounted for): https://orientation.uchicago.edu/sites/orientation.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/%EF%80%A1%EF%80%A1%EF%80%A1%20FINAL%20Family%20O%20Book%202016.pdf
Can I just say I’m so excited for all of you guys to come here and move in! Welcome to Chicago everyone
@MurphyBrown There should also be shuttles to Target for the students during the week for last minute purchases!
Just wanted to chime in- the process was initially pretty chaotic. We followed the instructions precisely and they still had us do something different - regarding getting the car in the appropriate line. Plus, they did not direct traffic in an organized fashion and several cars got sandwiched between lines. There were some cars that got ahead of us while we were in line- that was aggravating since we waited so long for our turn. My D called them the the cutters.
Once we made it to the curb to unpack, things went much better. A lot of kids offered to help. We loaded one big bin and the kids unloaded it and took it to her room. The rest we unloaded on the sidewalk and made the trek to her room carrying it little by little ourselves.
The rest of move in and beginning of orientation was very well planned. They fed us twice for lunch and then gave us appetizers/desserts and adult libations after the procession. This part was much better than my S’s convocation activities at his move in day.
Ours was so uneventful. We pulled up, had about 6 cars ahead of us. Within 15 minutes we were at the front. They took my S to register while we sat in the car. They brought 2 bins, he needed one (have a boy!) No wait for the elevator, was moved in so easily. Unpacked in 20 minutes, walked around and toured campus. The only thing they did not make clear is that between 1-4 he needed to register for orientation. Instead we walked around and had no idea until my S started lusting after the string bags and we finally asked and they directed us as to where to get one AND REGISTER.
While we were walking around we did see the worlds longest line of bins at one of the Campus North buildings. Not sure what the problem was, possible elevator issue? but no one looked happy.
We rode a cab and skipped the entire aggravation of waiting in line with a car. We had some large suitcases. There was some initial confusion with a malfunctioning elevator, but everything else was really smooth and extremely well organized. Way too much free food everywhere. Well organized events and sessions with plenty of people volunteering to help throughout. One thing I did notice is that they kept insisting that parents step out of the way and just wait it out during residence hall check in, registration, etc. They were very keen that parents don’t get into helicopter parenting mode
Also my kid tells me that the social scene at least during O week is awesome, so much so that my kid is not getting enough sleep, which raised by helicopter antenna 
The campus is GORGEOUS!! I haven’t seen so many Ivy covered buildings even in the Ivy league.
They have now posted a 360 degree video of the welcome party on youtube. If you watch it on your smart phone you can get a great view if you just move your phone as if it were a camera. Awesome idea. You can also click the directional arrows on the top left corner to get the 360 degree view
Yes, the Campus North issue was elevators. Mercifully, we were spared it because D did the Woods Hole pre-O and was able to move in when they arrived in Chicago on Friday night. We did end up walking up and down stairs (11 flights) a couple of times to pick up or drop off smaller items.
No elevator failure AFAICT. Just a shortage and a need to run them on manual to maximize efficiency (which had the downside of stranding people upstairs because it meant you couldn’t use the buttons to call).
I think it’s clear that worries about a decline of dorkiness at Chicago are misplaced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM1ujm2z6MI AHHH So full of excitement for all the first years. welcome to the best place ever
@goingnutsmom, we unintentionally ended up as one of those ‘cutters’ :(. We could have just unloaded ourselves right by the dorm (not too much stuff) but DD wanted the whole experience. So we got to the back of the very long line of cars, told the OAide the dorm we were going to, then he directed us into the oncoming traffic lane to an intersection by the beginning of the line. Not sure if he misheard us and thought we were supposed to be somewhere else? When we got where he told us to go and discovered the misdirection, they decided it was easier to just have us unload. DD was quite distressed about all this… Apologies to all we ended up cutting in front of!
Fortunately DD is on 4th floor so using the stairs was efficient and not too hard.
Some chaos here and there but everyone was cheerful throughout. We had a brief discussion on the difference between ecclesiastical and secular Latin during one of the lunches (one of the students is into Latin). DD is happy, meeting and connecting with lots of kids so it’s all good.
We may have been one of the only families to walk up to the move in line at Campus North, having just three suitcases and a close-by AirBnB. Couldn’t get the room to open with the ID at first, that was probably the only source of stress that whole weekend.