<p>Can we drive right up to the dorms to move in? Is there somewhere to get a special sticker so we don't get tickets? How late at night can someone move in?</p>
<p>Oh, you can move in as late as you want, so long as the dorm front desk is still open. MacGregor front desk is open until about 2 AM, and I'd imagine the other dorm front desks have similar hours.</p>
<p>During move-in, the road in front of the west campus dorms is 20-minute parking, so you can park there, just not for very long. Other than that, there's free parking on Memorial Drive.</p>
<p>During RUSH do we have to check in with the front desk, or can we go straight into our dorms? When will we get our ID cards that allow us immediate entrance at all hours?</p>
<p>When I first showed up (three years ago), you checked in at the Student Center and got a packet of stuff that I think included your ID card, then headed over to your dorm. I'm not sure if that's still how they're doing it.</p>
<p>You'll have to check in first at the Student Center (I guess you don't necessarily have to check in there first, if you don't want to), and in the packet of things you receive will be your Orientation schedule and your temporary ID card or permanent ID. (I got a temporary ID, but I am pretty sure that you get your permanent ID if you sent in your photo already.)</p>
<p>Your ID will probably not be activated for entrance into the dorm until the end of rush... it usually takes a few days for activation anyway. Until freshman IDs are activated, the deskworkers will buzz in freshmen and/or the dorm doors will be propped open.</p>
<p>EDIT: Good morning, Jessie! (Well, morning for me. Afternoon for you?)</p>
<p>During RUSH will we be allowed to randomly explore dorms (even if they are not our temporary dorm), or will we have to have some sort of guide with us?</p>
<p>The Class of 2010 says to proceed directly to the dorm upon arrival. That makes sense in a way, however, checking in with the student center sounds right also. Did you all lug your suitcases to your dorm, had friends (or family) help you, or left your bags at the student center and made two or more trips?</p>
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During RUSH will we be allowed to randomly explore dorms (even if they are not our temporary dorm), or will we have to have some sort of guide with us?
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<p>You randomly explore. Most of the dorms will have resident tour guides available (ours hang out in a cage in the courtyard), and there will be various scheduled events at dorms, but you can also just wander around or wander in, and in any case there's nobody who will lead you around saying "That was McCormick, okay, let's go to Baker now."</p>
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Did you all lug your suitcases to your dorm, had friends (or family) help you, or left your bags at the student center and made two or more trips?
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We parked outside the dorm and brought all my stuff up to my room. Your parents can help, of course, but there will also be lots of dorm residents and orientation leaders at each dorm helping people lug stuff to their temp rooms.</p>
<p>I guess it makes more sense to go to your room first and get check in and all that. But I think you may still have to go to the Student Center -- you should, I believe, get a packet of information, like at CPW.</p>
<p>Actually last year I was told that I would have to have a student ID before they gave me a key to my room. So taking my stuff up to my room before going to the student center and checking in wasn't an option. I'm not sure which is easier though, going to the student center to check in before the dorm or getting everything out of the car, leaving it by the desk in your dorm, and walking to the student center. Probably depends on the dorm and its proximity to the student center.</p>
<p>Everything I've gotten from MIT says that we have to go to our dorms first, then check in at the Student Center.</p>
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When you arrive, proceed directly to your assigned residence hall. You will receive your residence information mid-July. After dropping off your belongings head to the Orientation Check-In Center, which will be located in the Stratton Student Center, (W20).
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<p>If I'm moving in (Sunday) to East Campus, where should I park? Can I drive up, quickly unload, then speed off to a public parking facility? I notice there aren't many nearby...</p>
<p>I get in tomorrow morning! See ya'll there!</p>
<p>Do we have to stay at the dorms during orientation? My parents want to keep me at home for one more week and since I live so close by, I can probably have my dad drive me home in minutes.</p>
<p>This is not a good idea.</p>
<p>As much as your parents want to keep you home, this is your first week in college and it's important to be independent. Orientation is about meeting the people with whom you'll be going to college, choosing where you're going to live, and learning to be independent and live on your own. You're entering a new world now, and it's best for you if you enter that world purposefully.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, I am aware of one kid in the class of either 2007 or 2008 who came to MIT for pre-orientation, went back home to Texas during rush and Orientation, and returned for the beginning of classes. He got his last choice entry assignment in MacGregor, because he clearly didn't care enough to participate in the choice of his living group.</p>
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Do we have to stay at the dorms during orientation? My parents want to keep me at home for one more week and since I live so close by, I can probably have my dad drive me home in minutes.
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<p>I have no words to sufficiently describe what a terrible idea I think this is.</p>
<p>If you go home during Orientation, you will screw yourself over big time. Other students will have a horrible first impression of you because they'll think you're a little millennial who gives the rest of them a bad name and is still attached to Mommy and Daddy by an umbilical cord. You will get the short end of the stick in all housing-related decisions because people will think that you don't care, or be angry at you for not respecting the way things are done. You will miss your big chance to explore the dorms. You will miss your first big chance to get to know people. You will miss your chance to participate in Dorm Rush and other Orientation activities, some of which happen late at night. You will be delaying your entrance into real college life. You will encourage your parents to meddle more than is appropriate.</p>
<p>Since you live in the area, it's not like you're not going to get to see your parents frequently enough. And if you need to grab more stuff from home, you're in about the best possible situation. But Orientation is your time, your introduction to college life, and I think it is vital that you live on campus during this time.</p>
<p>I hope I'm not coming off as too harsh...I'm not mad, I don't want to yell at you, but I wanted to explain just how bad an idea I thought this was.</p>
<p>By the way, I just moved in and I couldnt even start getting into my dorm without my mit id (which I got when I checked in)...so go check in first. It'll save a lot of trouble.</p>
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By the way, I just moved in and I couldnt even start getting into my dorm without my mit id (which I got when I checked in)...so go check in first. It'll save a lot of trouble.
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<p>I'll be surprised if the dorms aren't a little more accesible on the normal check-in/arrival days later this week.</p>
<p>Well, they prop the doors open on move-in days, so it's usually not a physical accessibility problem. They probably don't have them propped open yet for the FPOP people.</p>