<p>Curtains have not come up for us. I believe the windows have blinds. I don’t recall any curtain rods nor do I recall that a shower curtain was on the list of things to bring. My D and her roommate are working as camp counselors in TX this summer so not much happening on dorm preparation around here They bought their bedding at the beginning of the summer. The week before move-in day will be hectic for us but, in general, D is wanting to start out minimalist and decide later what, if anything, she wants. IMO, whether to leave it up to your kid depends on the kid. My D is open to and requesting assistance with some issues, setting up and decorating the room is not one of those.</p>
<p>The windows do have blinds, and the showers already have curtains. If the student is that concerned with interior design there are plenty of opportunities throughout the year to get items that would beautify the room. </p>
<p>Excellent, good to know. Hopefully I can convince my wife to relax on the decor items!</p>
<p>Thanks, Whenhen.
Torveaux, I’m having difficulty not taking over all the things D “needs” for her dorm, like organizing gadgets and decor. D is minimally receptive to my assistance on those things as she and her roommate want to decorate themselves. From my experience, many boys are happy to outsource decor to mom and many mom’s are happy to decorate. This is an exciting time for all of us.</p>
<p>LOL. S1 would probably be fine with a mattress on the floor covered by a sleeping bag. As long as he has the fridge and microwave, laptop and other gadgets for electronic nirvana, he couldn’t care less about the decor. He ‘outsources’ only to keep his mother off his back.</p>
<p>I am more interested in re-decorating the space he currenly occupies at home. I see a large man-cave in my future!</p>
<p>Scoutmom, here’s a report of our move-in experience. Traffic was heavy but it was being directed at major intersections so it wasn’t gridlocked. The one thing you don’t want to do is find an “easier” way to the dorm. You really have to go the way you are directed because roads are blocked off. We had a 9:00 AM check-in time. What we found is that many families ignore the times and show up earlier. We were able to park about 1/2 block away. Despite D trying to be minimalist, she still had a lot of stuff to carry up. There were student organizations going around with big carts offering free move-in help, but not enough to help many students. We totally lucked out! As we started taking things out of the car, 3 students with a cart approached and offered help. With their help we were able to get everything in one trip. The elevator lines are long but they are also controlled with each elevator dedicated to certain groups of floors (e.g., floors 7-10) which keeps things moving faster. We waited about 10 or 15 minutes for the elevator. The students that helped us were amazing! They were friendly, nice and helpful! They totally made my day! Before the day was over, I saw families carrying armloads of stuff up the stairs in a slow moving line and the stairwell was hot. I’m an older mom and not sure how I would have managed under those conditions. Unless you have lots of time and energy for hauling boxes up flights of stairs, I would definitely go for the move-in service. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>@ohmmom Thanks for the report! Wow! glad to know that the students are really that friendly!</p>
<p>LOL! We tried a ‘back route’ and just had to turn around. Parking was a few blocks from the dorm. I probably ran into you somewhere along the way. We got there about 9:20. We also were some of those with the armloads walking up the stairs. I took the 1st trip up all 10 floors. We had about 3 trips worth, but the ‘helpers’ from the various church groups on campus helped us get the 2nd and 3rd loads in one trip. I waited for the elevator with the fridge and a big footlocker. The kids made the 2nd trip up. I thought the wait would be longer, but it was not bad.</p>
<p>Apparently S1 is still alive and on campus, but no idea how things are really going. I guess we will find out more when he comes home for Labor Day weekend.</p>
<p>I found out the hard way about the better route idea I had. I took off trusting my sense of direction. I had to turn around because of blocked off roads and get back in the line of traffic - much further back than I had started out.</p>
<p>I actually went to OU yesterday to deliver some forgotten items to my daughter and got to have lunch with her. Only one new student’s story, but I’m happy to report that she is having a great time and feeling good about her classes and professors. Not a single professor had her running to drop-add. In fact, she was quite enthusiastic - although it was only the third day of classes. She’s had some problems with textbooks on back order and such but she seems to be getting that worked out. I heard no wailing or screaming on Walker 10 so I guess that’s a good sign 
She did say she had been eating the abundant free food consisting of burgers and pizza and that she had not been eating healthfully. I would imagine that is true for most of the freshmen. I’m not optimistic that she will come home for Labor Day weekend since she is having so much fun. </p>
<p>I’m glad everyone’s enjoying it so far! I know the girl’s RA on Walker 10. She’s amazing and your daughter should like her a lot.</p>
<p>As always, still here to provide assistance in anything your children may need!</p>
<p>Thank you, WoolScarves! I will remember that. So far D is keeping in touch, mainly because of various details to touch base about, and things are going very well. I’m delighted and relieved. We’ll see what happens around mid-terms and finals. I suspect that she may call because she wants to vent a little but will handle it all well on her own. </p>
Bumping this with a question: where do we park/drive up for moving in if our daughter is living in David L. Boren Hall?
There will be a long line of traffic on Lindsey. They will direct you to the parking areas. Lots of police/security aroune directing traffic.
Is there a fee to have the beds lofted?
I called Housing & Food: no fee to loft. The 2015-2016 rental price for the MicroFridge combination hasn’t been announced yet, but this year’s price was about $220.
And all this info will go out via U.S. Mail when the room assignments are sent around June-ish.
They do a good job of getting roommates together early. Son and Roommate were able to split up costs on somethings. Rather than spend 220 to rent the micro-fridge, they purchased one of the two each and now they have something for their off-campus housing. The cost was basically the same, but they own something useful. Just a suggestion.
Lofting is free, but have them get it done early. It makes moving in easier.
While I’m thinking of it: good luck with finals in a few weeks, @whenhen and @WoolScarves! Thank you for helping future Sooners and future Sooner parents!
@HeliMom74 Thank you! It’s my pleasure. I’ll be around on campus this summer if anyone needs anything. I’m always happy to answer or give advice about what kinds of classes a freshman should or shouldn’t take.
Thank you so much, @WoolScarves ! My daughter will most likely be taking Chemical Engineering classes. Are there particular favorites among the professors in that department? Rate My Professor helps, but it’s also good to get a student perspective (if you know of any in that department).