<p>Does anyone know when the move in date is? I think that it's Aug 16 but not sure. Also, is it better to drive to Rice or is flying okay too. If we fly, can we have our stuff shipped down? And, that day, will we be able to get to the target or some other store to get the stuff that we need?</p>
<p>[Academic</a> Calendar Fall 2009 | Office of the Registrar | Rice University](<a href=“http://registrar.rice.edu/calendars/fall09/]Academic”>Academic Calendar Fall Semester 2009)</p>
<p>O-Week = August 16th - August 21st</p>
<p>During O-Week, your O-Week leaders will take you to Target, so you can save last minute shopping for then. Unless you have a friend in Houston you can ship things to, you really can’t have things shipped unless they’ll arrive after you do, so if you’re flying, you’ll either need to get everything you need into suitcases you can check or have boxes mailed to you after you move into the dorms.</p>
<p>When my son was a freshman, he flew to Houston since we live far away. He could only bring 2 suitcases so we had to ship a footlocker and a large box, as well as the mini-fridge that we bought online. We contacted the college coordinator of his residential college beforehand and made sure that would be okay. She didn’t have a problem with it, but I think it depends on whether there is any room to store the items before you arrive. Some colleges may have more room than others to store packages. We made sure that the packages arrived just a few days before he did so she wouldn’t have to store them for too long.</p>
<p>Good point! I guess this varies from one college to the next, depending on storage space. </p>
<p>Pyles–you’ll get a letter from your college this summer that explains some of these things, and anything that isn’t explained, you can then ask your college about, but I guess you’ll have to make your drive or fly decision before that.</p>
<p>yeah. I am in GA now but after graduation I’ll be in OH. The thing is though, we cant drive from OH to TX but my dad may (or may not) drive me to TX from GA. To get to GA from OH, I would have to fly anyway so I feel like I might as well fly to Rice.</p>
<p>Also, I really wouldnt have a problem with some of my things coming afterwards. It would just be big stuff like tv, fridge, stereo, wii, etc.</p>
<p>We sent our child to an OOS college. The rule of thumb is that you do not send big stuff like tv and fridge. You ether live without it in college, or purchase it locally when you get to the college. Sometimes suite mates share a tv or fridge. Also, the space in the dorm room may be quite limited, and you are not supposed to use up too much space in the common room for your personal stuff. If everybody brings a fridge, there is no room for that. A good idea is to communicate with your suite mate to get an agreement on who brings what.</p>
<p>It may be a hassle to remove big stuff from the dorm room at the end of the school year. (My kid’s suite ended up throwing away a couch that is only a year old because nobody took the initiative to find/rent storage space and rent a U-Haul to move it.) Usually, you need to clean up everything before the summer break; the school may allow you to keep a few small boxes of stuff over the summer (not sure about Rice’s policy though). The students often discard big stuff at the end of the school year. Local people (or some poor graduate students?) may come and pick them up. BTW, do not allow some irresponsible suite mates to leave for the summer before shared big stuff in the common room is taken care of.</p>
<p>If you really need to send big stuff, UPS can help you pack your big stuff and ship it. It is not cheap though. We spent a lot of money on UPS in the past couple of years. It was posted on CC that Greyhound could be a cheap alternative if you are willing to travel by bus. I would not recommend that though. I heard that the rest area of Greyhound station may not be safe (as compared to airport.)</p>
<p>wait… Rice doesn’t have fridges? I always thought it was something that comes with a dorm…</p>
<p>Every school may handle the shipping differently so please read what I am about to write with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>At my kid’s school, the students ship their big stuff via UPS one or two weeks before the school starts. The idea is to time the shipment so that when students arrive at school, the shipped stuff arrives as well. There is not enough storage space for the school to store such a large volume that is shipped by hundreds (if not thousands) of students. So, the UPS trucks would line up along the street near campus. The students go to these UPS trucks to claim their stuff which they shipped beforehand. But this “special” service from UPS is only available at the beginning of a school year as it is only during this short period of time that the UPS has such a big volume of business to justify this service (i.e., having the truck parked next to the campus, waiting for the students to pick up their boxes.) At other times, it may not be so convenient.</p>
<p>The trick is to time your shipment so that your shipment arrives a couple of days before you arrive.</p>
<p>You will get all the information you need when you get your college assignment and get your OWeek packet. They will tell you how and when to ship things. Then as BerkeleyMom says there will be trips organized by OWeek advisers. Since we were traveling from pretty far away, DD’s suite mates took care of some of the larger things. There were 4 people in the suite so did not need 4 frigs, TV 's etc. They divided up who was bringing what.</p>
<p>My son is graduating and has a mini fridge he will leave if he can’t sell it before he leaves. There are sometimes things left over from seniors that can be found left at the individual colleges.
We bought things from Bed Bath and beyond and had it shipped to school. They have a service set up for college students.
Also don’t forget, if you’re buying sheets, that the beds are extra long twin size.
We had to fly, because we’re from NY, but we did fly with him and rented a car to deliver him.
Move in day has a program for parents and they have it set up so well you don’t even realize your child is off and running for O-week and you’ve said your goodbyes. Don’t worry, it works out very well. 
I wish you all very well in your college career. My son has done amazingly well after 4 years at Rice. He has a job set up and has grown so much and is now so mature and totally ready for the real world.</p>
<p>tom - no they dont have refridgerators in the dorms. I think they have kitchens you can use but you have to supply your own mini fridge. When I visited, most of the people said that they like having their own. </p>
<p>Good point about bringing the larger things like a tv. I was only going to bring it if I got a suite with a common room but that would mean that I had to ship it twice per year.</p>
<p>Can you “beg” your suite mate who lives in Texas to bring the tv? If you are lucky, some suite mate may be from Houston.</p>
<p>lauras50, Just curious, do you happen to know that most OOS students stay in Texas, or go elsewhere after graduation?</p>
<p>you can rent storage over the summer to store your stuff. Thats what im gonna be doing this summer as ill be in California</p>
<p>antarius is the storage expensive? like more than $500 for the summer? Is it through Rice or a third party?</p>
<p>mcat, many go way outside Texas. Some return home, many get jobs all over the country or go to grad school, again all over the country. Of my son’s friends (and there are many), only one that I know is staying in Houston (he’s from Dallas) the rest range from some going to NY, some don’t know yet, many to Washington State, Utah. Everyone keeps saying it, but nobody takes note, that Rice is tremendously well respected EVERYWHERE and that includes grad schools and corporations.
He even had a company in Japan pay him to come and work there one summer. </p>
<p>BTW re: storage, my son (we’re in NY) payed every year for summer storage and it wasn’t expensive. Even better, many friends shared the storage with him, so it saved them all money and they all went together to drop it off and pick it up.
He’s never had a car and managed, even while living off campus and fairly far away one year.</p>
<p>its way less than $500. probably more like $40 -$60 per month or so</p>
<p>I can do without a TV but a fridge might be a little harder… that I would need to work details for</p>
<p>i would coordinate with roommates first. I am a junior and we all happen to have stuff, so we have 4 fridges in our room. We only use 2 but its better to coordinate (for freshmen year especially)</p>