<p>Well after much deliberation and another round of campus visits my daughter has decided on Furman University Class of 2016! I really do feel that it is an amazing school and a good fit for my child, and As much as I am glad this part of the process is behind us, I feel overwhelmed at what lies ahead.</p>
<p>Mostly, because we are from New England and have decided, for many reasons, NOT to drive down to Furman for the initial move-in. I ask for any advice from those parents that have gone before me on how to make this transition a little easier. Ship ahead? Storage? Bike? Etc. etc. We will be flying down with suitcases full of clothing but other than that, I have no plans/ideas.</p>
<p>If there is any advice that you can lend that could guide me in the right direction or some tips etc. that helped make the process a little more pleasant for you far away "out of staters"</p>
<p>Now that she had made the decision and has sent in her deposit, I would like to start the planning process as much as I can. Other than that, the only thing left to do is come up with the correct answer to the question "Furman?? Where is that?? I've never heard of it? Is it in Florida?"..which is the question she gets most after she informs them what school she has chosen..hahaha</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your D. My D is class of 2015 and loved her first year. Although we are closer I thought I would pass along the following which is from the Furman.edu website. Please go through the freshman checklist as well as search any other questions on the Furman site as it is full of info. This too is an active and informative board. </p>
<p>What should I do if I have to ship something to campus before I arrive?
Because storage space for advance shipments is limited on campus, you are encouraged to bring with you as many of your needed belongings as possible when you arrive on campus. If you must ship something in advance, packages should be shipped to arrive not more than one to two weeks prior to the student’s arrival on campus. Please keep in mind that packages may be stored in a warehouse space that is not climate controlled. All packages and mail must include the students name and private mail box number. Please use the following address format:</p>
<p>Student Name Furman PMB ##### (Your 5 digit private mail box number)
3300 Poinsett Hwy.
Greenville SC 29613</p>
<p>You can find your PMB number by going to “New at FU” and following the prompts. Please visit the Mail Services web site for additional information.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your daughters acceptance! My D is a proud member of the Class of 2014.</p>
<p>Like you, we are also from New England and found the moving in process a challenge at first. We can’t drive due to a family member having extreme car sickness so we had to fly. We flew down the day before the move in, rented a mini van and stayed at a downtown hotel for the night. (both Hyatt and Westin offer a discount to Furman). We had shipped most of her clothing items in advance to the hotel where it was held in storage for our arrival. The next morning we just loaded up the boxes and went to Furman. We did decide to buy certain items at the local Wal Mart, items too big to ship. A suggestion was made to ship items to the local UPS store for pickup but they don’t have the space to hold on to the boxes. Shipping to our hotel in advance was the clear way to go for us.</p>
<p>At the end of the school year we just use a local self storage facility to store her things for the summer and she flys back. There has also been some advice on this board to buy larger items online in advance from retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, etc. and have it held at a Greenville location for pickup. We did not do that but others have had success with it. The moving in and out process was much easier than expected. Getting the flights home from Greenville is more of a challenge. </p>
<p>If you have any additional questions, feel free to PM me and I would be happy to help a fellow New Englander.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! A few more questions for you flying to and from Furman. Greenville Airport does not have the best flight options from our local airport. Is flying into Charlotte a big hassle? Also, on Orientation weekend are there activities planned for parents up until the last day? This year it is August 16 - 19th? or would it be safe to book a flight out on the afternoon of the 19th? Do your kids find it difficult to get to the airport? Also, do they fly home for all breaks? or just the major holidays? so many questions, I know…but this is a first to me and I rely on other parents to lead me through…</p>
<p>There are not many flights out of Greenville to our local airports in the New York/Connecticut area. I am not sure of your local airport but Greenville is generally serviced from our area as a secondary airport, meaning mostly connecting flights. Charlotte has a more flights, many of them direct, but is almost a 2 hour drive. Unless she can get a ride to Charlotte with a friend, which my D did on several occasions, the transportation costs from Charlotte to Furman is close to the roundtrip airfare. You are kind of stuck with Greenville unless your D makes a friend from the Charlotte area. Getting to and from Greenville-Spartanburg Airport from Furman is quick and not costly so my D generally takes flights out of there. Getting home during breaks is not bad if you book far enough in advance. (make sure you check her final exam schedule before booking). I know my D comes home for all school breaks.</p>
<p>As far as O Week, I believe their is a parents orientation on the first day when you do the move in and I think you pretty much leave that day or the next. That is the tough day. If the move in is on the 16th than you will probably leave that evening or the next day.</p>
<p>Congratulations! Just another happy parent here with a very happy kid. We are from the west coast, so driving is simply never going to happen. We ordered all her bedding and dorm stuff from BB&B and arranged to pick it up in Greenville. It’s not too far from campus and Target is across the street from BB&B so it made picking up all the extras simple. We chose to ship all of her boxes to the hotel we were staying at. I called ahead and they were more than happy to keep them until we arrived. I believe I timed it so they arrived the day before. This was my ticket to happiness. Once we arrived at the hotel they were happy to load the boxes in the rental car for me.<br>
Flights to Charlotte are easier than Greenville. Getting to Greenville from Charlotte is a breeze. My daughter was always able to find a friend to get her to the Charlotte airport if we couldn’t get a flight out of Greenville. I am told lots of students are from the Charlotte area and are more than happy to give others a ride.</p>
<p>My daughter has come home for all breaks expect Easter. Sometimes a friend has come with her. She is a freshman so she may come home less in the future. ??</p>
<p>I remember there being seminars for parents during O Week. Also the studetns and parents have an advisor meeting. I think get them set up, load them up with food, then make your way out. </p>
<p>Congratulations! My D is another very happy student in the class of 2015. I can’t give any advice on the logistics of moving in from far away since we are from SC, but once you are here, Furman makes the move-in smooth, and o-week is great for the students. I got a text after about 2 days saying thank you for sending her there, and that she loved it. She told me last week that she was going to cry when she left for the summer because this year was so great. I do think parents leave on the day after move-in. There will be meetings for you both with & without your student. And if your daughter can’t get home on a break, there will be students to take her home - we had a friend of our daughters from Chicago here for Easter, and we really enjoyed her.</p>
<p>The structure of O-week is being changed for the class of 2016. I am not sure of the details (but there will be sessions of some sort during the summer, I think), but I do know that orientation will be different from past years’ O-weeks.</p>
<p>^ They will still have O Week but add an additional 2 days in early summer to register for classes. Not the best news for parents that live outside the region to now have to have the kids go down twice within 8-10 weeks.</p>
<p>I was not thrilled at all about the additional “Summer Orientation”. That means an additional trip for us at an extremely busy time with graduation etc. etc. plus the additional cost of 2 flights, hotel, etc. I am trying to plan my August trip and was wondering if you fellow Furman parents could help answer a couple questions. What day do the parents leave?? It says that official move in is August 16th…would we say goodbye that night? Classes start on August 20th…are there events for the parents throughout the weekend or is it just for the students? Any advice is appreciated…</p>
<p>^ It is an odd decision to break up orientation for new students if they are tring to recruit a more geographically diverse student base. It is a silly and unnecessary decision in my opinion and cetainly does not support some of their stated goals. Like many of their decisions in the last year, it does not appear to have been well thought or they did not care about its ramifications. It wouldn’t be the first time that they made a decision without considering the impact.</p>
<p>As far as O-Week, we left the day after move in. Besides the move in, the only other thing needed of the parents was a meeting with her Academic Advisor to discuss her class selection and registration. That looks like it will be done sooner now. I assume the O-Week schedule will still be similar so I would plan on leaving the next day. There are no activities for parents during O-Week. If move in day is August 16th, I would book a flight for the next day. You could leave that night but the flights are limited and you will be exhausted.</p>
<p>It appears that parents say goodbye by 5:00 on the 16th. This is a completely different structure than when we moved our daughter in 3 years ago so I can’t offer any further insight about the day’s activities. I can understand the frustration of needing an extra trip, but I think there are some advantages to meeting your advisor earlier and having your class schedule ironed out before arriving in August.</p>
<p>^ It is not only the time but the cost. For an out of region student, it could cost a family an additional $1,000 in airfare, hotel, food, rental car.etc. Even if early registration is helpful I think that consideration of cost to those families should have been considered.</p>
<p>More than $1,000.00!! To fly into Greenville from our home airport is $600 per flight at this time. So we have to fly into Charlotte to get reasonable flights, and then rent a car, hotel, food, etc. I had planned on moving my daughter in and orientation, I had not planned on an additional trip this summer so I was a little upset at the change to orientation. Also, I do not feel comfortable sending my daughter alone, to stay in a hotel room by herself in a strange place, etc. so it is a trip that I must make also. I do agree that it will be nice to meet with advisors in June etc., but at an additional cost I would have not chosen to do it.</p>
<p>MarieClare- I just looked at the parents portion of the summer orientation. Some of the workshops I noticed are the same we went to during fall move in. They were worthwhile events. Espspecially the Freshman Zone, very entertaining. I too am disappointed they have split this into separate visits. We are 3,000 mile away the trip is very pricey, it will deter some from attending or limit the family members that can attend. I wonder how many freshman parents will pass on attending family weekend because they have already attended two campus events.</p>
<p>Furman is a wonderful school and even better community. I hope you and your daughter have a great visit and she finds her home away from home.</p>
<p>It looks like the recently announced June registration days for new students has been modified. Students unable to travel will be able to register for classes with their advisor via skype. That will save an extra trip for those unable to travel. I had not previosuly seen that option. That at least offers some assistance to those students and family unable to make two trips within 8 weeks.</p>
<p>Would like advice on the vibe of the campus outside of school and on weekends. Suitcase school?? We are from the West so our son will not have a car and while we want a small school for him - do many of the kids drive home every weekend?</p>
<p>Furman is not a suitcase school. Most of the students are from other states. Our son is a sophomore there (from CT) and loves it. Our son does not have a car on campus, but this is not a problem as many of his friends do have cars. He doesn’t have a problem getting around or getting a ride to/from the airport. He is off campus this weekend for a fraternity formal event at the beach. There are usually plenty of options of things to do on the weekends.</p>