We decided not to drive from NY to move my son in. I honestly didn’t think I could handle 10 or 11 hours in car after dropping him off. Plus, I have 2 kids at home so I didn’t want to waste 2 whole days driving. If you have parents traveling you can all take bags and then cram into carry-ons and have parents travel light. My husband is elite so we got 6 free bags. Or, fly Southwest into Midway and get 2 free bags per person. We’ve found that flights into O’Hare are usually cheaper, but cab ride is longer and more expensive or if you rent car traffic can be bad and takes a while to drive. Midway Southwest flights from NY are more expensive but you get free bags, cab is quick and cheap, and driving is quick and easy. Your choice.
I also recommend not overpacking; they can switch out stuff plus they may change what they think they need there. For example, he brought an old winter coat, but I didn’t buy him a heavy duty winter coat and boots until it started to get cold and he decided what he needed and then I bought online and shipped direct. We brought 4 big duffel bags of clothing and his fencing equipment and instrument. It was way too much clothing and he brought 2 bags of stuff back to leave at home and brought 1 back of warmer stuff for Thanksgiving. Remember that they can switch out the bulk of seasonal stuff when they come home.
I HIGHLY recommend doing the Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target thing where you order ahead of time and then pick up at store when you get to Chicago. Granted, my son really didn’t give a fig about linens and decor but you can actually go to a Bed, Bath, Beyond store close to home and then shop with a scanner, and voila, they had everything waiting at counter in Chicago. You only have to pay for what you take (i.e., I had gone overboard on too many linens, crates, hangars so didn’t buy them all there) Start saving BBB coupons! They don’t expire and they took all of them. This is very easy with rental car. You can also return easily or make a quick food, Target, or return run. The BBB and Target were both easily accessible in the South Loop along with every other variety of store. We stopped at a Costco there to stock him up on some drinks and snacks. They also run shuttle buses to Target for shopping later in O Week. We also bought some stuff at Macy’s and the Container Store and shipped straight to school. This worked great but you need to check the date that they started accepting packages, usually only earlier that week.
If you stay in housing, you can store 5 items (bags, boxes, or stuff like refrigerator) in the trunk room over summer. Remind your kid to wash his linens before leaving them and to bring home his dirty towel and 1 set of sheets. 5 items was fine for my son to leave linens, room stuff, and his winter clothing. There was also a storage company that emailed later in the year that would pick up stuff and store and deliver to room for a reasonable price.
We enjoyed both O Week and Family Weekend. I highly recommend trying to go to both, but if forced to choose, I’d choose O Week and Move-In 1st year and Family Weekend 2nd year. I was able to fly out on Thursday with my son and we really enjoyed having 2 days to pick up stuff and tour the city and surroundings. My husband came out late Friday. We left after the reception after the convocation and separation at the gate on Sunday. I enjoyed making sure he was settled and meeting some of the kids on his floor and the RA’s and RH’s so I knew he was ok. And the ceremony was very moving. On Family weekend, we enjoyed the classes, breakfast, and tailgate party with our other kids very much but 1st year my son did not spend the whole days with us. He was busy and I think still a little too excited to be independent although we did enjoy meeting his friends and taking them out to dinner. 2nd year he spent more time with us. We did move him in 2nd year but was really unncecessary. Go to Family weekend or another weekend. They know what they’re doing already and are too excited to be back on campus and with friends.
I’m sorry to go on and on but I really appreciated advice 2 years ago so I’d like to pay it forward. Hotels; there is usually a negotiated lower rate at some hotel that’s pretty cheap. We stayed at the Hyatt Place near campus. It is very nice, safe, and convenient and they have suites, free breakfast, and free shuttle to campus and neighborhood. I don’t bother renting car after move-in. For move-in, we left a lot of stuff we picked up in rented SUV and appreciated that they had locked and watched parking garage. So easy to take cab or uber to airport and to walk or take shuttle near campus. Plus, the kids can take the school shuttles up to 53rd to meet you but they’ve also let my son hop on the hotel shuttle. There’s also an older hotel that has just been renovated and opened as a La Quinta hotel that runs cheaper but we haven’t stayed there. I know a bunch of his friends stayed at airport area hotels but we liked that we could run back and forth and there are a bunch or restaurants, ice cream, and shops right by 53rd St. hotels. My husband travels to Chicago for work and he’s stayed downtown and it’s pretty easy to take cab or public transport. I think if you stayed at the negotiated hotel (which was the Chicago Hilton downtown for us) for move-in, they did run a few shuttle buses for families.
Toots - You’ve given some great advice.
@toots13 Thank You! very useful advice.
Can you clarify this? So you rented a car when you came in, stayed at the Hyatt in Hyde Park, used it for shopping and move-in and then returned it immediately, like on the Saturday after move in? Did you go back to the airport to return the car and then used Uber from and to the airport after that? While you had the car was it parked at the Hyatt parking garage all the time?
Sorry for the confusion. We rented and kept car for weekend at move-in but for family weekend we used cabs to and from airport and shuttle to get around neighborhood and campus.