<p>Thanks so much for all that info! I am liking what I am hearing.</p>
<p>I haven’t been on in awhile with all of the HS Senior stuff going on, but D is getting very excited about school. She will be attending the 8/20-8/21 orientation. She already has her schedule though as she is a student athlete. She will be living at 1300 and I have been buying stuff like crazy, so much fun. I am going to call Residence Life later today because I’m trying to figure out how to see what meal plan she has because we might upgrade. Her coach or someone he designates assigned her room and meal plan. She does not have username or password, but we do have RMS ID#.</p>
<p>We live about 30 minutes from Temple in NJ, for those who are looking for hotels, you might want to check out Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, NJ as it is literally about 7 or 8 miles from Temple just over the Ben Franklin bridge & parking will not be an issue, I believe it is free. Also, many restaurants, Target, Kohls, Cherry Hill Mall and much more within minutes.</p>
<p>thanks zebradome. how bout teh extra drive through the city to get to NJ though? We live west of Philly. i know is’ bad during rush hour but what about other times. and if we are getting into Center city anyway, is is not really a big deal to go a little further and cross the bridge?</p>
<p>@WindowMomto2 - a lot of what they talked about was also covered during the student orientation - billing, financial aid, security. They strongly advised having your child sign the FERPA waiver so parents can communicate with the school. Student also needs to designate parent(s) as designated payer for paying bills online (if parent is the one paying the bill). If a student brings a bike they should register it with campus security.</p>
<p>It was also advised that your student drop off a copy of their health insurance card to the Student Health Services office for them to keep on file in case of emergency.</p>
<p>I spent a lot of time talking to people about the Study Abroad program. If your child wants to do that they need to start going to information sessions, etc. about a year in advance and they should let their advisor know right away that they want to study abroad at some point. </p>
<p>They also recommended having a conversation about parent-student communication BEFORE move-in day – type (skype, text, phone…), frequency, etc. As for the dorms - they are not allowed to use the “cup-style” bed risers sold in Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. for safety reasons. They can only use appliances with auto-shutoff feature. No more than one refrigerator per 2 people. There are also restrictions about microwaves but I can’t remember what they said. </p>
<p>All in all, I’m glad I went. </p>
<p>DS will be in 1300 and wants to swap his bed for an XL. Anyone know who he needs to contact? He spoke to someone in Housing and they said it was mentioned online but he hasn’t found anything. </p>
<p>yes, i do, i have same issue om bed or i should say my son does 
When i get back to making request for the longer bed, i will let you know. there is a password you need but it is spelled out on their webpage, wherever that page may be. I think if you get on temple’s main website and do a search for housing maintenance, you will find how to make a request to maintenance if you don’t want to wait for me to get around to it and send you the link. Thanks for the reminder on the bed too!!! the microwaves have to be attached to a fridge, I think, and you can only use one company. that is in response to another comment you made. I think it’s called a microfridge and it’s one unit with a fridge on bottom and the microwave on top, at least it looked that way in the pic. Did you enjoy orientation?</p>
<p>ctl987 - I usually have no problems going into the city. From Cherry Hill, it is literally like a 12 minute drive, my main problem is always when I leave the city. The backlog happens when I head down Broad Street and as I get closer to where I turn to get on 676 back to the bridge. The light is so short. I’m exploring other routes, like turning off of Broad a few blocks before and then turning left onto Broad at the short light (that backs up). Of course it is much worse during the week than in on the weekends.</p>
<p>I’m glad I went. I learned a few things and got to meet some other parents. At least now when DS refers to some place on campus I’ll have an idea of what he’s talking about. re: microwave. you can rent a refrig with or wo the microwave. DS is going to be in 2BR suite so he’s trying to coordinate with the others as to who is going to rent what.</p>
<p>I’ll take a closer look at the housing maintenence website. DS doesn’t have to have the XL bed but he’s a big kid and a restless sleeper so it would probably be more comfortable for him. Want to get this settled soon so I know what size sheets he’ll need. </p>
<p>xtra long twin sheets will still fit, even through a bit big, a regular twin bed so id get the extra long sheets if i were you. i sitll have not gotten on that darn website for this again… might get to it tonight so sorry i don’t have link yet. i did find it once but got stuck on the password issue so I did not get the request in. As I noted above, the password is given to us on the website. I just missed that key point the first time around. sigh. Mine is 6’2" so he needs the extra long bed. </p>
<p><a href=“Maintenance | University Housing and Residential Life”>http://housing.temple.edu/resources-and-services/maintenance</a> </p>
<p>liink for housing maintenance requests </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Requested the longer bed. Ill let everyone kniw about any glitches for future reference</p>
<p>Zebradome I looked at cherry hill hotel prices. Nice!!know we will check it out next timr wr head in. I saw some hotels north west if there too. Town maybe started with mt. ? Is that area ok too? Ok. I. Looked it up its mt laurel</p>
<p>zebradome, what sport for your daughter and what is toll for NJ Bridge? it;s only a toll one way, right? East or wesstbound? Can we use an ezpass for the toll? thanks!!! </p>
<p>My D will be on the gymnastics team (so I don’t have to worry about the longer beds, ha ha). I don’t know the toll for the bridge because I always use my ezpass (yes you can use that), think it’s like $5. there is only a toll going into PA. I’m guessing that you are looking at Mt. Laurel, looked above again and see yes that’s it. Mt. Laurel, Cherry Hill, both are good. Can be congested at times, but do-able. Rte 70 and Rte 38 merge together and feed into the Ben Franklin Bridge. Mt. Laurel is just a little further east that Cherry Hill, but they are neighbors.</p>
<p>Hi, everyone! Have been on vacation and still reading but not post!</p>
<p>Thank you, @mom4cw and @ctl987, for all the good information about parent orientation! Have talked with D about it and gotten a couple of those important items squared away, like the designated payer - very important. </p>
<p>We’ll check out the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, too. Thanks for that info, @Zebradome! I am starting to plan the trip for move in. Maybe a couple of nights in Philly, so we can play tourists for a day with D and her younger sister, and then once she is moved in on Tues, we could move to the Cherry Hill hotel. Found out that the nursing school has a convocation on Thurs, and parents are invited, so it will be at least a 3 night trip.</p>
<p>Thanks, @ctl987, for the maintenance link! A good piece of info to have on hand.</p>
<p>Have been checking out the “Parents of the HS Class of 2014” thread for shopping tips. There’s a pretty comprehensive list there - page 894, post #13396 - lots of food for thought. I have copied it and am tweaking it for D. Then she can make changes and decisions. We put a nice dent in the shopping list earlier in the summer, but now have to finish it!!</p>
<p>Definitely have such a mix of emotions right now - so proud of her, as she plans and organizes her life, so sad she won’t be here with us on a regular basis. She’s already planned to go home with her roommate for Labor Day, to go to the beach. I’m happy for her, but I miss her already, and she hasn’t left yet!</p>
<p>got the mixed emotions going on too. we are lucky; ours is coming home for labor day. he’s heading out the 18th so it’s coming up fast</p>
<p>Hadn’t even thought about Labor Day. Guess DS will be spending it making new friends at school.</p>
<p>We usually stay at the Best Western King of Prussia when we want to go inexpensive - that’s where we’ll be for drop-off in a few weeks. It has free breakfast & a very nice pool/hot tub area, plus is near the huge mall and not far from the BB&B, Target, etc. in Plymouth Meeting. We’ve also stayed at the Conwell Inn on campus & that is pretty nice, if a bit noisy & with questionable plumbing. Can’t beat the location though. </p>
<p>And whoever asked about tolls, it is free to go into New Jersey, but you have to pay to get out. That always amused me!</p>
<p>@ctl987 - you are lucky! I’m sure it will be really nice to see him and a good chance to pick up anything else he needs, too!</p>
<p>@mom4cw - That’s a great way to spend her Labor Day! </p>
<p>@GertrudeMcFuzz, thanks! We only began learning about Philly in October so these other areas to stay, that you and @zebradome are sharing, are really helpful. D’s move in time is first thing in the morning (8 or 8:30?) so I wonder if it will be easier to stay in Philly the night before to avoid traffic jams that morning … We may have a car top carrier, too! </p>
<p>Really good to know about those stores in Plymouth Meeting. I may have to order some of the 3 drawer storage things to pick up there.</p>
<p>@MIdwestma, how are preparations going for you?</p>
<p>If not for this forum and CC, I would be losing my mind right about now!</p>