<p>FYI, the Smith website has floor plans of all of the houses here: [Smith</a> College: Living at Smith](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/sao/reslife/index.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/sao/reslife/index.php) Some show the scale, some don’t but at least you can get a sense of the shape of the room,its location, number of windows etc.</p>
<p>Anymore thoughts on the 30th vs 31st for arrival?</p>
<p>I’m a relatively local student (I live about two hours away) but I’ll be moving in on the 30th. My parents also have to move my twin into her school that week and it doesn’t make sense for them to miss work twice in one week when I can move in on a Sunday…</p>
<p>From my perspective, I would say the 30th. I don’t think that one day makes a huge difference or anything, but I like to move in as early as possible so I can get set up, wander around and talk to people, relax, etc.</p>
<p>I noticed that you’re from NYC, so if you’re driving, I would assume that traffic is better on Sunday than Monday (this is purely speculation, however).</p>
<p>Smithiegr, yes, we’ve been planning on driving up Sunday night and staying over for the Monday check in, mostly so we don’t have to load up the car and fight rush hour traffic on Monday.</p>
<p>Hi - we are trying to decide whether to bring our younger D with us when we come to move in her sister. Anyone one know if there are many siblings brought along. She is a middle schooler and we avoided bringing her on the college visits and would like to give her a sense of where her sister will be but think it may be a long day, and we were hoping to go to one or two of the parent talks just to help with our own transition . I don’t know if she would feel really out of place and therefor make the day more stressful. We can leave her home pretty easily so it’s our call.</p>
<p>My younger sister will be there! Of course, we are coming from across the country, so it will be bigger undertaking–showing the family around town/campus, having a last “family time” before I come home for Christmas. I am going to miss them all a lot, so I absolutely want to have her there.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, my sister is 15, so she’s just getting old enough to start thinking about colleges in a rather vague sense.</p>
<p>Bringing a younger sib to move-in can be kind of hard, unless it’s clear that they’re going to help carry a lot of boxes and do a lot of boring and potentially sweaty unpacking stuff (there probably won’t be an elevator in your D’s dorm, so expect plenty of sweating). I can see how as a middle-school aged kid that would be a little trying on my patience and I could end up being a little trying to my parent’s patience before the day is out. </p>
<p>On a separate topic: Whoever asked about mattress pads: GET ONE. I usually just bought the $15 foam egg-crate style from target, but I would discard it at the end of each year and get a new one. If your daughter is a pretty sensitive sleeper, you might want to think about investing in a more expensive memory foam or some other nice foam topper that she could keep all four years. These are often available for not that much money on sites like E-Bay, and you could have it sent straight to the mail-room at Smith (one less thing to carry with you). </p>
<p>It’s not that the mattresses are terrible, you can definitely manage with no pad if you have to, but having one is not terribly expensive (again, Target) and really makes a difference. </p>
<p>Also, bed risers. The beds at Smith are very low to the ground and having bed risers makes them a more comfortable height for sitting on (important because beds often double as couches in dorm rooms) and also gives you added storage options.</p>
<p>There are a few houses where you cannot use bed risers, though. Haven is one of them - I don’t know what other houses are the same (Baldwin, maybe?). Instead, those beds are adjustable and can be made higher as needed.</p>
<p>Really? You can’t use bed risers in Haven? I had no idea such a rule existed (obviously). Well, if you’re in a non-adjustable bed house, it’s nice to have them. They make the room look nicer and the beds a little comfier.</p>
<p>I was the mattress pad questioner so I will add it to the list and I guess bed risers 
Not sure exactly how we will pack all this stuff :)</p>
<p>Well, bed risers and a mattress pad you can buy in Northampton if you need to. There’s a big Target just twenty minutes or so down the road at the Hampshire Mall where you can get pretty much everything (there’s also a Wal-Mart there, a Best Buy, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods etc.)</p>
<p>Also, very important that you get a fan. The dorms aren’t air conditioned and it can be hard to find a fan at the mall with every student in the five college area snapping them up. The rooms get very warm, especially the ones on the upper floors, so bringing a fan with you or getting one when you arrive (you might have to go to the Holyoke Mall to get one though, they’re usually out at Target) is essential. The fan is an important investment that will last all four years so don’t be afraid to get a nice sized one.</p>
<p>The loftable beds (which are in Haven and a few other houses) have legs that are too wide for the risers, but you can move the bed up on the legs to make the bed higher if necessary.</p>
<p>On the subject of beds, do they metal frames or wood? Headboards? Thanks!</p>
<p>No headboards. Most houses have metal bed frames, but I’m pretty sure the loftable beds were wooden (which is probably why the risers don’t work. :P)</p>
<p>It’s basically just an ugly bed with a mattress on top of it. Nothing fancy.</p>
<p>Most of them are metal frames, and no, there aren’t headboards. You can bring your own bed if you want, but you’re supposed to pay a “bed removal fee” to get phys plant to take out the Smith provided bed (though I have heard of girls just taking out the bed themselves and sticking it in the trunk room or a closet or something). Some people bring futons also. But really, the provided bed is fine, I never thought it was worth the hassle to get it removed.</p>
<p>My daughter prefers to make the trip by herself, and it would be much more convenient for me to stay home. Would it be feasible for her to do all her checking in, etc. on her own? Would she feel out of place without parents/family present for the whole event? She has experience with air travel on her own; I’m not concerned about that. She would be flying out very early Sunday morning and arriving in Hartford at around 11am. I haven’t checked with ground travel options, but am assuming that something could be arranged. </p>
<p>Are there any issues or potential snags of which we should be aware?</p>
<p>For ground travel from Bradley airport to Northampton, which shuttles/limos do people prefer (Seemo Shuttle, Valley, etc.?)</p>
<p>I’ve heard some bad things about Seemo Shuttle (mostly regarding them being unreliable). I think Valley Transporter is slightly more expensive but I only had good experiences with them.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>