<p>Orientation at D1’s school includes a trip to Target. I guess that’s to fill in the gaps. Classof2015, how about using the free student Amazon Prime membership as a backup plan? Faster turnaround than parental delivery in October.</p>
<p>If the bed can be raised to 2ft I found the following at Walmart. It is a three drawer chest that can go under the bed for $20. The quality isn’t going to be what I saw at the container store, but then it’s not $90 so I can get two. It can hold socks, underwear, tshirts, etc, even snacks. I saw it on Amazon and Target but Walmart had the cheapest price.</p>
<p>[Walmart.com:</a> Sterilite 3-Drawer Wide Cart, White: Storage & Organization](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Wide-Cart-White/8282897?findingMethod=rr]Walmart.com:”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Wide-Cart-White/8282897?findingMethod=rr)</p>
<p>Its 24’Hx22Wx16D We saw something at Target that was 19D but was $40…for 3’deeper you’re not going to get much more in it IMO.</p>
<p>Blue – thank you for the link! That looks perfect – drawers, lightweight, and its got wheels. And the price is terrific.</p>
<p>Slithey – update me please – what is Amazon prime all about? I don’t do much online shopping so I don’t really know what D would order there, but I’ve heard CCers talk about it</p>
<p>Classof2015 - Amazon prime = you pay yearly membership fee and get free 2-day shipping on “most” items - not all items. I think the yearly fee is $79? But “Amazon Prime for Students” actually is free for 1 yr. Around Christmas, it is great or when you want to get something really small/low price, and the shipping cost is higher than the price of it? This helps then. </p>
<p>I found more info on the dorm size/layout from googling - where I found a facebook group from last yr with pics of move-in and also there might be something on youtube. </p>
<p>Yeah, I just checked on the orientation events (which I won’t be at since we drop ds off a week early) and they also scheduled a charter bus trip to Target! Pretty funny. Someone also mentioned a few days ago about a mandatory alcohol education thing “alcohol wise” - yep, I found that also is at ds’ school. Has to completed online prior to orientation.</p>
<p>EmmyBet- Glad that the orientation went so great. I know there was some anxiety when the initial (non-program/Honors) orientation was disappointing for your D in finding her people.</p>
<p>I may have posted this already. Hampshire has an online alcohol questionnaire/education that D had to complete. She answered it honestly:
when was your first drink? (14 with parental permission- it is a coffee egg cream made with Kahlua- yum)
how much did you drink last month? (2 glasses of champagne for her 18th bday at a family party)
what is the average number of drinks per month (0, 1, 2, etc). She chose 0.</p>
<p>It would not let her submit those answers because the questionnaire could not compute that she could have two drinks in one month, and yet have an average of 0 (which when you have only had 3 drinks in 16 months then the average is closer to 0 than 1). So she lied and said she had no drinks the previous month (but asked me if it was ok first). :D<br>
But she still had to read through all the educational material on those who have their first drink at a young age ( less than 16 or so). So what did she learn from this? Lie about your alcohol usage to get through the red tape faster. Hmm- do you think this is what they wanted her to learn? ;)</p>
<p>^^my 21yr old heard that her 18 yr old sister had to take the online course as well before orientation; her comment: </p>
<p>“so stupid; not real world…”…bigshot now that she’s 21…</p>
<p>I do agree that if they can find a way around it, it’s missing the purpose…</p>
<p>Hi All</p>
<p>Wow–pages and pages–</p>
<p>Well the “student” services mailing came today–soliciting the deals for the
care packages,
refrigerator rentals,
laundrey services,
“starter packages” with linens, towels, etc,
birthday cake deliveries
etc etc. </p>
<p>Pre-washed the t-shirt jersey bed sheets for kiddo…lots of lint!
I did check the prices I paid for the egg crate pad, mattress pad, etc etc…every item was under $20. (Target) All XL Twins.
Dear kiddo left for national competition today and so quilt vs duvet etc is not on the radar…</p>
<p>As for anxiety about move in–I did sleuth out a floor plan for the dorm (thank you Facebook)and we were able to “scale” it and figure the bedroom is about 8 1/2 ft x 11
and the common room is about 11x 13. … also not on our kiddo’s radar…though I think having some of this considered may help later. We will see.</p>
<p>On care packages–I recall kids who had moms that sent care packages. They’d get cookies for example–and the moms would put popped popcorn (plain) in the boxes to prevent breakage and to absorb moisture so the cookies arrived crispy! My parents didn’t send care packages ;o(
Then again they never came for a football game etc… They did come once that I recall my freshman year and for my 21st birthday though.</p>
<p>We recently mailed a care package to our student who is gone all summer…though kiddo had said it wasn’t necessary–kiddo was really happy to get the books, snacks etc and passport for travel later in the summertime…We will probably sent care packages from time to time.</p>
<p>One thing --when I was in college my parents dropped me off and did’t go to the parent events during move-in (if there were any–though I think it was handled at orientation)…and they didn’t think to take me nor the roommates to buy things for our room…
Back then we didn’t have cool shuttles to Target like A-K’s kiddo will have access too…I think its great when schools are able to offer that so these kids can get the rooms settled and those shopping trips with new roommates I am sure are a fun time.</p>
<p>On alcohol, the U considers it a health and safety issue. I am sure there will be some talk during the first days of orientation…they have required things to attend for several days, beyond placement tests, which include expectations etc.</p>
<p>kinderny - Great article. I’m trying to figure the 529 stuff out too. We are in the fortunate position that a substantial amount of DS’s undergrad degree will be paid by scholarships & many engineers get their graduate degrees paid for in whole or in part. I’m trying to figure out how long I can leave the money in the 529 so it can increase in value tax-free just in case law school or an MBA is on the horizon. Have any of you looked at those costs? Unbelievable. My company paid for mine, 30 years ago, so I had sticker shock.</p>
<p>Kathiep - Mazel tov. That is quite an accomplishment.</p>
<p>BI - you must be very proud of your son. Not too many kids have the foresight or initiative to work so hard and save their money. </p>
<p>EBet - so glad orientation went so well</p>
<p>fogfog, at ShawSon’s school, they had several days with afternoons spent on alcohol usage and an array of issues including gender issues, date rape, lgbt, minorities, etc. I could tell that these were going to be painfully politically correct sensitivity training sessions. I told ShawSon not to say anything that wasn’t politically correct – he would otherwise be prone to do so to shake things up. He stayed quiet but said this unbelievably muscled, handsome African American guy was incredulous that if a girl came on to him and came back to his room and had sex with him, it could somehow become date rape. [ShawSon guessed looking at him that all but the last part happened frequently]. This kid got lambasted by the sensitivity trainers and his reputation as retrograde has probably stuck with him. So, word to the wise: don’t be politically incorrect, even if you are.</p>
<p>blueiguana,</p>
<p>we did</p>
<ul>
<li>mattress encasement for dustmites (does this also do bedbugs?)</li>
<li>pillow encasement for dustmites</li>
<li>memory foam topper to compensate for a lousy mattress and encasement for this</li>
<li>sheets (bamboo from Target)</li>
<li>comforter, duvet, or quilt (from house, but probably on sale from The Company Store)</li>
<li>extra fleece blanket (ShawWife somehow acquired industrial size rolls of this stuff)</li>
<li>pillows</li>
<li>alarm clock</li>
<li>reading light for bed</li>
</ul>
<p>FlMathMom, you can save the 529 plan for a long time (life of the beneficiary) and certainly for an MBA. In addition, depending upon who is the owner of the 529 plan, you can change the beneficiary to your son’s children without incurring a generation-skipping tax liability. You can also, if you are the owner, reclaim it many years from now with a relatively modest penalty. At some point, they will change the regulations because they allow the 529 plan to be an estate planning device. But, I am told that this will be grandfathered in for those who have already established plans.</p>
<p>I’m heading out tomorrow for a six-day work conference. Wish I was just going to hang out here with you all.</p>
<p>After all the good things that have fallen into place for DS2 after Pi Day, we hit a bump in the road this week. IB Math HL score was not as expected, even though it was the highest score in his class. Other top students in the class (including his roommate) are so disappointed. Taking Math HL (two-year class) has kept them from their IB diploma. Other students who took the IB Math SL (one year and not as intense) got their diplomas while the top students did not, due to their Math HL scores. (Our son was not a diploma candidate but BF and BF’s GF were.)</p>
<p>Lots of disillusioned parents as this class is our first at our school to graduate in the IB program. The Math HL teacher is devestated. She’s the Teacher of the Year in our district, provided extra sessions before and after school every day, beloved by all of her students. She believes she has failed them. </p>
<p>On the advice of the head advisor in the Mizzou Math Dept., DS2 will go to the local university tomorrow to take the Calculus CLEP test to get the credit he needs to keep his schedule in tact. If he doesn’t pass it, he has to rearrange 10 of his 13 hours for the coming semester. His Honors College advisor and the Math Dept. advisor think he will have no problem based on his ACT, SAT, Math SAT II , online math placement test (required by Mizzou) and grade. But he’s nervous. Fortunately, you get the results immediately. </p>
<p>Our high school worked very hard to be IB certified but right now, IB’s name is mud in our community. Sticking with AP classes would have provided a much better result for our top students.</p>
<p>I’ll be thinking of your son OWM-I bet he nails that test.</p>
<p>EB so happy to hear orientation went well!</p>
<p>I am suffering from college burnout I guess-haven’t bought a single thing for the dorm and it isn’t like me to leave things to the last minute. I guess being an hour away let’s me get away with it.</p>
<p>His orientation was pretty boring from the parents perspective-at least mine. I did meet momofboston-that was great. We both felt we had done such good homework that there wasn’t much new to learn. My son thought a lot of the info sessions were pretty dull but loved getting a chance to meet his new classmates and really felt very good about things-he has gone from being nervous about not making any friends to being excited-so that to me means the event was a success.</p>
<p>Lots going on with my Mom-very hard to deal with someone slipping further into dementia so I am trying my best to cope with that while being a good mom-as so many of you know it’s very hard trying to care for sick parents while being there for the kids, husband and everyone else that needs you.</p>
<p>Extra hugs to Pepper and OWM tonight. Off to watch The Closer…one of our favorite TV shows.</p>
<p>Pepper - sorry to read about your Mom. We had to take my Father’s car away last year and because of where I live the burden falls on me to take care of most of his driving needs. We have someone going by each day for an hour or two, but he still gets frustrated not having a car…sigh. Jealous you got to meet another cc’er!</p>
<p>OWM - so sorry to read about those IB scores. I am sure your son will do great on the CLEP, but who needs another hurdle to jump?</p>
<p>S was finally able to register for classes. It got to be very difficult because other kids have been registering for 2 weeks. S’s registration time was 10:45am so after discussing it with him, I went online at 11:am to find 3 of the classes that were open last night were now full. 
A couple of classes he wanted only had lousy instructors left and he had to switch out of one class and scramble to find an alternative. So now he has 2 really good teachers, 2 lousy and 1 OK. He has a call into his advisor to see if she will give him permission to switch into a couple of classes that are labeled as full, but it probably won’t happen, even the lousy instructors need students to teach. I feel bad for the students who are suppose to register sometime over the next two days. Lousy instructors and times are all that seem to be left.</p>
<p>Mamom: Sorry to hear about the lousy teachers. Your son should check for openings the first week or two of classes. At my D1s school, people drop and add classes in the beginning of the semester and sometimes things open up. First semester freshmen year is usually the worst one in terms of class selection.</p>
<p>Pepper: I’m sorry to hear about your mom. It is hard to be there for everyone.</p>
<p>OWM: I hope that your son aces the test so he doesn’t have to rearrange his schedule. </p>
<p>Emmybet: I’m glad to hear that orientation was a success. Your D’s program sounds very exciting.</p>
<p>Kath: Happy Anniversary:)</p>
<p>When I got home from work today, CHSDad said, “Two things in the mail today–one, from the college, about college care packages, and two, look at this! Target has those special-sized sheets! And all kinds of other stuff!” Oh, he really needs to get himself a CC account and get hip to the jive. ;-)</p>
<p>BI - I can highly recommend the plastic storage cabinet you posted the link to. We purchased two of these for older D three years ago and they are still in great shape. They are super light and have provided great storage for her.</p>
<p>Pepper - so sorry to hear about your mom. I’m sure this is a big factor in your “college burnout”. Try to take care of yourself in the midst of caring for everyone else!</p>
<p>OWM - good luck to your son on his CLEP test; I’m sure he will do fine but I’m sorry he has to deal with the additional stress.</p>
<p>Mamom - I second Momjr’s recommendation that your son check back either during the first week of school or even before then. Good luck to him!</p>
<p>Pepper - Sending warm gentle hugs and yet another reminder to take care of you…the mom in the middle. My thoughts are with you as you care for your mom right now. So glad Pepperson connected with new classmates at orientation. It’s time for him to really enjoy a new scene!! Soooo many better things ahead for him!</p>
<p>OWM - So sorry for the let down regarding the IB testing. I really have confidence that OWSon will power through. He has grown a lot the last couple of months…this is not the same kid who was so disappointed on Pi Day. His world grew exponentially in ways he could not have imagined. This is just something that has to be taken care of…nothing more. He can do it, he is confident in his skills, and will move on. I really, truly believe this. Kids that never face adversity, never have to face a reality where things don’t go the way they had planned, fall apart when things go wrong. OWSon is not one of those kids. He can regroup…he’s shown that!</p>
<p>proudmom - I picked up two of the storage cabinets today. So glad to hear they might last more than one year! Thanks for the review. I love my CC network! :)</p>
<p>Mamom - Sorry about the registration woe’s. Hopefully your son will have the chance to swap when upperclassman change their schedules. I know most kids at Bluejr’s school end up swapping when classes open again in August and again the first week of classes. He registers next week at orientation and I don’t think it’s even crossed his mind to check out professors. If he gets a lousy instructor this semester it will either bother him enough to check them out next semester or not…his issue, not mine (was I convincing?).</p>
<p>blueiguana- sure. very convincing. I believe it. ;)</p>