Am I the only one that has to keep track of due dates for their kid? I’m really starting to worry about him being ready for college. I was just playing around in the university website trying to figure out how to change the meal plan and kept seeing something about paying a housing guarantee. I asked him if they’d emailed him about it at all and he said “Nope. Been watching that email like a hawk”. He did a search on housing contract and they’d emailed him FIVE TIMES in the past month requesting the $200. Three more weeks and he would have lost his spot.
Had to watch deadlines for my DS16. Happy to report that over his 4 years at college he has learned to do so himself. There is something very freeing about most deadlines only being visible to the student. I only made tuition, R&B payments to the university. Once he moved off campus, things became his job to track due dates and make payments, manage his own grocery money, order books, etc. He will get there.
I lost track of a hotel reservation i made for admitted student day, and got charged a no show. I had made some 4 reservations at the various colleges she was admitted to. I forgor to cancel this one. It slipped my mind. The hotel offered a free future stay but my child wont be going to that location. i wrote an email if they could at least give me some of my money back.
LOL - I totally get it. In my house, I would have replied, “like the kind of hawk who spends a lot of time on his cell phone”. 
@Cheeringsection: “No flights will be booked as we are opting to drive rather than fly. It gives us a lot more flexibility given that the school has not announced the revised calendar yet and we can buy most in advance rather than count on picking things up locally. I did book a minivan to make the ride and packing easier.”
You know enough to book the minivan, but not the move-in day? How does that work?
This could be good news for other universities as well!
Notre Dame will have students back on campus in the fall, albeit starting early and finishing by Thanksgiving.
https://news.nd.edu/news/notre-dame-to-begin-fall-semester-on-campus-the-week-of-aug-10/
@Waiting2exhale they have announced the first day of classes but not the move in day. I reserved based upon where move in normally falls in relation to first day of classes plus a couple more. I can always reduce the length of the rental. Did the same for hotel. I needed to see pricing to help us decide also.
@socaldad2002 That sounds promising.
Is it wrong for me to selfishly hope that my D’s school does the same and that she is home from Thanksgiving until January? 
Ok one question about the target idea - If we’re buying sheets and towels, we want to wash them, right? So do you buy those ahead of time and wash and bring them in your luggage, or do you pick them up at school and somehow hope S20 washes them there?
@NYC2018nyc : I sent my son across the country for his move-in week with exactly one clean sheet set, with the rest to arrive the day after he did.
For those of you flying to college, we did indeed buy sheets and towels and comforter covers before we left and I washed them and we checked them in our luggage. Honestly, we packed up five Samsonite duffles (very popular in the 2019 CC group) and that held almost everything he needed. Flew Southwest so didn’t pay for luggage. Used the bags that shrink everything. We had things shipped via Amazon to our hotel that wouldn’t pack well like a lamp and a few other things. It was so easy. We did go three days early and it really helped all of us with the actual drop off day. We weren’t rushed. Got to hang out in the town and drive around a lot to see the area surrounding campus. Hit some restaurants close to campus. And, by the time it was time to say goodbye, we were tired of all of the one on one time with S19 and he was so excited that saying goodbye wasn’t as bad as we thought. My H and I said goodbye, spent an hour at the art museum on campus and drove to the airport.
I’m surprised so many of you have made flights for fall yet. First, we weren’t even sure kids would be on campus and, two, we don’t know for sure when kids will be moving in. I was under the impression that airlines aren’t flying that many flights now and I thought maybe they’d be adding flights over the next six weeks or so. There’s an original date that Bowdoin is supposed to start but, like ND, we think they could likely change their start date. So we wait until we get an update in June about the plan and I’ll book everything then.
Yes, sheets and towels, we bought at home and washed them, then packed them in zip top Ikea bags and checked it as luggage. Comforter, too. Between that and clothes, we checked 3 Ikea bags and 1 large suitcase, plus 2 carryons. We also had the mattress topper shipped to the dorm, and some other things shipped to an Amazon Hub across from campus. We just weren’t sure how big the mailroom was in her dorm, or how challenging it would be for them to find her packages when we got there, so didn’t ship too much there.
For DS16 we washed all the linens/sheets/towels/etc. in advance and brought them. However, when I went to college, my parents bought me linens at the campus store because that was the place to get Twin-XL sheets, and I washed them in the dorm laundry room. So it can be done
@socaldad2002 Creighton University announced a similar plan last week! My D20 was so relieved, and we were impressed that they had such a creative way of working it out – allowing kids to have the fall on campus but sending them home before a potential second wave of the virus. Sure hope this will all work out the way they have planned. D’s best friend committed to a Cal State school so is already trying to adjust to having her first semester at college not be AT college, since their decision to conduct class online only. 
We did this. Before we unpacked the rest of his belongings, we unpacked the sheets and Tide Pods and walked him down to the laundry room so he could learn how the machines, payment, etc. worked.
Just wondering out loud but my question is what are colleges going to do with spring semesters starting in January during the height of flu season? Will all of the social distancing, mask wearing, more online classes, less human interaction result in a milder flu season at home and on college campuses?
We haven’t booked any flights because it’s not clear when we need to. We have no idea whether classes will be in person or not. We had flights cancelled in April for school visits, so we still have those credits waiting for us when we do finally have to book. As for getting items to D20’s dorm, her school apparently has a very efficient UPS store on campus that delivers directly to the dorm rooms (for a fee, of course). They also store things for summer. We have already purchased linens and washed them and will just send pretty much everything she can’t otherwise pack in her luggage to campus. I’m thinking it will be 1 - 2 large boxes. She and I are trying to be fairly minimalist in planning for her dorm in case everything needs to shut down suddenly. Also, we are unsure of how to navigate having her fly out alone or with one of us. Our younger daughter has severe asthma and although we would otherwise have all of us go out with D20, it doesn’t seem to be wise to take D21 out there now. On the other hand, If only one parent goes with D20, that parent would likely have to quarantine 14 days before coming back into the house. So, there are a lot of logistics to think about. The other option is just sending D20 out by herself, which I think would be ok, but not ideal.
I think spring semester will start closer to February or in February and it will be another compressed schedule.
Great to hear how everyone is navigating the upcoming start of school with all the uncertainties.
My husband and daughter want to drive cross country to her college that’s over 1,700 miles away (from here on east coast). She really wants her car on campus so it kinda makes sense.
I’ll book the Air BnB (free cancellation) & will decide later if I join this cross-country jaunt or fly (scared of mountain driving) LOL
Regarding long-distance move-ins: Both S19 and S20 will be across the country from us next year. As mentioned above, the samsonite duffels are inexpensive but very sturdy. For S20, my husband and I will fly with him (Southwest) taking 2 duffels each. We will bring his bedding and clothes. Everything else we will buy on arrival. He is (fingers crossed!) doing a 3-day pre-semester program and will move in 4 days early. We fly in on a Saturday, move him in first thing Sunday morning. My husband and I will fly home early Monday. I wanted more time for move-in but was overruled by my guys. Based on my experience with S19, the compressed time frame will be fine. Truthfully, almost everything the kids might need can be sent via Amazon.
S19 now has his car and will be in his college town this summer in a sublet while working on his (now online) research internship. He can thankfully move himself into his dorm in the fall.
We have not booked Thanksgiving flights as we are waiting for a final announcement on the calendar in mid-July. Honestly, not sure if we will even have them come home as they will both be home for winter break just over 2 weeks after the Thanksgiving break.