Two things I learned about here on CC that we found helpful for college freshman flying from Texas to school in California:
(1) Samsonite Tote A Tons—weighs almost nothing but sturdy giant tote bag. Pretty much the equivalent size of the largest bag you can check, but without the weight. We use large recycling bags inside to protect the clothes, shoes, bedding, etc. in case it rains while baggage is loading into the plane.
(2) Bed Bath & Beyond’s College Pack and Hold—shop locally or online, make a reservation to pick it all up at the location near your child’s university, and on move in day pick it all up. It was very well organized, and we could even remove things at pickup. There is also a 20% off coupon for everything.
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I’m thinking of getting a desk shelf set. D22’s dorm room does not come with any shelves and is very small and she loves books and will want to take some with her in addition to any text books. This unit sits on top of the desk and gives you extra shelves to put stuff on. Classic Dorm Desk Bookshelf - White
I will definitely buy a mattress topper. We got some at Walmart for my mother-in-law’s mountain house and they made a huge difference.
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Amazon has a Twin XL mattress cover for $11.99 after a $20 coupon is applied.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PWNGK6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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We ordered a different version of a desk hutch from dormco for my son last year for similar reasons. It was great - pretty easy to put together and very sturdy.
Another thing my son appreciated having were these Loft Steps for climbing in and out of his fully lofted bed. Some people cut pool noodles and attach them with zip ties, but these were easy and we can reuse them if needed when our next kid is off to college.
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Cool! I’m glad to hear the good review on the hutch. Thanks.
OmniBreeze Tower Fan is on sale in Costco with $10 off
https://www.costco.com/.product.3333004.html
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Today was our senior prom. My 2020 grad missed out on prom and graduation, but I think my daughter enjoys all the hoopla more than he would have.
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My daughter’s U has a “YToss” collection at the end of every school year (run by the local YMCA). They collect hundreds of donations of microwaves, rugs, lamps, chairs, dorm fridges, desk hutches, TV’s, fans, storage cubes, etc., etc., as kids are moving out, and then they have a huge sale during the move-in week (usually in a big on-campus building). It’s a way to save money on buying things new and introduce less of these things into the environment & landfills. I bet many other U’s do the same thing.
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I just messaged my D22’s school’s Facebook parents group to ask about this. Thanks for posting about it!
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My son’s school collects them at donation spots around campus but doesn’t sell them in the fall. They really should, but at least it’s an organized effort. Not sure which charity the donations go to. My kids’ school’s FB Parent’s Group does its own “yard sale” where the kids/parents can advertise the items they have for sale or free and incoming kids/parents can see them and arrange to meet for transfer. It works well. Tons of the same items you mentioned.
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At Barnard’s first-year move-in day (prior to orientation week), they had set up one hall for existing students who were moving into apartments or off-campus (which do have appliances) that year, to offer their dorm-fridges and other unneeded items to incoming first-years.
My daughter had learned about that prior to orientation and knew to go there are early as possible to still have choices. I think we ended up paying next-to-nothing for a dorm fridge that clearly had seen more than one generation of prior users.
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Anyone attending a summer send off party for their child’s college this summer? Does their college have one in your area? I’ve always enjoyed those. I often went to the party as an alumnus of my own college. So exciting for the student to meet kids in their area attending the same college, and fun for the adults to meet and chat. Would likely not apply to large in state schools as there are just too many attending. We are hosting a party for the area students going to USC this weekend, but it will be small: 4 families attending. I am slightly envious of large gatherings at palatial homes for schools like UVA, UGA, SMU and others popular here. Nevertheless, we’ll bbq and enjoy meeting one another.
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Confess I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’m a UVA alum from the 80’s, I don’t recall anything like that. And given Rose-Hulman’s small size and Indiana location, I don’t expect anything like that here in San Francisco for S22.
But it does sound nice! Cool you’re hosting it.
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The summer prior to her freshman year, D18 and parents attended a very large catered party at a fancy schmancy home in the hills of Silicon Valley for incoming Michigan undergrads from the Bay Area.
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The local chapter of the Penn Club had a summer send-off for D19’s class. It was a very low-key, deli-catered event. There was a great speaker who discussed the history of Philadelphia and the university. It was nice for D19 to meet other local kids heading to Penn as they often wound up on the same flights home. The parents were insufferable though.
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We were invited to one of these summer family welcome events for D’s college. They have them in different states. It’s a very nice idea and very nice of the families who agree to host these events.
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No summer send off for either of my students’ colleges. We got to know area parents through orientation. The parents at my D’s school organized an informal wine and cheese soiree that resulted in closing down the bar 
Not sure what will happen at my S’ orientation next week.
Thus far we have met up with parents thanks to unofficial parents pages on Facebook.
I have never heard of a summer family event. Have met a few parents in the official college parents Facebook group.
There was a local get together that our S attended for Stanford bound students in 2016. Nothing for our daughter going to JHU starting this fall. 
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W&L hosted a social for incoming freshman, parents, alums at a Braves game last summer. My D really enjoyed it. There are fairly regular hosted events in the Atlanta area. It’s been a great way to meet other families.
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