<p>THe Tulane Post Office is a secure place for packages to be sent and received. They'll put a note in your students mailbox alerting him that a package is there for pickup. </p>
<p>However, as I recall, you don't get the mailbox assigned until you actually arrive. Since the laptop is clearly a very valuable delivery, I might call the on-campus Tulane PO and ask what they suggest (assuming your student is a freshman with no assigned PO--or did he get one at Orientation this year?)></p>
<p>oooh so sorry jjcddg-
But I can sympathize. Not only was older s's car broken into when he lived off campus (lost GPS, IPOD and something else, I forget) but he was just burglarized at his apt yesterday-- lost xbox, games, Itouch, Hi def DVD player and his old laptop with important stuff on it. He estimates about $2k worth of stuff and some is irreplaceable.</p>
<p>As for your s's laptop-- we just got something in the mail with special hot orange colored stickers for fedex deliveries to campus. You could use that for a laptop delivery, I suppose. If you order a mac, it comes really fast-- so you might want to have it delivered to your home</p>
<p>He already has a mailbox assignment so we are good to go. We are re-ordering a Dell which takes longer than the Mac, so it definately won't get there before us. He may even have to use the computer lab at school for the first week. </p>
<p>jym626 - It sounds like your son had it worse than mine. I'm seriously thinking of getting my S renter's insurance. In the book they gave us at oreintation (Parent's guide to college life) it stressed the importance of kids locking their dorm rooms when they go to another person's room. I never remember locking my door when I was in my dorm, but times have changed and now our kids have all electronics that are easy to walk away with.</p>
<p>Is/has anyones child attended NOLA? Is it possible to drop stuff off on Friday night? How exactly does the box pick up work? Is anyone staying at the Hampton Inn Garden District?</p>
<p>I've been through 2 freshman drop offs so far and I don't recall that there is any way to drop of things on Friday night. We always flew in on Friday, went shopping in Metairie Friday afternoon (Target, Sears, BB&B, etc.) and stored everything in the hotel room Friday night. Saturday morning we brought it all over to the dorm and moved it in. It goes very fast - I was impressed.</p>
<p>For S1 we bought the fridge figuring it was cheaper than renting - but did not factor in the summer storage issues. For S2 we have opted to rent the micro-fridge - much easier.</p>
<p>One thing we were always surprised to find out is that you need an ethernet cable for the laptop - wireless is not reliable in the dorms.</p>
<p>No one ever uses the land line phones. At home most of my S's friend's cells seemed to be on the same plan (so free minutes) but at Tulane - kids from all over have many different plans and they used more minutes. So we have 1400 minutes for the family now - but we never use them all up. But unlimited texting is useful.</p>
<p>I already ordered the BBB stuff, and pick it up friday. How is the target? Will there be enough stock? Sometimes our local ones get that picked over look at busy times.</p>
<p>I can tell you when we went to Target on Freshman move in day, the store was not only picked over, there was not one shopping cart available!! I think the public schools started school that Monday, so every Elementary student and their parents were there along with all the Tulane and LSU students. It was a mad house to say the least.</p>
<p>Where is the Target near campus??? What else is nearby?</p>
<p>The only Target I know about is on Veterans Memorial Blvd in Metairie (almost to the airport). It's a pretty typical shopping area ... a big Mall with Macy's, etc.</p>
<p>Any other convenient shopping areas closer to campus?</p>
<p>I believe Metairie is going to be your best bet for shopping. There really isn't anything around campus because after all campus is in town. As I haven't been to New Orleans in a few year, I don't know if something new has opened. </p>
<p>What I do each time my kids more to a new city is make a list of stores that I think we might need-Target, Walmart, Radio Shack, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Linens N Things, Best, Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot, grocery stores, Sam's and Costco. I then check the stores websites and see where the closest store is to their campus or home. I type a list with all the stores, their address and phone number and sometimes the directions. I find this list has been a great help during move in when we need to run to pick up that one thing we forgot, the ethernet cord that will reach to the bed, the screw driver son needs to put together the stand he bought, the mirror daughter has to have, etc. Yes, I am a bit anal, but it really saves us a good bit of time.</p>
<p>There's a large Walmart on Tchoupitoulas which isn't as far away as Metairie.
That said, Metairie is only about a 20 minute drive (if you know where you're going!) and has many stores and a mall all relatively near each other.</p>
<p>It's true that there's not a major enclave of stores you may want (or need) terribly convenient to Tulane (ie Bed Bath Beyond, Best Buy, etc).
There is new Lowe's which is only about a 10 minute trip from Tulane, but I think the Home Depot is further from the campus?</p>
<p>There's a Whole Foods pretty close and a cheaper Sav-a-Center (also on Tchoupitoulas--this is a pretty nice large standard grocery store).</p>
<p>I may be anal too, but I always look up the stores I might need and map them from campus, just like snowball (although H now has a GPS). It really comes in handy.</p>
<p>And it's true that much of the needed merchandise for college dorm living will be picked over...making it helpful to have figured out a couple different options ahead of time. I remember when D moved in (different city) and how her Chicago roommate had planned on buying everything locally. That poor family trudged ALL over, ALL day just to find some basic things. We were glad we were more prepared, if only to make our short visit seem more fun and less stressful.</p>
<p>Yeah for another anal parent! My kids think I am crazy, yet they always turn to me when they want to find where something is; wonder why that is! ;-)</p>
<p>I even type up laundry instructions for my son his first year of college so he would know what could be washed together, how much detergent and fabric softener and how long to dry. He made so much fun of me and laughed about it for months. When several of his female friends met us at the beach at the end of the year they told me how helpful those instructions were and how they wished their mother had done that for them. Of course my son didn't tell me until years later that he really appreciated the help; but that is ok, I knew he did!</p>
<p>I'm so glad that I found this thread. Lots of good info! BTW, how long are you planning on staying in NOLA? We'll fly in on Friday afternoon and leave Monday night. After the Sat move-in, would we have much chance to see our kids any more? What do you plan on doing for the rest of the stay? Any activities planned for parents ? You can tell this is my first kid going off to college and I do not have much clue. I went to college in China...</p>
<p>Follow this link for 2008 welcome week and move in:</p>
<p>Tulane</a> University</p>
<p>Click on the welcome week schedule to see the parent and student activities for the 23th-24th with Parents finishing at 3:30. It then goes on to describe the activites the students can be involved in on the 25th and 26th. </p>
<p>We are flying in late Thursday so we have time to shop on Friday. Then we are not leaving until Monday morning. THe whole family is going, but I think we are going to "wing it" as far as doing any sightseeing or anything like that.</p>
<p>D is on the dance team and has a dance camp starting tonight, so we were able to move her into her dorm this morning. Campus was very quiet so we were able to park right in front of the dorm and unload. It appears that the football team, band, dance team, NOLA participants and a few others are the only ones on campus right now. </p>
<p>A friendly football player saw us and asked if we needed help bringing stuff up to the room. He made three trips carrying boxes. As we were helping D unpack 3 different RA's came to her room and introduced themselves. We were very impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone we encountered. A great way to begin our Tulane experience!</p>
<p>Praying for all of us, our kids, Tulane and NOLA as we get through Gustav.</p>
<p>We finished setting up my d's new apartment on Wednesday afternoon and flew home that evening, only vaguely aware of the seriousness of the situation. My d has her car down there, so she and a couple of friends left for Dallas Thursday evening. We've been stringing together hotel points and have them covered until at least Tuesday. </p>
<p>Where did everyone else's kids end up?</p>
<p>Keeping fingers tightly crossed that this will end well ....</p>
<p>I have no doubt, being a veteran parent of Katrina, that the Tulane Administration will do whatever it takes to keep the students safe and restore the campus should it be effected by the storm. Let's just hope that they are NOT called on to use the vast experience they have gained in the recent past.</p>
<p>When my son called on Thursday, I originally felt that Tulane was just taking precautions so when S said he wanted to fly home on Saturday I didn't feel there was a need to get him out any sooner. By last night the seriousness of the situation hit me, along with the realization that he was just one cancelled flight away from being stranded in New Orleans. </p>
<p>He's home now, and I am confident that this will end well.....</p>