<p>I live in NorCal, but I might be going to school in either NYC, Chicago, Washington DC, or Philadelphia. The schools I applied to are more-or-less-than far away from the airport as we (my parents and I) would like. We're going to schedule a chauffeur driver to pick us up at the airport and drops us off on campus because we concluded that is greatly cheaper and less stressful for a personal driver to do it than for a cab/taxi to. And most of the schools I applied to don't provide shuttle/coach/transportation services. With that said, here are my questions: How long do parents stay during move-in day? My parents (actually, only my mom is coming) wont have to return for work hastily, but if she has to stay for two or more days then it's kinda wont stay because hotel and more driving will really cut the wallet... Unless she REALLY has to stay. If she doesn't have to stay, should she leave on the same day? I know she'll be helping me do stuff, but I can do it since I've practically done everything by myself (ie: fill out health insurance claims). Also, she's thinking of bringing her shih tzu puppy. I dont know why... :| But for some reason, she wants to, and if she does will people have a problem with it? Thanks in advance to anyone who replies! Please feel free to comment an advice, opinion, or a personal story! Anything will help.</p>
<p>It’s nice that your mom will be accompanying you. The school will give you a schedule of events so you can plan more specifically once the time gets closer. But I’d strongly suggest leaving the puppy at home! </p>
<p>It’s not unusual to see parents stay longer than the first day. My mom stayed three days! Having her was extremely helpful, and I’m sure you’ll benefit from her presence just like I did. </p>
<p>If she doesn’t stay, it is no problem. I’m sure she’ll make sure you’re all settled in before she takes off. </p>
<p>(Don’t bring the puppy. The day will be hectic enough as it is).</p>
<p>Do whatever you and your mom both find the easiest. There are no rules about what you should or should not be doing (unless your school has particular rules). My parents left the same day, some parents spend the night, and I’ve known parents that stayed for a week. Whatever works for you is fine.</p>
<p>thanks everyone! if she leaves on the same day, though, how lonely will I be compared to other students who will have their parents stay longer? I don’t really care about her leaving, I just don’t want people to think: “Oh, his parent left early,” or, “His parents don’ care,” or anything like that.</p>
<p>I would imagine most schools forbid animals in the dorms.</p>
<p>I couldn’t get my dad out soon enough. He drove me up, helped me move all the boxes and bags into my room, then we got lunch and I told him to leave.</p>
<p>For every person who thinks your parents left too early, there will be someone who thinks you’re parents are over staying</p>
<p>@i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown: OMG! That made me literally LOL! I think I’ll do the same thing depending on how the climate of things will be. Since your dad left on the first day, or in the first couple of hours (lol!) i should say, how did you handle the rest of the “new” days.</p>
<p>Some of the big cities have good subways that can be faster and cheaper than a taxi or car service to some destinations (though you have to consider how convenient it will be with the expected amount of baggage).</p>
<p>Bringing a dog will likely make it more difficult to get a hotel room, and dorms are unlikely to allow dogs.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: By plane, we will be taking 3 (max) checked luggage and 2 carry ons-- so we’ll need a car. Everything else will have to be shipped by UPS or like-wise. I don’t think I’ll let her take the puppy, LOL! And, hopefully she wont have to stay at a hotel.</p>
<p>Most parents leave the same day or the next day… but where do you expect your mom (and the puppy) to stay? You haven’t made that clear… your roommate might not be keen on your mom camping out in your room overnight. There was a thread last year about a mom staying over, I think that did work out. But she didn’t have a puppy along as well, which I get the impression would be the case for you. It is much more typical for parents to get a hotel – but the ones closest to campus (walking distance) are often expensive and fill up fast. But she could maybe take a cab to a less expensive one, depending on the college.</p>
<p>The schools pretty much expect the orientation/ “new days” to be for the students. Many schools have added more parent events on the first (and maybe second) day to accommodate modern parents’ desire to stay involved. But colleges routinely “peel off” the parents at some point and make it clear that the activities going forward are for the students. Do not worry about how you will handle those days – the college typically has activities planned, and you will be wanting to make friends and join people from your dorm in activities. Those first days of college can be the best time to make new friends (EVERYONE is looking for new friends in that window), so you don’t want to be spending all that time with your parents if you can help it.</p>
<p>And leave the puppy home. Board it or get someone to watch it. </p>
<p>I can’t believe it’ll be expensive to get to the school. Paying for tuition now sounds possible, LOL! :-?? </p>
<p>Some people’s parents don’t take them to college at all, so you won’t be the only one solo by the end of the day. At some schools Bed, Bath & Beyond or some other store will set up a store on campus to get the things you forgot (mattress pad, extension cord, hangers), but otherwise your mother without a car will not be much help for a run to Target. Since it’s a flight away, I’d plan on her staying the night only</p>
<p>@intparent: Your final paragraph was very helpful.Since parents only have to stay for a few hours, then she’ll return home on the same day if she decides not to stay longer or if I ask her to go. She’s not vacationing, so she wont have anything with her. Everything we’ll bring will be mine. So, it’ll be a smooth return for her.</p>
<p>Well, getting a turnaround flight the same day might be tough… if you haven’t booked flights yet, you might fly in the night before and see if you can get a relatively inexpensive hotel near the airport (sometimes the ones near the airport have a shuttle, or cab fair would be cheap). Then you could have the car take you both to campus in the morning, get you unpacked, and she could leave in the afternoon to catch a flight. We did have a long “chat” about this last year in another thread, and I think one night in your room isn’t too big a deal. You probably do want to give your roommate a heads up ahead of time (usually you meet them on Facebook or someplace like that ahead of time anyway). And I stand by what I said about the puppy – it would be WAY more trouble than it is worth while moving in. You should receive orientation or dropoff schedules soon from your college – you could call admissions and ask them. If they don’t have them yet, you could ask to see last year’s just to get an idea of how it works and what they have planned.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone: I know. I sound a little spoiled, but I’m not, so please don’t misunderstand me. For the most parts we’ll be prepared though. We’ve made a thorough list of the things we think is crucially important for the first couple of weeks. Everything else that comes up that I don’t have will be regular things that everyone will eventually need, anyways-- we’ll order it online or whatever, I bet it wont be crucially important. Thanks for the insight, too!</p>
<p>@intparent: Maybe arriving a day before move in day is better. I never though of that. It’s very possible for us to get a return flight on the same day, trust me! But the thing is, we don’t want to spend unnecessary money. So, if she can return on the same day, then that’s what’ll be!</p>
<p>@twoinanddone: Oh, and the car issue is already solved. </p>
<p>mdt1995, we shipped some items ahead of time that were bulky. The college gave us information on how to do that, so we had less to take on the plane. It costs a lot to check bags on some airlines (Southwest being the main exception), so we figured even though shipping cost something, we didn’t have to pay the bag fees or wrestle a lot of luggage through the airport.</p>
<p>My kid’s move in day was Fri. She was scheduled midday for move in (2 hrs window), so we had to get to the school Thu night. The school also had convocation on Sat and various activities for parents. Some parents left on Sat afternoon and some left on Sun morning. Most kids had their parents take them to Bed bath and beyond or target to pick up a lot of dorm stuff, especially kids who lived far away. You could order your dorm goods at home and pick up at the nearest BBB around your school. I would suggest for your parent to rent a car or you’ll very restricted, un. You may also need to have a car to go out to eat</p>
<p>I really wouldn’t worry about this until you know which school you are going to. Every school is different.</p>
<p>What did I do once my dad left? I started unpacking my stuff and once I was done with that or whenever it was I took a break I started introducing myself to people - particularly the others whose parents already left. I’m about to date myself (at least compared to the high schoolers) I had a few people I had been chatting with on AIM the summer before after friending on Facebook (no Facebook chat, this was back in the ivy league schools only days) so then I finally got to meet them for real.</p>
<p>Back in 05, Brown orientation essentially started the evening of move in and parents weren’t expected to be on campus past dinner on move in day. The next few days had various things and otherwise you’re going into the rooms of people whose doors are open on your hall and introducing yourself.</p>