<h2>So without a PO box, there is no way to receive an envelope?</h2>
<p>If you’re going to try to use a roomie’s PO box, then you have to be tricky. Since the PO will return anything not addressed to the PO box owner, if the owner’s name is John Smith, and your child’s name is Robert, then sent it to John Robert Smith, and the roomie will know to give the letter to your child.</p>
<p>asaunmon, I’m pretty sure you are right.</p>
<p>I had a PO box all 4 years of my college career, but I lived on campus all 4 years. Some sorority sisters just had their mail sent to the sorority house. Most houses have a mail center with cubbyholes for all live-in members, and a general cubbyhole for the live-outs. However, the mail is at the mercy of whoever is picking it up and distributing it, and it’s not private at all.
My advice would be to get one for the first year. You can always drop it later.</p>
<p>sactonative- yes, this actually happened to DS, his laptop at Xmas wasn’t ready when he left. Sent to PO Box, they put notice in his box, and he was able to sign for it at the counter. </p>
<p>On a side note - although PO isn’t open on weekends, these past two years, they did have special weekend hours on Move-In weekends.</p>
<p>We got DS a PO box during BamaBound, and have been happy with the service. We’re lucky to see him once a semester because of the 2000 mile trip, and he appreciates an actual piece of mail. Not to mention the baked goods his little sister feels he ‘needs’ every other week:-)</p>
<p>When he gets a package they send a text to his phone so that he knows he needs to pick it up. The flat rate boxes are pretty inexpensive if you get postage printed off from the internet, and it usually only takes 1.5 days to get there. She just has to remember to bake on Monday or Tuesday… not that he complained about the brownie bricks, but…</p>
<p>Off-campus students don’t need a PO Box, but many students keep their box when moving off-campus for the sake of having the same mailing address for the entire time as a student.</p>
<p>The post office counter is open from 8:30 am- 4:00pm M-F to pick up packages. Mail that can fit in the PO Box is accessible 24/7/365.</p>
<p>Note that Express Mail takes 2 days to arrive at the university post office, but only 1 day to arrive somewhere else if mailed from the university post office. Priority mail takes 2 days, so it is best to save the money and ship via Priority Mail. A care package sent in a medium sized flat rate box costs $10.85 if purchased online and comes with free tracking. Flat rate envelopes and boxes are free; USPS will even deliver some to your house or business for free.</p>
<p>While I don’t get mail that often, I make it part of my daily routine to go and check my PO Box for mail. Since I don’t have bills sent to me via mail, it’s always fun to get mail, even if it is just coupons for Arby’s, fried chicken, pizza, and toothpaste. :)</p>
<p>I’ve sent packages to Paty and some to D’s P.O Box. We order many of her texts from bn.com and they will ship right to her P.O. Box. One reason she was happy she had her PO Box this year: her microeconomics class required a 3 month subscription to the Wall Street Journal which she had sent to the box.</p>
<p>Here’s another question… If my D has a P.O. Box and receives an item from Amazon shipped UPS, will that go to Paty?</p>
<p>I’m mighty confused by all of these posts about where to send mail…sorry!</p>
<p>Also, if we are attending bamabound on May 29-30, are you saying that I have to pay for the PO box for the month of MAY, even if I sign up for it on May 30th?! I’m going to have son arrange this once he gets on campus in August. Geesh.</p>
<p>when you order from amazon, use the paty address.</p>
<p>mom - that is kinda what i meant when i said figure out a workaround. send too roomie with another envelope inside. send to roomie with a secret code. send to roomie with HI SWEETIE on the envelope. i am sure a po box could be used by the whole suite fairly easily. not like they are getting a lot of important mail, anyway.</p>
<p>Just a head’s up: my son had gotten his post office box in August and paid the fee…then, come summer, they DID NOT hold his box, even though we were thinking fiscal year. So, he had to get another box for year 2, although he had forwarding info for the summer…</p>
<p>I think another family or two had the same situation, so you might want to ask if the term is a school year or an annual year (redundant???)</p>
<p>However, the Paty Hall vs. USPS seems confusing but it does work 
My son gets several periodicals also, so a P.O. box is appropriate.</p>
<p>The rental is for the calendar year. The student’s receive a notice “in the PO Box” about renewal, just fill out … return and you’ll be all set. Since DS’s year was up June, his notice was forwarded (believe early May). I think part of the problem with some notices may have been they can look like “junk mail” and if it came during the “tornado” chaotic week easy to miss.</p>
<p>FYI - S is in Riverside and personal preference is having boxes (several textbooks) are better at Paty – doesn’t have to lug as far.</p>
<p>Good to know about the flat rate USPS boxes. I’m sure my daughter will miss home-burnt food when she’s away at school. It’s unlikely the dining halls will know how to burn cookies, brownies and everything else the way I do, so I know she’ll appreciate a care package from home. She’s actually really looking forward to dining hall food, which is a sad commentary on what I’ve been feeding her for 18 years.</p>
<p>LOL
Here I thought my DS was the only one.</p>
<p>Awww, beth’s mom. It sounds like your D will miss you. My D has a PO box. It is used for sending her cards and care packages. Not really much else. Still I am glad she has it.</p>
<p>Before school started, the whole family wrote their thoughts about her and her journey. At Move-In Day we all went with her to “check out” her PO Box. She was so excited to get mail from us. It was very emotional for her to read what we had written to her. Fun times.</p>
<p>Amazon Prime shipping does not work to PO Boxes, so you would use the Paty address or the new special street address the University post office is giving out. I don’t know what the latter address is, but will try to stop in and ask.</p>
<p>I forward my mail in the summer and my [July] renewal notice is sent to my home address. As a word of advice, don’t bother calling the 1-800 number for USPS as they will likely not know about the PO Box, especially if you have forwarding set up as USPS assumes that the box was closed. Don’t worry though; the University post office has all the correct information and did not close the box.</p>
<p>I ship almost exclusively by UPS, or FEDEX, I find that the rates are cheaper (i send really big boxes) than the USPS and packages arrive sooner. Most UPS shipping centers have local coupons and give a discount if you are an AAA Member.</p>
<p>Amazon will only ship UPS and since the drivers are familiar with Paty Hall Package Delivery service, I would use that address.</p>
<p>However, a P.O. Box does come in handy for receiving local mail.</p>
<p>I’ve received quite a few items from Amazon via USPS, but not when I’ve shipped to Tuscaloosa. I think malanai’s son ordered from Amazon in the past and the item was shipped via USPS to Paty back when USPS delivered there.</p>
<p>I asked about the street addressing option at the post office and it is a free service that allows UPS and FedEx to deliver to ones PO Box. The service has to be requested and the packages must also meet USPS regulations, mainly that the package contain wine, which for some reason one is prohibited from shipping to Alabama via any carrier anyway, so the point is moot. When closing ones PO Box, one must submit a change of address form for both the PO Box address and the street address.</p>
<p>If street addressing service is requested, one uses the following format, note that this is the only permitted format; using Suite# or Apt# will likely result in the package being returned to sender:</p>
<p>[Name]
104 Ferguson Center #86XXXX where XXXX is the remaining part of ones PO box number.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35486</p>
<p>FedEx and UPS have special discounts for people with Ebay accounts and print a shipping label online. Since many people don’t have shipping scales, just enter the dimensions and a low estimate of the actual weight and FedEx/UPS will calculate the actual weight later on. I’ve gotten 20% off ground services without any extra charges private FedEx/UPS shipping centers sometimes charge and found that FedEx does not charge a person’s credit card until 2+ weeks after shipping.</p>