<p>Our dd school is back east. Would love insight with what to do with her belongings for summer break. Please share your experiences ~ Greatly appreciated. Thank you kindly:)</p>
<p>Our DD was that far away. She was in a dorm, so not as much stuff, and she went back to a dorm . Her school had some summer storage available in the basements of dorms which she used summer after frosh year. The next summer she stayed on campus, but found on campus storage for stuff while she did study abroad. Next summer she stored stuff in the basement of the house she planned to live in. She is a minimum packer, but still H and S helped her move one of the times and she had 15 boxes of stuff… how it morphed from the two suitcases and two boxes shipped, we are not sure.
One advice is to look into storage early if the college doesn’t provide it. </p>
<p>After all these years, I can’t remember for sure if I shipped stuff home every year or not. I did live in the dorms all four years. I can’t imagine shipping it, but I have no memory of storing it either!</p>
<p>There are often storage facilities near campuses. It was quite comical at the end and beginning of the year when my kid’s campus sprouted portable units (small tent-like deals). The storage facility dropped them off and picked them up. Your D might want to share with friends because even the very small ones can hold quite a bit.</p>
<p>DS#1 is moving into an apt with 3 friends next year. They are going together on a storage unit this summer to store all their belongings. I was concerned at first about the security of that, but then realized that they will all be together in an apt - so this really isn’t any different.</p>
<p>For DS#2, we rented a small climate-controlled storage unit for him near campus for the entire school year. He keeps out of season clothes (and clothes he doesn’t wear much) in there, his golf stuff, and his field/camping gear (clothes and equipment). And on school holidays, he puts his bike in there. So -he will pack up his dorm room in May and put everything in there until he moves into an apt in August. Not the cheapest route, but it was the best option for him.</p>
<p>D’s college offers a flat-rate plan with UPS–three big boxes are provided, UPS picks them up, stores them for the summer, and redelivers to the new dorm at the start of fall semester. Delivery was a couple of days late the first year (she had to borrow linens), right on time the second year. D also ships a fourth box home, with summer clothing–it gets shipped back at the end of the summer. S had a car at school and with way fewer possessions than D (boys have sooo much less stuff), managed to fit it all in and drive it home at the end of each year–but he wasn’t driving cross country.</p>
<p>All campuses have the option of storage units. If the kids share, it is inexpensive and most importantly, worry free.</p>
<p>Encourage your D to sort through her stuff before moving day. It is a compressed time with finals, moving out of dorms, saying goodby to friends, etc. Whittle that stuff down so it is more pleasant in the fall!</p>
<p>The statement that “all campuses have the option of storage units” is wrong.</p>
<p>We were lucky in that both girls went to schools that had storage facilities on campus for kids to keep things over summer. School 1 didn’t charge. School 2 charges $10 a box (no matter what size :eek:). Should that be a new item to check when choosing a school? :)</p>
<p>When D2 went for a semester abroad, a church lady stored her things in her basement for that quarter.</p>
<p>Oldest school had storage company drop off boxes. However a box of her best clothes disappeared over the summer & never did turn up.
Youngest has lived off campus since sophomore year, So while we pay rent year round, as long as she stays put she doesn’t have to move her stuff.-</p>
<p>The BEST part of having a kid 3000 miles away in college is you do NOT get to see their “stuff” in your living room all summer :)</p>
<p>There are storage places for things in most towns with colleges. Our daughter actually rented a storage unit with three others for the three months. They had to schlep the stuff themselves but that wasn’t a big deal for them. There WERE places that actually provided the boxes, and picked them up and delivered…but they cost a bit more. While I thought it was worth it…she did not.</p>
<p>The most important thing…they want a dry and climate controlled place. Summers with heat and humidity are great for mold growth. AND tell her to WASH everything before she stores it.</p>
<p>Then she packs a little carryon with summer clothes and flies home. All the winter stuff and “other” stays in the east</p>
<p>There are a number of entrepreneurial ventures that store kid’s college stuff for the summer - the fee usually run about $100 - you pack it, they pick it up and deliver back to you in the fall - check out www dot dorm2dorm dot com or google summer college storage…</p>
<p>S went to school 1200 miles away and we used a co. that picked up his stuff and then delivered it in the fall during S’s first yr. I don’t recall the name of the co. we used right now but I recall it was a little more pricey than other storage co’s, but given S’s circumstances it seemed the easiest/least stressful thing to do at the time (finals plus racing on the weekend he had to move out -so he had to also box up and ship his bike home once he got back on campus before flying out on Monday afternoon, plus organizational/anxiety issues due to Aspergers). We lined it up several weeks in advance and then at least I did not have to worry about it anymore. Although I think by the end of the semester he may have been able to coordinate with a friend to store his stuff, which is what he did the following yr (during his last few yrs he stayed at school for the summers and lived off campus in apt and had a car so it wasn’t an issue).</p>
<p>D2 is at college across the country. Her school doesn’t offer summer storage for students.</p>
<p>Year 1-- D2’s stuff was distributed among her friends/hallmates whose families lived within driving distance of the school. They took her stuff home when they left and brought it back when they returned in the fall. She got everything back. The other kids were surprisingly conscientious about it.</p>
<p>Year 2–she stayed in town over the summer and schlepped her stuff from dorm to rental and back the dorm.</p>
<p>Year 3 --she and several sorority sisters rented a storage pod. The company delivered the pod to campus, picked it up after the girls had filled it, stored it in a controlled environment over the summer, and returned it to campus in the fall. Costs were reasonable when split 4 ways. The storage pods come in a variety of sizes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not provided through the college! Neither college my kids attended had summer storage…but it was VERY easy to find it as the towns had a large number of college students…and plenty of summer storage options…just not on campus.</p>
<p>Contact public Storage facilities and make a plan. Son shared his with 2 or 3 other kids. Sign up early.</p>
<p>Easier as they get older… they know kids off campus and store the stuff there.</p>
<p>“The statement that “all campuses have the option of storage units” is wrong.” - I agree. In general, it seems city schools are less likely to have summer storage options. </p>
<p>Where there is no campus option, other options exist as described in prior posts. Occasionally a student gets lucky and has a local-ish roommate with kind hearted family to handle the summer storage. </p>
<p>In some college towns, annual leases are the norm. So you have to pay rent all year long. In that case, if leases renew in May the stuff may be able to go directly to the apartment.</p>
<p>We were lucky, DS school offered free storage on campus. It was first come first serve and we did have to replace some linens from what appeared to be water damage. This semester he is studying abroad and put things in storage in December to pick up in August. Check the college’s residential life website it may tell you the policies plus list storage facilities close to campus.</p>
<p>Both of my d’s rented storage units with their friends during summers, it was reasonable split 3 ways and secure.</p>
<p>I would contact the housing office at her school and ask if they have any storage programs. My son’s school used schoolstorage dot com. They delivered boxes a week before finals and then picked up the boxes outside the dorm on move out day. Then, they delivered the boxes back to the dorms when he moved back in the Fall. It worked out great for him. He did send some stuff home via UPS and brought back two suit cases.</p>