<p>What time to show up? How long do parents stay? Is it pretty well organized? What activities do parents and/or students have to attend after getting settled in? Anything you can tell me would be appreciated... my only experience with this is my own move in at Auburn 20+ years ago!</p>
<p>First of all I am impressed you are already thinking this far ahead! Most families show up in the morning though if you come in the afternoon, the unloading lines will be short. Parents can stay as long as they want - there usually isn’t anything organized for students or parents that day (and you’ll be glad of that since you’ll most likely be organizing your students room and running to Walmart/Target to get stuff you forgot). It is very well organized. I just graduated but the past 5 years I have been one of the hundreds of student volunteers who help with move-in day. You will pull up next to or near your dorm and a group of students will meet you and carry everything up to your room. It’s quick and usually takes no more than 5-10 minutes with all the volunteers. Make sure you label everything in case we screw up and go to the wrong room haha (hasn’t happened with me but I would label stuff just in case)</p>
<p>We are also planning this out since we have a bit of a drive and we like to use hotel points. Surprisingly, the Marriott is already booked for any points availability the night before. </p>
<p>^That was why I started looking at it already also. We had a hard time getting a room a couple of weeks ago and as far as I know nothing big was going on. </p>
<p>Pierre, would you suggest booking both the night before and the day of? We’re only 4 hours away, but I don’t want to take off too soon or overstay either. Or maybe in our case, just the day of since we can drive up on move in day and still get there by 10am.</p>
<p>I think you could be ok with either the night before or the day of (depending on what time you want to get there). But whatever you feel works for you! Students have required activities (Convocation/Summer Reading session) starting Sunday afternoon so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Here are some thought from this past fall move in with my freshman. First, freshman get a special move in day of a Saturday. Rest of campus arrives Sunday. They will give you an assigned slot. We had 8-9am. We moved my daughter into the Shoeboxes and it could NOT have gone smoother. We pulled into the lot and my daughter and wife jumped out to go sign in and get the room key. I figured I would drive up to the dorm and get in line. Whoops, no line. I hadn’t even put the van in park and was surrounded by 10 +/- student volunteers. Luckily I knew her room number so I just gave that to them and stood back and watched. They emptied that van in about 6-7 minutes. Everything was stacked in the hall outside her room.</p>
<p>Observations: The Courtyard Marriott is our go to hotel because I use Marriott points. Yes, they only hold a few rooms for points users. Book early. On busy weekends it expensive…(move-in, parents w/e)</p>
<p>Parents/family members: Not a lot to do other than help your kid move in and then give them one last real meal. Oh, and cry.</p>
<p>Towers: Our experience was the shoeboxes which meant stairs. We heard that the high rises were a totally different experience due to needing to use limited elevators. Same assistance, just longer waits.</p>
<p>I would highly suggest staying Friday night locally if its feasible. Its a LONG day for everyone and I think getting up at 3am to make sure you arrive by 8am would be a challenge come later in the afternoon. </p>
<p>Bottom line, Clemson really has freshman move in day down to a science. Your biggest worry will be saying goodbye.</p>
<p>Any questions, just ask.</p>
<p>The Marriott is good. Hampton Inn/Holiday Inn Express aren’t bad choices either. Stay away from the University Inn (used to be a Ramada).</p>
<p>Even though we arrived early on move-in day, we didn’t have the benefit of any help at my son’s dorm (Johnstone Main). We had to park and lug all of his stuff up several flights of stairs by ourselves. I was very disappointed, because I was under the impression that we would have help. Just be prepared for that possibility.</p>
<p>Dang I’m sorry to hear that. That’s usually not the case and it goes much better than that. (I was working at the Shoeboxes so I didn’t know how it was over there)</p>
<p>Mother of Senior here! We, too, were unloaded by a mob of students … in about 5 minutes. Lots of happy, smiling, helpful team members! One thing to note…it sure to be hotter than hades even in the a.m. We melted. Take water and food during the unpack. Label everything. Inspect room BEFORE everything gets schlepped in. Take notes on Iphone of items needed from BB&B/Target/Walmart, including sizes or measurements if needed.<br>
We toured campus (map is handy). Get Ice Cream at Hendrix! Had a dinner with S and friends Saturday night–we were dismissed early 
Met Sunday a.m. for last minute items, had a quick lunch then hugged and kissed (and cried) as he bolted for meeting at 1pm, I believe. Caught our flight to West Coast late afternoon.</p>
<p>Those of you planning on using Marriott points, be prepared to book about 333 days in advance-- not kidding.
Hubby did and luckily, scored for graduation weekend. (Also did for home football games–after learning freshman year.) Hotels costs skyrocket during move in, parents weekend, graduation and football games. </p>
<p>Can’t believe in less than 2 months, he’ll be graduating–it goes very fast! Enjoy your kid’s time there!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for this info. I booked our hotels for Orientation and Move in Day this week- and would NEVER have thought to do it if not for the posts. Looking so forward (well not really - my S is an only child and I am a single parent) to August 16th. Looking forward for him… not me! 
Just so glad he will be part of this wonderful community!</p>
<p>Luckily for incoming parents…this fall’s Parent’s weekend is mid October. Your kids will be happy to see you then. A few years ago, it was Sept. 12! We had just moved him in Aug. 19th…so he hadn’t even had a chance to miss us And it was still blazing hot…but a great time nonetheless! I had never seen such a proliferation of orange in my life!</p>
<p>The Marriott situation is a challenge. You really need to book way, way in advance to use points at the Clemson Courtyard. The better news is that the Fairfield Inn in Anderson is a nice spot. Also, we always find ourselves going to Anderson to stock up at Wal Mart so staying there is not a bad option. </p>
<p>@gosmom- Thanks for the suggestion on Parents weekend. I just booked that hotel as well!</p>
<p>If you stay in Anderson, not only are you close to Walmart, but Target, BB&B, Staples, etc. If you stay in Clemson, and can get what you need at Walmart, the kids use the Seneca or Central one. </p>
<p>Last year when we moved our son up for his freshman year, we had planned to stay in a hotel about 30 or 45 minutes away (We’re about four and a half hours away), but due to a family emergency, that didn’t work out. We ended up leaving early in the morning on move-in day.Clemson will give you two move-in times, one early in the morning and one after lunch. I would suggest avoiding the after lunch time if at all possible. Because we couldn’t be there early in the morning, we were stuck in traffic for about three hours trying to get to his dorm. (West side of campus). Once we finally did get there (they have signs up for each of the dorms and you need to follow those to get to the right ones), the unloading process was wonderful. We had a bunch of students come unload the car. I would suggest you go on the housing website and print out the tags where you put the student’s name, dorm name, room number and a cell number on there. That way, it’s really simple for them to make sure it gets to the right place. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. Son absolutely LOVES Clemson!!</p>
<p>FYI - They’ll give you suggested move-in times but you don’t have to listen to them. That’s why it’s just a recommendation :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice! Looks like we should definitely head up the night before. Now I just need to figure out if we should stay Saturday night. Is it nice to be around Saturday night also? Or will the new freshman be too busy for us anyway? Can’t imagine it will take all that long to setup the room if we are there early in the morning.</p>
<p>@charlestonmom- I was planning on staying the entire next week Too much huh? I think staying Sat night is fine because no doubt Sunday they will figure out they need something. At least I am hoping my S will still want me around Sunday. (and Monday, Tue…) Just kidding!</p>
<p>Charlestonmom and InsightFran - We ended up coming back home that Saturday night, but that had more to do with the family emergency I mentioned. My son’s roommates family left that night too. Both my son and his roommate didn’t mind us going. They wanted to set up most of room themselves. My son had been up there all summer anyway in the ESP program, so we’d already had our separation anxiety </p>