In addition to the previous posts/suggestions:
- Banking account that is easily accessible by your child while at college as well as by you, in your home town, in case you need to make deposits or deal with account matters. Joint account so you and child have equal access. Credit and debit cards for child, and parent - again, in case you need to access account.
- Schedule dental, annual physicals, eye appts, and anything else for the summer prior to moving away for college. If your child plans to return home during winter break - schedule teeth cleaning/dental appts for that time period - it will be 6 months after the summer cleaning appt.
- If your child has orthodontic or other ongoing health treatment concerns, get recommendations from your current providers for providers located nearest to your child's location in college. If you need a referral for insurance coverage, get the referrals.
- If your child is 18 or older, and you want access to their medical records or the ability to talk to their health care professionals, have your child sign over a HIPAA compliant medical authorization form(s) for all the providers, and keep a copy of each for yourself, mail or deliver them to the providers.
- Get the name and phone number of your child's room mate, and the dorm floor RA, as soon as that info is available - in case you need to get a hold of your child.
- If you plan to accompany your child to college, to help him/her move in, and go through tours/orientation, consider making an appointment to meet, briefly, with the college deans of housing, and academic studies (either the head, or the one assigned to your child), so you can put a face to the name, and, so they will be aware that you are an interested and connected parent - this might come in handy in the future when you and/or your child need to address concerns or problems with university administration.
- For items to pack and move to college - err on packing 'less' rather than 'more'. Most college campuses are near stores such as Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, etc.; once you get to college and are in the dorm room, and discover you need additional items, you can pick them up there. My daughter attends Barnard, and included in the 'orientation fee' that we paid, was air conditioned coach buses that took us to and from Bed Bath and Beyond, multiple times if need be. Also, B,B &B had staff assigned to helping students and parents, and had separate express check out lanes for us - separate from 'regular' customers. The entire process was smooth and fantastic. There was also bottled water on the bus, and a staff person who guided us all. These coach buses made trips back and forth all day long.
- Or, consider packing and shipping boxes of your kid's stuff to college ahead of time - if you have the mailing address for college. My daughter went halfway across the country to college, and we helped her 'move', but flew out to her college. We packed and shipped a few large boxes, mailed to her college address, and on move in day, we picked up the boxes and unpacked them there. The school provided a dolly for us to transport the large boxes.
- Get a few maps of the city where your child will be going to college, for your child and yourself, and study them before your trip to familiarize yourselves with the layout of the place.
- If you have not already done so, have a serious and open talk with your child about safe practices, including knowing what areas to avoid, when to make sure he or she has a partner to walk with, safe sex, not accepting drinks from strangers, not abandoning or leaving a friend whom you attended an event with - everyone stays together and goes home together. That if either or both individuals are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, refrain from any sexual contact, and, when initiating sexual contact, make sure that both parties are lucid and able to give clear consent - doing so might help to avoid very complex and unfortunate situations.
- Learn what physical and mental health services and resources are available at the college, who the staff people are, and what they will and will not provide. Have your child find the offices where these resources are located, during orientation or move-in day, so your child will know where to go when in need of those services.
- Lastly, enjoy your last remaining days together, before your child goes off into the great world of college!