whatever4

Our son will be a freshman at Harvard in the fall. We live halfway across the country in a rural area. The idea of driving in Boston/Cambridge -- and then trying to find parking for a vehicle and maybe a small trailer while/after unloading -- sounds intimidating.

Does anyone have any best-practices advice for moving a kid to Harvard? Is it smartest to fly the student there, then have him buy what he needs once he is there? (Would most places out there deliver since he won't have a car there?) I'm talking about things like a futon or a refrigerator, in addition to smaller stuff.

coureur

If you drive you can drive your car right into Harvard Yard on Move-In Day.

We moved our daughter in from the west coast and packed what we could in our luggage, shipped some, and purchaed the rest there.

When you ship stuff there you ship it directly to the school. During the move-in period they will have a huge receiving station set up in the Science Center where you can pick it up. For something like a refrigerator I'd buy that there. The upperclassmen set up a big flea-market to sell used furniture, lamps, appliances, and other stuff.

It's better to get a look at the size of his room before shipping or buying anything very big.

Bay

Our D is a freshman from the other coast. I debated as you are about the best course of action, and decided to pre-purchase and pack everything (even down to the light bulbs and quarters). We then checked 50-lbs (max) per piece luggage (weighed on our bathroom scale) and shipped the rest via U.S. mail - which arrived prior to move-in day. She did not take a refrig or futon (bought a futon together with roomies later).

This made move-in day a snap. No parking or shopping issues at all. We found the novelty of the day exhausting enough so we were grateful not to have to find our way around a new city to shop for bedding, etc.

marite

I believe that Harvard, like other Boston-area colleges, runs buses to the local Target during move-in period.

DocT

Since my D is a sophomore, freshman move in day is a bit hazy, but my recollection was that it was a mess (moving in for upper classmen is a lot easier). She was there a week early so some of the stuff had been moved. She told us to get there early on the actual move in day but I didn't listen. Expecting to get right into the yard, we were turned away, because we needed a pass which required hours of waiting in our car. Fortunately, her dorm - Canaday was relatively close to the street so we moved everything from there as opposed to driving into the campus.

twinmom

You do get to park in the yard, but only for the length of time that it takes you to unload to curbside - about 15 minutes. After that you'll have to pull into a lot. If I recall correctly, Harvard provides free parking passes at the Oxford Garage (not sure if that's the real name, but it's near Oxford Street by one of the museums) both on move-in day and on Parents Weekend. This is a good deal - use it!

Wait until roommate assignments come out (in mid-July or so) before purchasing a frig, etc. Some roommates go in together on a microfridge rental. Other times a roommate who is more local to Harvard is willing to bring the frig.

And Coureur is right! Don't assume anything about room size beforehand. I remember when Marite told me that her son did not have enough room in his bedroom to store his comforter when it was warm. I had trouble believing this until I saw my daughter's room, which was truly the smallest dorm room I have ever seen in my life. (Many of her friends, on the other hand, did have beautiful large rooms in the freshman dorms. You never know.)

just_forget_me

Don't believe this is still the case, but the 86 bus takes you from Johnston Gate -> right around Target, I believe.

Biggest ripoff ever. The fridge is okay, but the microwave is horrible, and it's incredibly overpriced. Just buy a fridge + microwave... you'll get free storage in the houses over the summer.

twinmom

Good advice on getting there early from DocT. We went very early and were about the sixth car in line so it was fine.

guitars101

twinmom, what time is very early? suggestions?

DocT

We got there at 10:00 am and when we got into the line of cars for the pass, it was gigantic and basically at a standstill.

MSMDAD

OP, Congrats on your son's admission to Harvard.

As with other posters, we also came from another coast, and the best advice that I can give is to take the least amount of stuff possible and fly (I know, easy to say, but not easy to do). We took almost everything that DD needed in suitcases (to be fair, there were four of us), and bought the rest in the Boston area. Some stores, I think Linen-n-Things, allow you to shop for things in your home store, and pick them up in Boston. FWIW, if you rent a car, you can easily drive to nearby shopping centers - and there are many in the Cambridge/Boston area. If you are buying a bunch of stuff, you can even drive to New Hampshire and buy everything tax free (less than one hour from Cambridge).

In regards to the futon, as others have said, some of the frosh rooms at Harvard are very small. I would, therefore, advise you to wait until your son is actually in his room to see if he should buy one. I am not sure about the necessity of a refrigerator or microwave - DD and her four roomies have done fine without these items. In any case, the only type of microwave that is allowed in the frosh dorms is one that you have to rent from Harvard Student Agencies (HSA), and, IMHO, it is not a good deal.

While I am on the topic of HSA, I would avoid the linen packages that they offer - you will receive advertisements from them in June/July. Their packages are expensive and their sheets are not the softest.

One more thing, if your DS participates in one of the pre-orientation activities (e.g. Dorm Crew), he can get his keys the day before everyone else. DD was able to do this, and we actually moved her in -all of her suitcases and the things that we had purchased locally- the evening before move-in day. Needless to say, this was a blessing as move in day, especially if you got there after 11:00, was a zoo. We were actually lucky to find metered parking, which was free after 6:00 p.m., right off Mass Ave. on the evening before move-in day.

DocT

Technically the dorm crew is not suppose to move from where they were put up for the week to their final dorm room before move in day,

MSMDAD

DocT, I am sorry, but you are not correct. The dormcrew web site indicates the following:

You will be able to move into your dorm room on the evening of Friday, September 7th, but you will not be able to bring a vehicle into the Yard until Saturday, September 8th.

Last year, it said the same thing - dormcrew members were able to move in on the evening before everyone else.

Jen98

I didn't think Cambridge had a sales tax... At least I didn't pay sales tax on things I bought there last week. Is there actually one?

MSMDAD

Jen, If I recall correctly, there is a state-wide sales tax in Massachusetts. I think that it is around 5%