| | |  | | 
06-04-2008, 01:11 PM
|
#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Berkeley, California--> MIT '12
Posts: 92
| Transporting Your Life
Does anyone have any cheap suggestions for transporting all my stuff to MIT for the fall? My dad and I were just going to take the plane together and call my baggage as our checked and carry-on baggage, but now a lot of the airlines make you pay for every bag that you check. | 
| | |
06-04-2008, 02:37 PM
|
#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,901
| I don't know that it was cheap, but I just brought two bags with me and then had the rest shipped.
Being selective about what you bring to college, helps. | |
| | |
06-04-2008, 07:21 PM
|
#3 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Verne, CA
Posts: 372
| Definitely. You don't need tons of stuff - pack smart. I was able to carry everything I needed there. (Coming back was another story... you'll be surprised by how much crap you can accumulate.) | |
| | |
06-04-2008, 07:27 PM
|
#4 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 5,669
| If I could do it over again, I would have waited to buy all of my dorm room stuff until I was at MIT, and preferably until I was in my permanent room. There are plenty of Target/Bed Bath & Beyond/Linens & Things/etc. locations in the Boston area.
(This is coming, mind you, from someone who brought fourteen boxes of stuff to MIT at the beginning of her freshman year. It was silly! I should have bought it in Boston instead of in Ohio.  ) | |
| | |
06-05-2008, 01:51 PM
|
#5 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 143
| I don't know about how cheap this is anymore, with the new airline rules...but like Jessie, I brought a few suitcases with me when I flew in. Then my parents graciously drove into Boston to drop off the rest of my stuff (I can't live without my books  they visited our grandmother on the way, so it's not as if they drove out just for me, haha). Fortunately, my room was plenty large enough to hold all my things - and I had one of the smaller doubles in Simmons. I would probably have been better served not bringing as much, though...it is annoying to have to move a lot of stuff at year's end. (Especially if you're moving across the river like I did!)
I second Mollie's advice about buying dorm room stuff in Boston; my dad and I went to the Target in Somerville to get other things. Later on, I ended up getting some more container-type things from someone moving out of Simmons and was giving lots of stuff away. =)
Finally: if possible, I would advise having your parents ship the rest of your stuff to you after REX ends, so you have your final room assignment. | |
| | |
06-06-2008, 08:16 AM
|
#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,901
| Quote: |
I can't live without my books...
| I picked my books up gradually when I went home over vacations. It's not like there's a shortage of reading material around MIT. Quote: |
Finally: if possible, I would advise having your parents ship the rest of your stuff to you after REX ends, so you have your final room assignment.
| Yes, yes, yes. Except I will state it in stronger terms. Don't have your stuff shipped until you have your final room assignment. Period. If there's some reason this genuinely wouldn't be possible, sure, but I can't think of one. | |
| | |
06-06-2008, 01:49 PM
|
#7 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Verne, CA
Posts: 372
| Oh god, books. Not only did I ask my parents to ship some from time to time and get some when I was home, but I got atleast 20 more while I was in Cambridge. Gah. | |
| | |
06-07-2008, 01:00 AM
|
#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Berkeley, California--> MIT '12
Posts: 92
| Isn't shipping expensive though? | |
| | |
06-07-2008, 04:43 AM
|
#9 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Verne, CA
Posts: 372
| Depends what you mean by expensive. If you want UPS to overnight everything, sure. If you just want some USPS flatrate boxes, not really. | |
| | |
06-08-2008, 12:25 PM
|
#10 | | Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Jersey -> MIT '12!
Posts: 876
| Well I mean, any way that you do it, shipping all your stuff across the country is going to be mildly expensive. | |
| | |
06-08-2008, 02:50 PM
|
#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Chicagoland, IL --> Cambridge, MA
Posts: 69
| A warning to everyone planning to pack everything in suitcases and check it on the plane (aka me):
American is going to start charging $15 per checked bag for tickets purchased after June 15. Unfortunately, we won't hear back about FPOPs (probably) but if you didn't sign up for one, you can probably save some money by buying your tickets early... | |
| | |
06-08-2008, 05:44 PM
|
#12 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 143
| Hi Karen! | |
| | |
06-11-2008, 01:07 PM
|
#13 | | New Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 22
| What if your parents aren't coming up for orientation? What's the best way to get to Target etc.? | |
| | |
06-11-2008, 01:12 PM
|
#14 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 92
| Well, for the lyks of me who travel for well over 1000 miles to get to MIT, we'll have to come with a bag or 2 and buy all our stuff over there. | |
| | |
06-11-2008, 06:34 PM
|
#15 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 5,669
| Target actually sends a bus over to pick people up and take them there during orientation -- I think to the Watertown location.
The most convenient T-accessible Target is in Boston, a short walk from the Andrew T stop on the Red Line (and there are three others: one accessible by taking the Red Line to Harvard then taking the #70 bus, one within walking distance of the Lechmere stop on the Green Line, and one within walking distance of the Wellington stop on the Orange Line). There is a T-accessible Bed Bath & Beyond near the Fenway stop on the Green Line. There aren't any T-accessible Walmarts. | |
| | All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:43 PM. |
College Confidential is dedicated to providing the best free college admissions information available on the Web, through our many articles and this discussion forum.
