Any tips for making freshman move in day easier?

[Youdon'tsay]

The night before talk about everyone being kind to one another. Emotions may be running high.

[siemom]

Agree with above and let things slide when things do get emotional on the day itself. DS was distant and grumpy and it was hard but had to recognize his way of dealing.
Talk through expectations before you go. We had plan of which events attending as parents, when we would see our son (not much) and the exact time we would be saying goodbye and leaving.

[Marian]

It's a little late for this now, but it helps to apply Early Decision. This way, as soon as your kid is accepted, you can make a reservation for a motel room close to the college for the parent and kid to sleep in on the night before move-in and for the parent to sleep in the next night.

Regular Decision people may find themselves sleeping in the next state.

(The college in question was Cornell, and yes, I really did know an RD family that had to sleep in Pennsylvania.)

[scmom12]

Oh and Febreeze (lots of it if dorm is older or has carpet or upholstered pieces)

[student2D]

I've worked for a couple years at a largish university in res life, and my S1 is going off to college this year, so this is mostly coming from my experience overseeing move-in day and other parents, I don't really have first hand knowledge.

Know exactly what the dorms require. At the university I work at, most dorms don't have wireless internet, so it is necessarily to bring an Ethernet cable. This is stated on the res life website, and a packet we send to each family, but you would be surprised at the number of families who come, try to connect their child's computer to wifi, and then have to rush off to the nearest bestbuy/radioshack/whatever to get a ethernet cable (Or, come whine to me/ other res-life staff that wifi is a necessary thing and we should be ashamed that we don't offer it... We are trying to get it implemented, but it's not like making a house have wifi, its more expensive and complicated!) Same with knowing whether dorms have A/C or you need fans, or whatever.

Also- if you can, bring a dolly/cart/ other stuff to help you move in. Most colleges/universities offer carts either free or to rent, but these are often limited (even if they assure you otherwise) and get snatched up fast. If you can barrow (or even buy) a dolly, it can help lug a bunch of stuff up to their rooms.

Make sure your kid and his/her roomates/ suitemates have discussed and are clear on who's bringing what. Nobody enjoys rolling into the dorm, and then argueing over who was supposed to bring the TV (or what not).

Go over the room, check all the appliances (A/C, sink, bathroom stuff (if applicable), whatever) with your kid before you leave. Make sure everything is working. If anything doesn't work, report it. Let me tell you, many people just don't do this step, and when a week later the A/C doesn't seem to work, it may be harder to get it fixed, and (possibly) may cost you money to repair it. At many places, it is easier to get stuff fixed on the first day- maintenance is often out in full force, and there is no worry that your child will be blamed for something that he didn't do (many colleges are known for nickle and diming students if there is any possibility that the damage was caused by them. Better safe then sorry, eh?)

Be polite and reasonable. This should be obvious. There is A LOT of emotion on move-in days. Sometimes it just takes one some-what rude comment to set people off. I've see catfights between grown women over who uses the elevator first. Its just a hectic and emotional time, don't push people's limits.

[hanaliy]

Great tips and the earlier threads on this topic are fantastic too! Thanks!

[jandjdad]

Taking along a younger sibling isn't necessarily a bad idea. If they are old enough to carry boxes, it can ease the process. Over an 8 year period I helped move both my older sisters into college (it always that they were on the third floor w/o an elevator) and I did the heavy lifting....

[spdf]

Find out where you can and cannot park! At UT-Austin, Parking is just as ruthless on move-in days as they are every other surly day of their lives. CC is full of stories of parents who were ticketed on move-in day.

[tx5athome]

Sibling: We brought the younger sibling who was extremely helpful at setting up the TV, crawling under the bed to plug things in and putting things together.

At S2's school you can sign up to be a "move-in helper". You move in 2 or 3 days before everyone else, so waiting for the elevator and access to the carts was a non-issue. They even let freshmen sign up. They did have to work 4 hours a day for the 3 days of move-in, but it was worth it.

[icedragon]

Pack a cooler for drinks! I did this both times and was glad to use it instead of the hall fountain.

[charlieschm]

At my son's college, most families live 2 hours away, so move-in day gets really really busy at 10 AM. We stayed overnight nearby and got in and out easily at 8 AM.

I would provide an ethernet cable even if wireless is provided. Wireless can be extremely slow when everyone is on the web at the same time (such as Sunday evening), and it does not always work perfectly with cinderblock dorms. Wireless can also go down, in which case it is nice to break out the cable.

My son's college's wireless system conflicts with wireless printers, so you need a printer cable. Some people spent hours trying to get their wireless printer to work before they were told there was a conflict.

Don't bring anyone along unless they can carry their own weight. Greatgrandma can say goodbye the night before.

[nj2011mom]

- get there as early as possible. (D1s move-in was moved-up 2 hours bc of Hurricane Irene last year and we were #10 in line for her dorm)
- bring your own handcart or dolly so you dont need to wait
- bring teenage brother to carry things or as noted above, hook up stuff
- bring various ethernet, printer & TV cables to hook up computer & TV.
- assume the elevator will be in use, so make sure you can carry everything.
- leave things that will be in the closet on hanger on them and cover w large garbage, so you can just hang and rip off plastic
- have mom put clothes in drawers, while rest of family sorts through rest of stuff.

[Charlie87star]

Does anybody have any good storage/organizational tips? Ways to store and organize things during the year that one may not think of? Thanks!

[LeftyLou]

My daughter had her bed up as high as it went, they are adjustable at her school. Or buy risers to raise your bed up. Then use the underneath for storgage. Winter clothes, boots, etc. things you don't need everyday so it's ok if it is hard to get to.

[nj2011mom]

for storage:
We bought 2 large rubbermaid totes stored under the bed where she kept cleaning supplies & extra linens, also a small rolling set of drawers for small items.
Got a dorm bed shelf unit at BBBY (website not working, so can't post link) based on recommendation of friend a year older. After H & S1 finished putting it together, her roommate showed up with the same thing, so H & S1 put it together for them!