Baten

Hello! I'm going to Stanford. But for me this is going to be a big change - I'm moving from the east coast (MD) to campus. So before I start getting flustered by Ihum and PWR and choosing classes, I'm worried about how I'm going to transfer my life to another state. So I just have a few questions about moving (across the country):

I know I have to ship my stuff but what do I ship and what do I take with me? In addition to just clothes and bedding I want to bring a video game console and books.

I was told by a friend that was a freshman at Stanford last year that you don't find out your roommate until you get there. Should I be prepared to bring/rent all the big items like a minifridge and microwave and stuff?

I've been to the Stanford campus and I know that I'd never be able to survive without a bike. I have one here so how do I get it to CA or is it just a better idea to get one on campus?

This is a little different but Stanford really seems to push for Mac laptops and desktops on campus. I'm more of a fan of Windows and HP computers but should I get a Mac anyways since i'll get the most IT support on campus?

O and when should I buy my plane ticket to get to campus? And when is the best time to arrive? Or does it not matter as long as you show up on the 15th?

If you've had to travel across the country to get to Stan too, please help me out!!

usermom

Will you be going alone or will a parent be with you for the first few days?
Will you have access to a car when you first get there?

My daughter came from nearly as far. We didn't send anything but I came with her and we had 4 super large suitcases that we checked and the carry on stuff. When we got there we rented a car and spent two days going around to various stores to get the big stuff. You might want to wait to meet your roommate because she and her roommate both had fridges this year and next year they only plan on having one (they are staying together). Stanford does a better job than any school I know of matching the roommates so don't worry about that part. I believe one person works all summer doing it. My daughter switched from Windows to MAC last summer. She is Math/CS and made sure the souped-up MAC would cut it for CS. She went without a bike and didn't mind at all but most of her friends have them and I believe she has been known to ride handlebars. I think most everyone that isn't driving to campus rents or buys a bike there.

We get the plane tickets pretty far in advance. I will probably get her return trip during the next week or two. If Southwest covers your airport, you are in luck because the have cheap one-way tickets for the odd flight or if you don't know when the return will be. You can fly into SF or SJ.

We got to SF 2 days before the first day freshman could move in. She moved in on move in day. I left the next day. The dates are on a calendar on the Stanford website. Let me know if you can't find it.

She loved staying there last Thanksgiving week because it is at a really busy time and staying allowed her to get ahead with her work, spend some time seeing sites in SF and SJ that she didn't see during the quarter and visit with us (we visited SF then). She is planning to stay over Thanksgiving again this year. The cafeteria is open and you don't get charged anything extra for staying. Most of the internationals stay.

About the airfare -- there is some sort of college airfare website available that will probably cover you coming out of MD. It didn't offer us any discounts though.
College Student Airfares - What You Need To Know About

Let me know if you have any other questions or PM me.

Baten

Thank you so much!! I'm going with my mom. We'll probably be getting a car or not but getting there early to pick up the big stuff sounds like a good idea. The only reason why I would prefer to ship things is because I don't know what I would do with all the luggage after I unpacked and I don't know how my mom would get it home in addition to the fact the checking bags is more expensive nowadays.

Also, you said to wait to talk to your roommate - does that mean that I'd have time to pick up more things the day of or after move-in day?

gladmom

Baten, my S just finished his first year at Stanford and we are from the midwest. H, S and I flew to SFO for move-in day, and my H and I used one suitcase for the 2 of us, and the other 5 bags were for S's stuff, one of which was a printer. We wished we had waited to get the printer in Palo Alto. He used 2 rolling duffel bags, which fit easily under his bed in the dorm. The other bags were canvas that just fold down and fit into the duffels. There was a pretty big closet that he shared with his roommate, plus 3 dresser drawers for his own use. My S had space left over for storage. You can get anything you need in stores near Stanford that would be difficult to pack - printer, fan, etc. I'd recommend bringing your sheets/towels so that you can wash them ahead of time. If you'd like to buy them when you get there, that's ok too. You can easily rent or buy a fridge, microwave after you get there and discuss it with your roommate.

I'd recommend trying to get there as early as you can on move-in day, since there are so many people ready to help you on that day - from carrying bags up to your room, getting your computer set-up to Stanford's wireless network, picking up your bike and so on. There are special sessions for parents on different subjects, and a convocation welcoming freshmen and transfers. It is a wonderful day.

Check the Campus Bike Shop site for info about renting or buying a bike. My S bought a bike from them and it has worked out well. You can store your bike for the summer with them, too.

Shipping stuff can be as expensive as checking bags on a flight. I'm not sure where you would have it shipped, but someone at Stanford can tell you. You can get your ticket whenever you want, as long as you know what day you'll be arriving.

My S has a Mac, as do the majority of students. But plenty of them have PCs. You can go either way. His laptop did everything that he needed a computer to do.

Think real hard about taking books. My S took the maximum # of hours and didn't have much extra time to read for pleasure. On the odd occasion that he did, he went to one of the many libraries and read books and magazines there.

I'm sure your move will all work out fine. Stanford gives lots of guidance about what to bring and how to get what you need. Good luck!

whylion

You will want to be there bright and early on move in day -- they make a big deal about welcoming frosh, but it gets less energetic as the day wears on. Hennessy (the president) is around shaking hands.
The dorms have storage rooms where you can stash suitcases and things that don't fit in the room -- the RA's have the keys.
I'm pretty sure they won't accept shipments of boxed until after you move in. Then you will want to ship UPS because they will deliver right to your dorm. If you go with the US postal office you have to pick it up at the PO box, which might not be close to your dorm. They have 2 Targets and and IKEA really close, but beware that they sell out of all the stuff students need in the days before the move in.
You will probably want a bike. You can preorder at the Stanford bike store, and they even have preowned ones. My D never rode a bike at home, but now uses hers all the time. I'm pretty sure she's still always late for class, but maybe a little less late!

whylion

Oh, and I forgot. Get a mac. My daughter's two roommates had PC's and they were constantly being thrown off the network unexpectedly (and using her mac)

skyraptor

^whylion, oh man, really? macs are pretty expensive. is the mac's advantage over the pc really that great at stanford?

whylion

I wouldn't buy a new laptop if you already have a PC, in that case I would try it for yourself when you get there. My daughter was at Branner as a freshman (she's in class of 2011) and her roommates were always using her mac because it would hold the wifi. All of the dorms have computer clusters as well as wifi so its not the end of the world. You can also print at the computer cluster, but you have to put money into your id card account (not the same as cardinal dollars)
I'll ask her when she's home this weekend about whether pc's still had problems last year and get back to you.

gladmom

Here's what my S says (his dorm for freshman year was Roble):

He and all 3 of his roommates had Macs and had zero problems.

Baten

Okay to respond to a lot of things -

I haven't really decided what I want to do about shipping versus packing yet. I sat down, and picked up my Approaching Stanford again and it says that you can't ship to your Residence hall till move in day but you can ship to the post office. I figure since we'll be getting there a day or two early we can suffer through whatever line to pick up anything that I do really want to ship from the post office a day ahead of time.

As for books - I'm not going to bring a lot. I was thinking the 3 books and maybe a few favorites. I'm a consummate reader so regardless of what I'm doing I always like one on hand. But since I work in my library now I know how valuable a resource it is. I'll be able to take advantage of Stanford's too.

As for big things - either I'll buy them when I get there or I'll take advantage of the address that their giving me and have stuff delivered from store/manufacturers websites after I've found that I need it. Meaning post move-in week.

The Stanford Bike Shop is somewhat overwhelming. Other than the fact that my family hasn't never spent so much on a bike (never had problems with the old ones either even if they were relatively inexpensive brands) it seems like there is a lot of things to consider. After you get it. But I'll take a look again.

As for a laptop - I think I'm getting a MAC. Thanks for all your help!! Even if I'm still undecided about somethings the stories helped me see that somethings are more possible that I thought (like packing up my half my room into suitcases.....)

ngolsh314

DONT GET A MAC. you're wasting money for the little apple logo on the lid. naturally a lot of parents would like macs because they usually take less maintenance, but i think the limitations in the software you can run aren't worth the shiny outside. the only reason their tech support tells you to get one is so they don't have to worry about viruses on the network. I don't know how computer savvy you are, but a windows computer with decent antivirus and an intelligent person behind the keyboard is much better than a mac. personally, i got a lenovo ideapad. i think lenovo makes excellent computers.

there is a way you can ship your own bike through the campus bike shop, i believe its on their website. i have a road bike that i'm going to be taking with me, and thats what i'm doing. Bringing Your Own Bike to Campus - Campus Bike Shop - Stanford University

you could ship things to your dorm address one or two days before you leave, and they should arrive there one or two days after you do. the approaching Stanford mailing specifically says NOT to ship to the post office.

moogie

Here is what we did....go to local Target (or whatever store you like that has a location near Stanford). Look at the bikes (MUCH cheaper than on campus) , buy it and pick it up at the local store near Palo Alto. You can also go online and order it to be picked up locally in PA. The stores will be sold out when you get up there, so plan ahead.

Baten

thanks moogie!! your idea for the bike sounds best. i'd still need to register and things like that but i don't know if there is actually a great difference in quality between bikes that you find at target and bikes that you find at the campus bike shop.

as for computers - i'm not one to spend a lot of money so my mom and i managed to come to a solution. she bought me a mac laptop but didn't pay the full sticker price by buying a 2008 edition of the macbook rather than a 2009 edition - still brand new though. its was 200-300 dollars cheaper than buying this year's model. but because i'm a loyal pc fan at heart, i'm going to be taking my hp desktop computer as well since its a slimline. i'm a fan of lenovo but have never purchased any of their products because for the same specs as a good hp laptop, you end up paying a price similar to that of a macbook.

but about macs - which one works better, microsoft office 2008 or iwork 2009? and on the flipside - did anyone who took a desktop (and specifically a pc) find it limiting? or did it not make a difference? i don't think my computer confusion/woes are going to end until August or September when a make a final decision. i could take both or one or neither.

ngolsh314

well if you must use a mac i'd just put ubuntu on it and run openoffice.

Baten

haha. a mac is definitely not a must. i am generally against macs but i know that they're not bad computers. we had macs at school and i know how they run. as i said, i prefer pcs. it just seems that at stanford, they're the computers that get the best tech support. and i don't want to worry about tech support while i'm in school. as for ubuntu and openoffice - i've used openoffice before and it's a possibility. as for ubuntu, i'll look into that. i've never heard of it till now.