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Shipping son's stuff to college
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Replies to: Shipping son's stuff to college
The friend did do it a lot. He was in computer engineering and also played an instrument so that took a lot of time, but if you ask me, they did spend a lot of wasted time on the games. My daughter also took a record player and albums, and I doubt she really used them much.
I'd say take ONE xbox in luggage when he moves in and if he needs a screen buy one there or have Amazon deliver it. I bet he could pick up a used one pretty easily.
I'll echo the concern about Xbox. There are so many exciting things on campus the first weeks.. as well as intense academics. Sadly I do know a few engineering students that had to drop out. I can't say it was the gaming addiction that for sure caused it, but having that distraction was surely NOT a good thing when things got tough for classwork.
One of my kids knew another engineering student in the dorm that was not happy. So the well-intentioned mom send MORE gaming gear. My kid commented that it was the last thing that student needed since he already spent too much time in the dorm room.
A friend of his at school lives over 2,000 miles from campus. When the friend called his dad to ask how he was going to get all of his possessions home do you know what the answer was? Throw it all away! My son couldn’t believe it.
There is plenty of gaming kids do on their computers, so really, if this kid is a big gamer, he is going to find games to play online. You really aren’t going to have any control over that.
DS and his roommates bought a tv together for sophomore year since they now have an apartment-type dorm. He only brings clothing and the Switch back and forth. He did shared storage last year and I will be arranging a small storage unit for him this year.
Btw - we also shipped nothing. We did the BBB pickup, 4 suitcases for the two of us on Southwest Airlines including prepurchased room items, shopped locally for toiletries, etc.
If he is assigned a triple, there is NO room for Xbox or turntable.
There is limited time to even use that stuff and even if he found room and time, it plays into him isolating himself.
We drove a packed car up, including a monitor. It was rarely used because the desks in the forced triple were under a loft with terrible lighting and no room to move around or set up easier.
Pay for you each to fly with 2 bags and don't take anything else. Being from NOLA, he'll need all new jackets, boots and winter clothes, so not much should be packed anyway.
Most UVM students need space in the dorm room for skis or hockey equipment. He can rent for the season.
The rooms are really small
We definitely believe less is best, especially as most kids have lived in a solo room at home and are moving to share a tiny dorm room. Crowded is not good for anyone.
She also rented micro-refrigerators and microwaves through a company that had a contract with the college with her roommates each year so she didn't need to bring those, either.
We purchased some small dorm furniture items, such as storage cubes, desk/table lamps, and shelf units from Target after we arrived.
When she came home for the Summer, her college had a convenient arrangement with a local storage company that would provide boxes and packing materials at the end of the Spring term and pick up the packed boxes and personally owned furniture from her dorm room and deliver them back to her when she returned to her new dorm before the start of the Fall terms.
She graduated earlier this month. After her commencement ceremony, we flew home with her and six checked bags. We also mailed two Priority Mail flat rate boxes home that contained books and other heavy or bulky items we didn't want to pack in our checked bags. Fortunately, I'm a United Premier Gold frequent flyer and my wife and I received first class upgrades for the first segment of our trip home, so the two of us were entitled to three free checked bags each. As a result, we didn't have to pay any checked bag fees for our flight home with our D.
Our D donated items such as her personally owned dorm furniture and clothes she no longer needed that we did not wish to bring back with us. After graduation each year, her college has a tag sale of student donated items, with proceeds going to the university.