<p>There are very few places to stay in Hyde Park proper. There are plenty of hotel rooms in Chicago however. We stayed at the Hyatt McCormick Place the first time and with friends in Lincoln Park the second time. The Orientation materials you will receive over the summer will have hotel suggestions. There are always inexpensive options out by Midway Airport, a 20-30 minute drive from campus and close to some big box retailers (Target!).</p>
<p>R-mom is right on about the first day of O-Week. Very, very moving, parents are accommodated beautifully and given a lovely reception after being separated from their kids. At which tears are much in evidence – among the parents, that is. The kids go through the gate and are greeted by cheering upperclassmen on the other side, I’m sure it’s thrilling for them.</p>
<p>My kids both thought O-Week was ridiculously overlong: Three or four days of activity packed into nine.</p>
<p>I did O-Week and move-in parentless (long story, but it was what I wanted, as the parents would have complained about silly things rather than do anything practical, like help me unpack). I also wanted to separate college from summer camp, and I wanted to emphasize to myself that college was my own journey, and that I was not hanging onto my parents anymore.</p>
<p>Didn’t matter a lick that my parents weren’t there. House O-Aides were great at helping me move my stuff in, finding where it was, and making sure I had what I needed to have.</p>
<p>I agree that O-Week is much longer than it needs to be, but that’s on purpose. (I reference the extensive student life report from 10 years ago, the one to which I can’t seem to find a link. Anyway, one of the big suggestions was making O-Week longer). A long O-Week gives people a chance to socialize, explore the city, get to know campus, and have college set in before the actual academics start.</p>
<p>By the end of O-Week, I was so stressed and exhausted that I was looking forward to starting classes, as at least I felt that I was familiar with what class is like.</p>
<p>We made reservations at the Wooded Isle Suites. Any reason not to stay there? We saw generally good reviews and were frankly surprised they still had space. </p>
<p>The current plan is that DH and S1 will drive out on Wednesday, visit a friend in Toledo en route, and arrive Thursday about noon. DH goes to Chicago a lot for work, so he may take S in to meet folks (several folks have offered to be in loco parentis if he needs anything), give him the tour, check out Metra, etc. S already knows the 55 Express. We know from dropping off S at a summer program two years ago that once we had his things moved in, he was ready for us to go. </p>
<p>I’ll fly out Friday AM after getting S2 off to school and set up for the weekend. (He has a football game and doesn’t want to miss it.) DH and I will drive home Sunday.</p>
<p>We stayed at Wooded Isle Suites during our first visit to UChicago. It was acceptable, but don’t expect anything too spiffy. It seems designed for long-term stay and is decidedly dusty apartment-like, but it’s conveniently located to campus.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the parents’ day of O week.</p>
<p>Move-In: That was the easiest move ever. You just pull up to the dorm. The upperclassmen are there with giant bins on wheels. They put your stuff in the bins and deliver it to your room! I wasted all that time labeling everything with son’s name, dorm name, house name, room number for nothing. </p>
<p>There is brunch, there are clubs/organizations tables outside, there is the
big send off. Somehow we were up in front in the chapel. The march to the
gate with the weepy mothers of daughters. The acapella singing groups and
the dorm houses greeting the new first yrs as they march to their class
photo. There is casual dinner for parents.</p>
<p>unalove - my son is an admitted student. He will probably be attend UC in the Fall. One question I have is about financial aid. How stable is the award over 4 years. Specifically, if the family resources remain the same, does the financial aid remain the same or is it lowered after freshman year?
Thanks</p>
<p>That’s a better question for the fin aid office. I don’t know the answer.</p>
<p>thanks. just wondering how truthful they would be.</p>
<p>Drdom, you should talk to the financial aid office, but I’ve never heard someone complain about a reduction in financial aid after first year when circumstances have stayed the same.</p>
<p>Thanks. I ask because I have heard of this happening at Cornel. Wondered if it ever happened at UC</p>
<p>Where can we buy linen and towels etc. near the University? It may be a better idea to purchase locally rather than carry from home.</p>
<p>Are there any sales or package deals going on at the time of moving in?</p>
<p>I brought all my stuff with and I came without parents, so my information may be off.</p>
<p>There are a lot of big box stores clustered up on Roosevelt Road (1200 S) near the lake shore, including a Target, which is easy to get to if you have a car with you.</p>
<p>There’s also a Bed Bath and Beyond at 530 N. State, which is a block or two north of the loop and also easy to get to. (I think it might be a part of the Northfield Shopping Mall, I know I’ve passed it many times). BB&B has (had?) this neat service where you can tell one near your home what you want to get, and they will tell the store nearest your school to put items on hold for you.</p>
<p>During O-Week there are also tonsssss of trips to Target, so it’s no big deal if your child realizes they need something else.</p>
<p>When you sign in for O-Week, you are given a HUGE portfolio (one that’s great to reuse for classes!) and in there are a lot of important papers, as well as coupons and such. I don’t remember any huge sales around campus during move-in, but I do remember Citibank giving incentives to open up an account.</p>
<p>There is a window in advance of move in day when packages are accepted by the dorm on behalf of students. It’s easy to pick stuff out locally and have the store ship, or order online. It’s just another option. I think my S liked shopping at home and having everything just waiting for him.</p>
<p>BB&B often has sales packages over the summer. I don’t think they’re ignorant of the freshman move-in market, to say the least. But you may want to pay attention, because the sales may be over before Chicago’s late start date. I’m sure you can do the distant-store pick-up deal buying a few weeks in advance, or the delivery-from-distant-store deal. (We didn’t do this, we just sent extra sheets and towels we already had.)</p>
<p>If you haven’t been there yet, when you get there you will notice that Hyde Park is not brimming over with mall-type retail establishments. It’s really easy to buy coffee and used books there, less easy to buy linens. However, there’s a Walgreens and an Office Max between 54th and 55th Streets just before the Metra tracks, and they have tons of minor stuff (lamps, fans, wastebaskets, garbage bags, etc.), and long lines of harried parents and 18-year-olds on Convocation Day.</p>
<p>Many kids just use online ordering for stuff too. </p>
<p>My own observation from move in 4 years ago was that kids brought waaaay too much anyway. How many refrigerators do 4 kids need, for example? How many printers?</p>
<p>At any rate, stay tuned and watch the parents forum. You will see tons of postings regarding what to bring to college. But just remember:</p>
<p>less = more.</p>
<p>As a local, last year I brought extra wastebaskets and hangers “in case
any one else needed them”. It was for nothing, rooms have wastebaskets
and hangers weren’t needed either.</p>
<p>Are there recycling facilities on each floor of the dorms (or a recycling container provided in the room)? We have two trash cans in our computer room at home – one for garbage, the other for paper recycling (until someone hauls it out once a week). Was debating whether to bring a can for recycling…</p>
<p>Do folks have printers in their rooms? What does Chicago charge to use their printers?</p>
<p>There are usually common recycling facilities… currently, I use a brown paper bag for paper and haul it out to the communal recycling when it fills.</p>
<p>It’s very convenient to have a printer in your room, but when it comes to long assignment that I want to print out, I use the dorm or library facilities. I think we’re talking anything from 7-10 cents a page here. It can get a little pricey, but to me, it saves having to buy any textbooks.</p>
<p>The other accepted (and acceptable) way of doing readings cheaply is that if they’re posted as PDF’s, read the PDF on your laptop and bring your laptop to class so you can reference the document as you would a packet of paper. There’s also a version of adobe that lets you highlight the PDF and take notes on it, just as you would a textbook. This doesn’t work for everybody, but it’s worth a try.</p>
<p>My kids have never had printers at college. They use printers in the dorm or library (which tend to be much faster than the cheap, small personal printers that don’t take up much precious dorm space they would otherwise have). They don’t print that much – most of their papers get submitted electronically, and I think they read the .pdfs on their laptops.</p>
<p>There are no recycling containers in the rooms, but lots outside of them. </p>
<p>Until you know what your son’s dorm room looks like, I would look to limit rather than expand the amount of stuff you plan on putting in it. My son’s room in the Shoreland is reasonably spacious, but it wouldn’t be if it were the forced triple they threatened to make it. My daughter’s first-year single was comfy, but wouldn’t have been with a lot of extra containers or equipment.</p>