Our D ('19) is counting the days until we fly to Boston, move her stuff into the dorm, and send her off for the Cabin Camping trip. Having scoured summer sales at REI, Mountain High Outfitters, et al this summer – and made out like a bandit – she’s eager to experience her first “real” winter. She was assigned a single and is ecstatic: “I can study when I want, sleep when I want, have peace & quiet when I want… and get up early without worrying about bothering a roommate.”
She’s considering walking on as a coxswain and has immersed herself in rowing books, videos, and practices. A facebook post seeking to connect her with Dartmouth rowers generated lots of encouraging responses, as did her email to the assistant coach. Why were we surprised that the Dartmouth community was so welcoming?
She hasn’t even started and we already love this place!! Starting to understand why you veteran parents are so enthused… 
PA you at the most wonderful time of your life now, so be prepared to join our little club of veteran parents. Let us know if you have any questions.
We are excited too, heading out in early Sept. to drop our son off before his trip. Not so lucky with his dorm assignment though, he got a double in a dorm that is known for how thin its walls are–Cohen. Guess those noise-canceling headphones will come in very handy, but not sure how comfortable they will be to sleep in!
There are enough stores in West Lebanon to complete any dorm room, so travel light and pick up what you need there. We also found that you can buy large used items such as the refrigerator, shelves and lights for bargain basement prices at the Dartmouth sustainability sale that occurs prior to the start of the fall school semester. Make sure your student wakes up early to catch the best selection.
D did not find Cohen all that bad for noise, but she and her roomie had a corner room with cinder block walls. Main difficulty was finding ways to hang things on the walls. S will want a fan. Magnum PI (as always) offers good advice – especially the last sentence. A nice thing about Cohen and the rest of the Choates is that they offer a fairly straight (and not that long) shot to the Green/Commons/Baker Library, which can be nice in winter. Preferable to the uphill slog from the River Dorms in that respect!
Just finished reading this entire thread (phew!). What a great resource!! I copied several posts and forwarded them to my D, who cannot get enough info about her new “home.” Thanks to all who have shared information so generously.
For other new parents, here are some highlights:
- Get a “frat coat” for your D/S to wear to parties. Try not to make it a black northface.
- Make sure your D/S knows that resilience and a sense of adventure will get them through any initial hurdles or homesickness
- Don’t overpack, overplan or overprepare before arriving on campus. Part of the adventure is winging it, and people will be eager to help.
- If you’re a helipcopter parent, land your chopper. It’s time for your kid to fly solo. They can do it.
- Go to the Used Stuff sale before school starts; you’ll save a bundle.
- Go to WalMart, Kmart and/or TJ Maxx (locally) for great prices on stuff you don’t want to schlep or pay to ship to school.
And for the newbies/freshmen…
- Time flies; don’t waste it.
- Everyone has a tribe. You’ll find yours. Keep an open mind, open heart, and welcoming spirit.
- Invest yourself in whatever you care about. You’ll find others who share your passions.
- Plan, plan, plan (when to go abroad, whether to double major, which classes to take when, etc) if you want to get the most for your time & money.
- Fly into Boston and take the DM coach. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need – unless you don’t mind waiting 3 hrs for the next coach.
- Trust that Greek life is not the only life on campus. If it’s for you, go for it. If not, don’t. You’ll be happy either way.
Have I missed anything essential?
See you in a few weeks on the green!
p.s. I got a PM from one of you… but lost it before I could respond. Sorry! The answer is: from Atlanta.
Thanks PosAttitude for the awesome summary, and welcome aboard, this thread has been all about helping parents and their students for the total Dartmouth experience and you obviously fit right in! My helicopter landed many years ago, but this thread has been a nice place to land now and then to reminisce about those 4 wonderful years of visiting Hanover. PA, you may have missed that the Class of '66 webcam is the best way to check in on campus without disturbing your young one spreading their wings. We look forward to following your new adventure! Aloha, -MPI
Excellent job, PosAttitude, although it’s only 2 hours between Dartmouth Coach departures and sometimes only 1 hour(http://www.dartmouthcoach.com/index.php/schedules.html). Never a bad idea to plan on taking the one that leaves an hour before you think you need to, since the traffic into Logan can be fierce – especially when the snow arrives on your departure day.
“Try not to make [your frat coat] a black northface” was a gem. You’ve got it down.
and checkout the class of '16 webcam in High Definition when your kids are going off on their trips or hanging at Collis!
True story involving said webcam: As something of a drone (not quite helicopter) parent, I was concerned when D returned for her second year, since she had a latish flight and had to pick up the key to her new room after hours. So I watched on the 66 webcam as the Coach I expected her to be on pulled over to the curb on East Wheelock just down from the Inn and saw a recognizable diminutive figure get off the bus, leave her large bag by the retaining wall (!?!?!?), and blithely disappear for 20 minutes to find her room. (You can’t see faces, but it’s pretty easy to identify your own kid from size, what she was wearing that morning, her bags, and, in our case, the SF Giants cap.) Her bag sat there untouched the entire time. Can’t swear that Hanover is still that peaceful but this was only 2010. I think that was when I retired my “drone” for good.
Magnum and AboutTheSame, you guys are great! I checked out the webcam – and promptly added it to my bookmark toolbar. D is off to Goodwill today in search of a cheap and bright-colored coat to wear to frat parties – one that she won’t mind losing. She’s also planning to find some cheap fleece-lined moccasins for padding around dorm hallways wet with winter slush. If you have any more tips, please pass them on…
And to parents of incoming '19’s… I’m happy to continue Magnum’s tradition of scheduling meet-ups with other CC parents if you’ll be on campus September 4th. I’ll be moving my D into East Wheelock in the a.m., then hitting the road for Logan as she heads off for her DOC trip. If you’d like to join us for a meal or a quick cup of coffee, PM me.
Can’t wait to launch this adventure!!
Patagonia is having a 50% off sale, August 13-24 – online and in store (free shipping to Dartmouth on orders over $75). I thought other warm weather parents might also want to check it out.
Also, our D just returned from a successful run to Goodwill with a calf-length leather coat ($25). An interesting selection for her non-Northface frat party coat, but it will certainly be easy to spot… as will she! She texted me photos of several options, to which her Dad replied (repeatedly), “buy something you won’t mind losing.” Too late! She already seems attached to her offbeat bargain. Ah well. She also found “fur”-lined moc’s at Wal-Mart for $14… in case your kid wants warm/dry feet for less.
Not sure how she could be having more fun getting ready for school! The adventure has already begun…
I’d give anything to have my son motivated to shop for what he needs!
Check the backcountry.com outlet for great deals on winter wear. We had to get him winter boots because they don’t sell them out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Have fun!
Good to see this thread active again with great '19 advice. Special thanks to “AboutTheSame” and “MagnumPI” for their advice to date with various PMs. Our Calif. S leaves on his 1st Year trip on 9/4 (“Climb & Hike”), and we’ll be there to greet him in Hanover on Tuesday,9/8. We help with move into Choates/Little dorm on Wed. - and then Dad consoles Mom on return trip back to LAX that evening. Questions for veteran parents: (1) we are staying that Labor Day weekend in Woodstock, VT at a B&B - any advice on things to do, restaurants, etc.?, and (2) we have a whole day in Hanover on Monday - besides town/campus excursions - any advice for a nice hike in the area? Finally - with all the to-do’s with packing, etc. - I would suggest this advice for your young adult: ask him/her to sign a durable power of attorney and/or a health care proxy - so that you can intercede on any medical concerns. A serious medical situation with family friend’s son at UCLA prompted us to take care of this item. A great Forbes article on this via link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/08/15/two-documents-every-18-year-old-should-sign/ GO BIG GREEN!
I should really unbookmark this site because I get email alerts to new postings in this thread (and I actually get a little envious of you new parents). Happy to help though if I can. Great words of advice Gauchman on the durable power of attorney. BTW, our S was in (substance free) Little and loved it. He still keeps in touch with many of his floormates who are now all working or in graduate/professional schools. Be prepared to be amazed by where they will go. We enjoyed Woodstock too, quaint little town. There is a farm to table restaurant nearby, Cloudland Farm, http://www.cloudlandfarm.com Also in nearby Quechee Vermont, Simon Pearce Restaurant should not be missed. Elixir in White River Junction also was nice. We hiked in with White Mountains at Flume Gorge, and then visited lower Maine and Portsmouth, NH. Have fun over the next 4 years, I was not prepared for Dartmouth being such a perfect fit for me as a parent. Also, you can follow their school year at the Dartmouth Flickr photo site, and subscribe to Dartmouth Now and the school paper, but that might be too much information. Not!
B-)
The Appalachian trail runs right through town. Take it as far as you like/can.
http://www.hanoverinn.com/explore/appalachian-trail-from-hanover-inn.aspx
Moose Mountain if you’re up for it.
http://outdoors.dartmouth.edu/activities/hiking/hikes/
Do not know what NH law is on medical care of a minor, so I’m not sure about the need for a POA/health directive but it could not hurt. At the very least, you want your child to consent to health care provider being allowed to share medical information with you.
I should have posted this earlier, but many health plans cover NH and allow you to opt out of the Dartmouth plan. Student can still use Dick’s House (for what that’s worth – cough, cough), but have their own doctor over at the medical center. For us, my Blue Shield coverage was much cheaper, and the Away From Home Care folks that run the program were the most efficient and friendly HMO staff I have dealt with in my life.
I read about that durable power of attorney on another site, and sent email to the head of Dartmouth’s clinic, to ask what he recommends, and where I might find that form, since it differs by state. He actually called and spoke to me on the phone in a very nice, long conversation, about that and other things. But the upshot on the power of attorney for healthcare was that he said that if our children were that bad off, unconscious or incapacitated, they wouldn’t be at the clinic, they’d be at the medical center. So he called over to the medical center to ask how they handle situations like that. It turns out their protocol is that they contact spouse first, then parents. So since most of our kids won’t have spouses during the next 4 years, realistically we the parents would be the first ones called anyway. So I gleaned from him that, given that hierarchy, there may not be much of a difference to have or not to have that power of attorney.
But doublecheck for yourselves if that doesn’t sound right to you or adequate.
Hmmm. This is a very serious conversation to have in this medium. I’m sure the Dartmouth clinic person and medical center staff mean well, but they are not lawyers. If you were to run into this situation, it’s not a pure medical decision; the legal staff is involved as well. And, the problems arise with the borderline cases. Magnum, would you like to chime in? This is not really my area of expertise.
ATS, you are roping me into this because you know my time zone and you know I’m still at my desk. I did not even worry about this because we always waived out of it of the Dartmouth plan so my son could stay on my family plan. As a single dependent, if he were incapacitated, I knew that we would be contacted if anything serious were to happen. But with medical privacy laws and student privacy laws being what they are,in hindsight I would probably do it, or at least research it further. Thus,Gauchman brings up an excellent point and even greater educational value to this thread.
Briefly, there are several recent reputable magazine articles recommending it. See Forbes and Consumer reports as examples. http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/08/15/two-documents-every-18-year-old-should-sign/ and http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/08/will-you-be-able-to-help-your-college-age-child-in-a-health-emergency/index.htm The CR article even recommends that you do it both in your home state and in the state of the college to avoid any questions about validity or enforceability.
A quick look at the Dartmouth website revealed no mention of the issue, probably because they cannot dispense legal advise. Having said that, I would recommend contacting your estate planning attorney about this issue prior to sending the kid off. After reading Gauchman’s comments and those articles I am recommending that my 2 adult children execute them in the state that they are residing. In fact, I am going to update mine to have my adult children make my healthcare decisions instead of my siblings. A very serious conversation and helpful topic indeed. Aloha. -MPI