Now you guys are making me feel bad. I had vacation time all scheduled to drive out with W to pick up D at the end of year. But just got notice of a mandatory week-long meeting I have to attend instead so W has to do the pick-up on her own. 
My D goes to school out of state, but the Box-It-Up service could work for students getting home via car too. The student signs up for boxes, tape and labels to be delivered to the dorm - when the boxes are packed, they pick them up and store them over the summer - delivered to new dorm in the Fall. Why bring home stuff that could stay at school? The cost was very reasonable.
This thread is reminding me of picking my sister up at college. My husband and I arrived at around 8am, and she had to be out of the dorm by 11am. She’d been done with exams 2 days previously, so we had every expectation that she’d be ready. She had a large single to herself, had stuffed it to the gills, and hadn’t started packing.
She did have her suitcases out and unzipped, which to her was “ready.”
We put her in charge of throwing out trash and returning items to other people and places – and basically we told her we were going to grab everything not nailed down and throw it into the car, and that’s what we did.
Got her out of there in time, but only barely. This was 1995, and my husband STILL talks about it.
@anomander I wouldn’t necessarily worry and don’t feel guilty! Move-outs don’t HAVE to be bad, it’s all about the kid. I had tons of stuff at college, but I’m hyper-organized. By the time my parents showed up everything was packed, stacked neatly in a corner & labeled. It took about 30 min to get out, and that’s because we opted to wait for the elevator. I acknowledge that I’m weird and unusual, but there’s a happy medium. It doesn’t have to be awful. Communicate with your D – there’s no reason things like tchotchkes and spare sheets can’t be packed in advance even if she’s worried about finals. 10 minutes of packing is actually a very good break from studying. 
Box-It-Up sounds wonderful but when I google it, only Occidental is mentioned. Most of these types of services are available to large universities or schools in a major metropolitan area. Students in small LACs in the middle of nowhere often don’t have these services available, nor do all small LACs necessarily have storage facilities.
I know there are several other companies that offer that. At Oxy, the summer storage is off campus.
I’m grateful to those who recommended the IKEA Frakta shopping bags. I ordered a set of 10 size Large from Amazon for $19.99 and they’re being delivered to the Amazon Locker on D’s campus tomorrow. I like them because they are soft sided, making for an easier time fitting them in a car than a cardboard box, plus they zip up so no need for packing tape, plus they have handles for carrying them from the dorm to the car. D’s LAC is bringing a company on campus for Fri/Sat of move out weekend that will box and ship, but I suspect that gets very pricey, like going to the local UPS Store franchise.
Like others, I really appreciate the mention of the Frakta bags. I need the zippered ones, since my son’s stuff is going to be stored over the summer. I have an Ikea about an hour away and in a few minutes am taking a road trip with a friend to see the bags in person–planning to buy many and send them off myself. Happy trails!
Thanks for the reminder, @Corinthian! I just ordered some as well, and had them sent to my D along with a small care package from Amazon. No excuse for her not to at least start packing before I arrive!
The large Frakta bags don’t have zippers according to the Q&A in the Amazon product listing. The extra large do, but they are more expensive than from the Ikea site (don’t get Prime that way though).
Poke around the college web site or ask your kid. D’s LAC has a local company that offers that but it’s not called that name. Service is the same though.
@corinthian are you sure you got the ones that zip up for that price? If so, could you please post a link?
^ the large 10 for $20 are not zip up, they’re the open top ones. Still probably very useful, maybe moreso for some.
Oops. Drat. I messed up. I tried to cancel the order on Amazon but may be too late. Maybe this is what comes of being helicopter, lol.
Joining you all in the Ikea Bag Buy Bonanza. Sent a pack of 4 (with zippers) to the college kid. Sent 2 zippered and two open topped (for moving grocery items) to the kid who is moving to a new apartment this summer. She has a big-girl job, so if they’re great, she can buy more herself!
Thanks everybody for alerting me that I’d ordered the wrong ones. I’ve now ordered the XL zippered storage bags.
For my son, who is notoriously last minute, I imagine him stuffing all his dirty stuff in a box and storing it all summer in the heat. Which is why we have always hauled everything home and then hauled it back up to school. This is his second year living in a fraternity house and they let them store stuff in the basement, so he stores his mattress, etc… there. I didn’t go down there, but my husband said it was disgusting.
We have friends here. They rent a storage unit here year round. In the fall, they move all of their patio furniture, and the like into the storage unit. In April, they put the patio stuff back outside…and move…Tada…all,of the boxes and bags of stuff their kids bring home into the storage unit. It is a self storage that coats them about $90 a month.
Then my 3000 miles away kid stored for the summer, she shared a storage unit with 3 other students. I think it cost us about $100 for the summer. Well worth it.
I wish…wish…I had done that with the kid who was closer to home.
First…I would not have had to look at the stuff in my living room all summer long…and second…all of the packing and moving would have been my kid’s issue
Thanks to all for the advice! The move-out went smoothly. The Ikea zippered bags were a lifesaver!
With 4 people working on the move it took us just 2 hours–we were very pleasantly surprised.
Some of the other students on the floor were taking carloads of stuff into storage, and we saw a couple of moving vans too.
Now we have to move the bagloads of stuff from living room to laundry room, storage attic etc–but meanwhile we’re still recovering from all of the activities of the week and weekend.
Make sure they pack before you get there! That is all I have to say.