For first time (college) parents 2018 - what do we need to know before move-in day?

Parent Cafe
61

<p>On move in day, if you don’t get an assigned move in time, GO EARLY. We arrived a few minutes before official move in time and were able to park right near the door. By mid morning the parking lot was jammed and people had to schlepp things from far away. Plus, you can be “that kid” and pick the prime part of the room. :)</p>

<p>DD goes to a state flagship. During the first few days of school the bookstore and the nearby Walmart and Target are completely cleaned out of school supplies and dorm things. If your child is going to an area with a large school or with many schools, make sure you have the essentials for the first week or so.</p>

62

<p>If you order anything online or elsewhere that is to be delivered to child at college, remember the first couple of weeks of new semester the on campus mailroom will be slammed and it can be days before delivered items can be picked up…and the line at mailroom for package pickup will be long, Too, if anything heavy like a bicycle or appliance in a crate is mailed or shipped…make sure your child has a way or help to carry heavy boxes back to dorm from mailroom.</p>

63

<p>Check your medical/dental/vision for health care providers near your child’s school. For most medical campus health is fine, but it’s helpful to know where the nearest Urgent Care is. Dental we thought was covered, we set up cleanings to be over the summer and Christmas break - then D had a filling fall out at school! Transfer any prescriptions they might need filled to a pharmacy near school (we use CVS and just change the pick-up pharmacy online based on where D will be when her refill comes due). The bank on her campus is Bank of America, so we set her up with a free student checking account before she left for school, and I was able to set up financial institution transfers from my credit union, so I can send her money electronically easily (although she mostly uses the swipe card for everything since that’s taken at many local merchants).</p>

64

<p>If you are sending a kid from a hot climate to a cold one, DO NOT buy winter outerwear in advance. Send him or her with a couple of hoodies and/or a fleece–most likely sufficient for the first month or two–and let him or her get winter parkas and so forth–buy locally or order from Bean’s/Land’s End/whatever-- when they have a much better idea of what they need and what they like. It is highly unlikely that any store in Southern California or Florida will actually carry winter outerwear suitable for Minnesota or New Hampshire. :slight_smile: (No, a ski jacket will not cut it.)</p>

65

<p>This is all so amazing and incredibly helpful. Many thanks! There are a few things here I definitely would never have considered. :)</p>

66

<p>Even if you and your future roommate(s) have communicated on Facebook or spoke to each other on the phone be prepared that you might have to do some extra stuff on move-in day. Older d’s freshman year roommate who was bringing TV and microwave showed up late and her mom was extremely frazzled. There was no way that she was going to be able to deal with the cable that needed to be connected. While I don’t remember all the details and it was a long time ago now, we did have to make a trip to Radio Shack and get what was needed. I have never moved anyone in anywhere for my two d’s for undergrad, grad school, summer programs, apartments in school or post-school that did not involve extra trips to Target , BBB, Radio Shack, Linens & Things, supermarkets or other places. Other thoughts and I have indicated this previously:</p>

<p>If you are going to school in Boston, don’t think that the Target in Watertown will have anything you might need on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I have never seen a store so picked clean of anything anyone might need or have forgotten to bring… such as pillows or in our case, outfitting off-campus apartment- bathroom rugs, shower curtains, dish drains, towel racks, full-length mirrors (dorm may have or may not have) and more.</p>

<p>You will send many packages either UPS or USPS over the years. Amazon Prime is your friend also.</p>

<p>Both my girls went with printers and they were both needed and used especially if you must send completed applications for internships and summer programs in the mail someplace or resumes for summer jobs.That has nothing to do with submitting papers to professors electronically or for other campus events/programs/offices.</p>

<p>Both my girls always lived in rooms or apartments where someone had a TV. It’s fine to watch on your laptop but if you and 6 friends want to watch a program or a movie or the Olympics or the World Series or the Super Bowl (not a priority for either of my d’s but thought I’d mention) it is nice to have bigger screen access. </p>

<p>Both of my girls had dust busters. Even if not used a lot, it is helpful to use to clean up crumbs and all the winter dirt that accumulates on your boots and you track into your room. We used for younger d to clean her duffle bag when we packed up a lot of her stuff to bring her home at end of freshman year and was laden with accumulated dust (we came to see her in a performance the end of semester) and she had summer storage room with friends for other stuff and flew home after exams. It is not a major investment and I have one of those now that I still use.</p>

<p>This may have been mentioned already but in addition to medical kit, tool kit, you will also need some basic supplies like stapler, business envelopes, manila envelopes, stamps, scissors in addition to school supplies.</p>

<p>Both my girls went with 3 sets of sheets but only used 2 sets. They still have towels that were bought for freshman year and use in their apartments. They each also had a light comforter for early part of the school year when it is still hot and then down comforter for later when it gets cold. While dorms are usually hot, it can be very cold when you come back in January after heating system has been set very low for the previous month.</p>

<p>Good luck! It is both a fun and busy time.</p>

67

<p>Great advice, everyone. I do have a question, thought. Do most dorms have three pronged outlets or do you come equipped with extension cords?</p>

68

<p>in our experience, they have three pronged outlets. That being said, both goskids made use of those power/surge protector cords that allowed more than two items to be plugged in. For both kids, the one and only outlet on their side of the room was usually behind a desk, bed or some other inconvenient object…</p>

69

<p>My universities dorms have three-pronged outlets, as well. With my power cords, my provided five personal outlets turn into 13. :smiley: </p>

70

<p>I really think some of this is school-specific or even dorm-specific. I was sure my 2 D’s would need printers and both asked me to wait (different schools). Neither needed one, had easy on campus or in dorm access when needed. Not only did they believe they weren’t needed but, as everyone keeps saying, space is small–neither wanted one for that reason either. If your kid finds she needs one, it can be bought on amazon and received in 2 days.</p>

<p>Several people recommend a first aid kit. Both D’s lived close to a drug store. Other than advil, they just bought as they needed which was close to never. Again, limited space and it’s hard to know what you’ll need–cough? fever? congestion? For us, it didn’t make sense to buy one of everything. Not a problem for my girls.</p>

<p>When you look into a local bank, the critical thing is where the ATM is located. My D’s home bank had a branch 6 blocks away; the local bank had one in the student center on campus. Those 6 blocks can be a big problem in the middle of winter. My D’s would recommend opening a new bank account for closer access to an ATM and take a chance on needing to get to the drug store when the sniffles come along (not that one has to pick one over the other).</p>

<p>Bring a power strip. My kids never needed any kind of tool kit or office supplies. Again, if they find themselves needing something, they can buy it – why take up precious space in the room that they may or may not need? I do believe they were happy to have and used their scissors. 3M hooks are great. I brought a big selection with me for move in and took back with me what my D’s didn’t need. Same with the screwdriver.</p>

<p>For move in day, bring a door stop as the doors we’ve seen automatically close – hard to deal with when your hands are full. Added benefit is to start meeting new hallmates and other parents. Also bring garbage bags and scissors. (We came from across the country and bought a lot at target, etc–lots of things in packaging.)</p>

71

<p>Take along a crank flashlight…doesn’t need batteries! If power goes out in dorm, for walking across campus at night, car breaks down, etc. Don’t have to worry about flashlight not working cuz of dead batteries…just crank it to charge it up.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/Energizer-Weather-Ready-Carabiner-Crank-LED-Flashlight/15571830#Product+Reviews”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/Energizer-Weather-Ready-Carabiner-Crank-LED-Flashlight/15571830#Product+Reviews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

72

<p>While I’ve always believed in keeping a flashlight handy, my kids have NEVER used one. They just use the flashlight app on their phones. Granted power could be out longer than the phone charge lasts, but in that case the college would evacuate them from the dorm to somewhere that did have power. Having just seen this happen a few weeks ago, I can tell you these students made charging their phones a priority over hot showers and hot food! Students were sleeping on floors in administrative buildings, and power cords were EVERYWHERE with multiple phone chargers plugged in.</p>

73

<p>I’m located in Tampa Bay area, America’s thunderstorm capital…we have a lot of power interruptions. I like having a dependable flashlight handy… keep one in my car’s glovebox too.</p>

74

<p>Like I said, I agree about carrying a flashlight, and having one in a car makes sense, but does a college student need one in their dorm? And are they going to carry one in their backpack in case power goes out when they’re not in their room? For most on-campus residents, using their phone is the more practical solution. YMMV.</p>

75

<p>Something else you might want to consider–pack your patience and bring it with you. We discovered that once we got up to my sons’ rooms with all their stuff, the boys tended to disappear down the hallways of their dorms to meet all their new friends. Their priority was to start college life right away, not to spend “quality time” with dear old mom and dad, getting their dorm room set up.</p>

<p>My sons are fairly minimalist creatures. They wanted me to make their beds up. They wanted me to stick their clothes in the closets and drawers. They wanted to help those cute girls in the room down the hall move their furniture around–etc.</p>

<p>We kissed our son goodbye for the day, with plans to meet the next morning for breakfast and a last run to stores and to get snack food, etc.</p>

<p>The room had been completely re-arranged, with the cute girls’ input. Son and his roomie had morphed into besties. Son thanked me for putting stuff away–he had found everything easily. We had a wonderful morning together, spending lots of money on food and school supplies (especially lots and lots of index cards–which he really ended up using in several classes).</p>

<p>Things we ended up sending later on, from home or amazon:
a small gym bag
extra shower shoes
extra shoes–son discovered that shoes get soaked walking across campus, and it’s not fun to wear soaking shoes. He liked to have an extra pair or two so he had some to wear while soaked shoes dried out.
small ziploc bags to keep all those index cards separated/organized/clean.</p>

76

<p>It might be overkill, but I got <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A03GAVK/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A03GAVK/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1&lt;/a&gt; for myself, and will send DS off to school with one for his room. </p>

<p>5 Rotating Electrical Outlets to Fit Large Plugs
Two Front Facing USB Powered Outlets for easy access charging of two devices
2160 Joules of Advanced Surge Protection
Auto Shut Down Technology shuts down power in the event of a surge
4’ Power Cord</p>

77

<p>My mom gave me so many flashlights! :slight_smile: I have one for my car, for my dorm, and perhaps 5 mini flashlights. Have I used them? No, but they’re there if I need them. I haven’t experienced a power outage at my university. </p>

<p>The seven outlet power strip is not overkill. Kids love access to outlets! Plus, bringing a spare power cord that your kid can bring to the library is a good idea. I’ve been to various study groups and we’re able to all study and still power our laptops when there is only one outlet available near us. </p>

78

<p>If you pack all your bedding in a big black contractor bag, your life will be so easy on move-in day. Take it in first, and be sure pack it in reverse order. When you open it, the mattress pad should be first, followed by fitted sheet, top sheet (if you use one) light blanket, the quilt or comforter, then pillows and if your kiddo takes a stuffed animal, that too. You will literally have the bed made in 5 minutes, you now have a trash bag. It cracks me up to see parents struggling with zip-tie shut comforter bags (and no scissors) and then struggling to find the box with the sheets…once the bed is made it can be a landing zone for the clothes, etc…it is just SO much easier.</p>

<p>A note on overpacking. We were lucky with our girls in that they are not too far from home. If you have an SUV and a sedan, take the sedan. If it does not fit, in 4 door family car, it probably won’t fit in the room. </p>

79

<p>Why are the wall electric outlets in dorm rooms always located directly behind the heaviest furniture where they are difficult to access?</p>

80

<p>An LED flashlight is pretty small–stash it in the drawer closest to your bed. Sure, you can use your phone as a light presuming 1) you charged it religiously and 2) it’s not a major disaster (because then your parents will be calling right away). </p>