<p>I shouldn’t forget my son’s favorite item: a nice pair of noise-canceling headphones! </p>
<p>The best ones are a bit expensive but a wonderful luxury for dorm living and plane travel. </p>
<p>A nice graduation gift if your student doesn’t already have a pair.</p>
<p>I give those surge protector multi-outlets as graduation gifts to nearly everyone. Kids always look at me strangely, but never fail to thank me after a couple of weeks at school!! Also, if you child is going to be going to school in a cold climate (but one that is hot in summer) get a small fan for the head of their bed. The day you move in will be sweltering, and every fan within 100 miles will have been sold yesterday. Be prepared to buy boots at Thanksgiving when your “I’ll be fine in sneakers” son realizes his feet get cold in the snow. And you can order supplies (bedding, memory foam mattress pad–my boys’ favorite item) online to be held at the closest Target for pickup.</p>
<p>This is probably on the extensive pack list that was cited earlier in this thread (and I’ve not looked at yet), but a family photo or two, including pets, to tuck in somewhere. They likely won’t want it on display!! but perhaps in a suitcase, other location they can peek at, especially in an emergency. I remember this from camps when my kids were little and even earthquake kits the preschool and private school kept in elementary school. </p>
<p>SJTH – I didn’t know you could order in advance and pick up at Target. Is it like Bed Bath and Beyond where you pay when you get there or do you order online and arrange to pick up at the local store? I’d be thrilled to do this!</p>
<p>In terms of the family photos, dh and I had a photo calendar made for our D’s that started in August and each month had photos of friends, family, etc. Maybe it’s more of a girl thing but both my D’s were happy to display them and really treasured them. </p>
<p>An LED flashlight is small and can be tucked away, and I sent one with my daughter, although I doubt it’s ever been used. My comments about using the phone as a flashlight were in response to the suggestion of having a crankable, non-battery operated flashlight for things like walking across a dark campus at night. I can’t imagine any student carrying a crankable flashlight in their backpack for when they stay late at night studying in the library and need to walk back after dark. But they’ll have their phone on them. Most students are pretty good about keeping their phones charged - those phones are their lifelines for everything! If not, then get them a keychain LED light they can keep on their backpack - those last for years. Having just seen a campus lose power in a couple of dorms for a few days, I never heard one student say they wished they’d had a crankable flashlight. Every home should have one, but I’m not so sure it’s needed in a college dorm room. </p>
<p>I was stuck in a dorm building once during a tornado, during the summer when there were no REAL adults there overnight and just student RAs, and not one person had a flash light, any bottled water, or a radio and we were stuck in the basement for hours sweating our butts off, thirsty and starving. Every time we thought maybe it was safe to go back up stairs, the siren would go off again. We were down there from 10pm to 6am. Horrible. I kept a bag with a flashlight, crank radio, and bottle of water in it on the floor in my closet after that even if it did feel stupid!</p>
<p>Even if you DO have the emergency bag packed, you are never sure if you’ll have access to it when the alarm goes off. I’m sure it’s better to be safe than sorry and can certainly understand why you might prefer to have an ER bag packed and ready to go after the hours in the basement. That does sound pretty miserable.</p>
<p>S freshman dorm had no AC. We sent him with a small bedside fan but it didn’t help much. Ordered a tower fan from Costco and it was a life saver. He uses it 3 years later.</p>
<p>We bought S a fan from an office supply store near campus. Their dorm had no AC and it was warm in August. His subsequent apartments all had AC, but the fan was good for freshman year. </p>
<p>Both our kids love the robotic vacuum cleaner. S used it as an auxiliary alarm to help his cell phone get him out of bed. He used the program function so it would go off every day when he needed it to and it would make noise and bump his bed so he’d get out of bed and start his day. It also was great in helping keep allergens down (both kids are allergic to dust and dust mites but aren’t fond of vacuuming. It was expensive but both our kids found it helped reduce their allergy symptoms.</p>
<p>OP, a nice card with a note telling your kid how proud you are of them is a nice thing to leave somewhere they will find it. A bit of cash n the card is also nice; maybe they can take out a new friend for dinner.</p>
<p>This is so helpful! Ok, taking it to another level… for those of you who have moved kids via airplane (ie, too far to drive), to major cities, thoughts that don’t involve heading to Target or BBB? Do most uni’s allow you to mail items there before move-in day? </p>
<p>(Found out Friday that D was accepted to UChicago! Not sure if she’ll land there yet - we’re still trying to soak the news in 
- but it would be more than a hassle to drive there to move her in.)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, most colleges will let you ship stuff in advance of move-in. From Chicago’s website:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>AuthorMom, you’ll have to check with whatever school your D selects…so far, one school did and one didn’t. I wanted to mail early to make sure the things would be there and accessible on move in day. As I recall, we were able to pick things up the day before move in day but this was a small, liberal arts college. For me, I don’t want to leave before my kid’s room in set up (or I fear it might never be!)–also, I want them to be free to engage, meet people, etc and not worried about finishing unpacking. Would have really bothered me if we weren’t able to get their things from the mail room while I was still there so getting confirmation from the specific school about how it all works is important.</p>
<p>Both of our kids had to fly to their U–USoCal, which is 2500 miles over the ocean from HI. S went first. We each offered to bring ONE checked suitcase for him. He was able to contain everything he wanted or needed with his one carry on and a checked suitcase for himself and each of the 3 of us. We DIDN’T ship anything to arrive before we did because his U didn’t allow it. </p>
<p>After he moved in, he asked us to mail him up his blazer and dress slacks that he wanted to wear to career fairs. I all fit in a medium size flat rate box, with a dress shirt and tie. USPS Flat Rate boxes are great–free at the post office and so easy to use and send at reasonable prices. We did have to buy a printer and a few other things after we got to his dorm, which made us glad we rented a car and could drive around to get what we and he needed.</p>
<p>Less is really better, since shared dorm spaces are so small (especially since many of our kids are used to having their own larger room). The bag we left S with was a wheeled collapsing duffle, that would fit easily in his closet taking up virtually no space.</p>
<p>Frequently recommended things S never had: toolkit, first aid kit, flashlight, office supply kit, microwave, tv, dustbuster or other vacuum. (His freshman dorm had vacuums for students to use, not that it ever crossed HIS mind! ) He did have a shower caddy, a multi-outlet surge protector (absolutely crucial!), and a window fan.</p>
<p>Congrats on the U of C, AuthorMom!</p>
<p>There were a few bulky bedding things that D1 (west coast to east coast) ordered; we had those shipped directly to the school so that we wouldn’t have to pack them and fly them cross country. Which was convenient and wonderful, but D1 did need to go pick them up from mail services. Unless mail services is right next to your child’s dorm (or the boxes were delivered right to her dorm or room), I wouldn’t want to ship too many boxes.</p>
<p>Both our kids went to school plane rides away. A few of my suggestions would be:<br>
<p>Enjoy! It’s a crazy, stressful, magical time!</p>
<p>We are still waiting on offers, so it’s unclear which destination we need for a plane ticket. </p>
<p>For those of you who fly coast to coast (or from Hawaii), we are looking at a long flight too for nearly all our son’s options. Do you have to arrive in town the day before if the “official move in time” is earlier in the day? Do you visit campus together then or what? </p>
<p>picapole…if you can…arrive 2 days earlier…especially if going West to East…allows a little time transition…and also allows for any airline hiccups. We spent time day before move in heading to Target/BB&B/etc. With second kid, also toured him by closest urgent care and ER, as his campus health center was closed on weekends. Also cruised the campus, plotted our strategies. And had a nice dinner with kid, all to ourselves. Once they hit campus, they are busy with their “new life” and you don’t see much of them before you leave.</p>
<p>I totally concur with arriving the day before if you are flying a long distance. You can tour the campus if you have not seen it before, go to Target and BBB, etc. Once DC is moved in, unless their are special programs for parents, you are free to go. DC will be involved with orientation activities, etc.</p>