<p>Less is More. </p>
<p>Everything you send (and more) needs to either come back home or get stored for the summer. Better to err toward less and buy a few things near campus if needed. </p>
<p>We arrived a week before move-in day, to get comfortable, adjust to the time zone, get the kids to see MDs at the med school in case they had medical issues with their chronic health conditions which were beyond the abilities of the health center, and to meet with the head of disabilities. We also were tourists and went to San Diego for fun and visited friends and Old Town Pasadena. </p>
<p>We made a trip to Costco to buy Gatorade and other things the kids wanted for their respective places. We also went to Target and Office Depot to buy the other things they wanted.</p>
<p>We left the weekend after they finished moving in, though we didn’t see the kid who was moving in much after move-in day. If time is tight, I would still try to get in a day or more before move in day, just in case the flight is delayed or cancelled or something comes up, staying at a decent hotel. It’s nice to be refreshed and have a nice meal a a family before dropping the kid off for the BIG ADVENTURE. Time zone changes can be a factor, especially when it’s a shift of 3 or more hours.</p>
<p>Oh yea, an ethernet cable and extension cords were very handy, as was an automatic rice cooker (tho best to be sure it’s OK with the dorm or housing).</p>
<p>hello
I did not read every response but I would definitely second or third the netflix account but also purchase a sling box.
sold at best buy etc
it is great, your child can have access to all of the channels, dvr that you have at home with no additional cost.
your child basically has control of the remote control from whatever home tv you hook it up to
my son and his friends love it,especially for local sports which he will not get were he goes to shool</p>
<p>Wait, what? A Sling Box?? <em>goes to research this beautiful device</em></p>
<p><a href=“mailto:OhEmGee....@fleishmo6…that”>OhEmGee…@fleishmo6…that</a> is an awesome piece of technology that we will definitely invest in for the boy!</p>
<p>Sling box looks very cool. This works even if child is in school far far away from Headquarters?</p>
<p>Am I an idiot? My eyes are welling up with tears at the thought of dropping her off…wow. It’s approaching so fast. Can’t we stop time? Just for a year or so? :(( </p>
<p>You can even ‘sling’ to your phone. Local sports is one of the biggest appeals, especially for people who travel and do not want to miss their local teams. We had one several years ago but no one ever used it. (Techie household, early adopters, and many abandoned devices.)</p>
<p>Some of the best advice I’ve seen involves getting along with a roommate: don’t expect your roomie to be your best friend. Look at it as a business relationship. If you turn out to be close, that’s a bonus. </p>
<p>For those of you considering Slingbox, there is also Belkin @TV. (I will not pretend to understand the difference.)</p>
<p>my wife makes fun of me as she swears that the sling box was the only thing I was involved with when my son went away to school
when he logs on to the site your exact remote control comes up on the screen
pretty amazing
he works the remote via the mouse
only down side is u have to set it up at home on a tv that you are not using as he logs on he now controls the remote
put it on a tv that the kids used for the playstations etc
it gets connected to the tv at home and your cable router
if they are not near each other an additional product gets purchased which looks like a baby monitor
so if u purchase ask the salesman and let them know router and tv are in different rooms
we didnt know had to make additional trip
very easy to hook up</p>
<p>Authormom- when selecting a comforter choose one that is lightweight, preferably with some polyester in it. A polyester blend dries quicker in the laundry.</p>
<p>^ Why lightweight? Is it usually warm in the dorms? Or is it just a washing thing? I was planning on sending a comforter we already have, but it is a heavy denim one. It doesn’t get washed here at home very often at all and his bed will be lofted.</p>
<p>My experience is that many dorms are roasting hot. My first year my roommate and I slept with normal weight comforters and an extra blanket, but we kept the window open at night year round. My next dorm was actually frigid for a good part of the winter, they didn’t turn the heat on until December which is a full month or two too late in Michigan… I liked having lots of lighter weight blankets to layer as needed.</p>
<p>We control our thermostat. None of the dorms I’ve been in have been roasting hot or freezing cold. It’s generally on the cold side inside our common areas and hallways. Extremely blankets and pajamas friendly! ;)</p>
<p>The heaviness of a comforter, I feel, it to whatever that person prefers. You can always add or subtract blankets and clothes if you feel uncomfortable. </p>
<p>If your kid has never done laundry before, maybe do a couple of practices washing and drying at home before kid leaves for school. Too, advise your kid towels will never get dried completely in dryers at school…the dryers there don’t get hot enough unless you spend a giant wad of money in them.</p>
<p>Where did you go, lizard? The dryers in my dorm get so hot that you really have watch not only your delicates, but your rough and tumbles and towels. They’ll shrink! On the otherside of campus, one of the laundry rooms dried clothes perfectly. 
</p>
<p>Dryers are extremely variable, not only from campus to campus, from dryer to dryer. :)</p>
<p>My school’s dryers shrank everything. I couldn’t put anything in it but socks, towels, and blankets. I bought a garment rack to line dry my clothes in my dorm. I’d been doing my own laundry over 10 years by then but those dryers were just terrible. </p>
<p>My D did overpack but I found we needed to because she was not coming home until Thanksgiving and needed winter clothes as well as summer/fall clothes. Luckily she had shelves in the top of her closet and we put all hoodies and winter coats up there. We also took a cubby shelf that had about nine cubby type openings and that went under her bed. We also took those three tiered plastic drawers and they fit under her bed as well. It is amazing how much you cand actually fit in those closets. You make it work. We only broght home about a dozen tshirts that she realized she didn’t need. She did say she won’t take as much next year and we are planning on storing the big stuff and winter clothes so we don’t have to cart it home.</p>
<p>Don’t think you will find anything at Target or Walmart at any of the schools. We couldn’t even find a light bulb.</p>
<p>As far as banking since there were not any banks at home that were near campus we found she could cash a $50 check at the business office anytime she needed and of course she had her ATM/Debit card. </p>
<p>Also an emergency backup charger for their phones along with extra cords come in handy</p>
<p>If you have a car and can drive, you can get what you need if you are willing to drive a bit further from school. We had no trouble getting our kids things when they moved in. We did go to Target, Costco, Office Depot. and other stores. All had decent inventory.</p>
<p>It was helpful to our kids to have an account with the credit union located on campus, so they could use their ATM and debit card on campus. We opened a joint account, so I could add (or in theory withdraw) money, as could each kid–opened separate account for each kid.</p>