<p>Bubbe - Note above in Nikiwe’s post to you. She also mentions her son being a FOPer and arriving later on move-in day. Basically, the roommate that I remember only dealt with unpacking the very basics on move-in day day. Luggage/boxes up to her room/suite. Bed made. Toiletries, clean outfit, and towel found. She dealt with the rest of her unpacking over that evening and the next day(s).</p>
<p>Hi - I would assume cold and possible rain or snow. Think about reserving early if you are planning to eat out - a lot of places book quickly for the Holiday. If you want something on the higher end look at Harvest in the Square. Plymouth Plantation is quite a drive with potential traffic and an experience vs a meal.
BTW I am not a harvard parent but work at harvard and am a college parent and live in the area so hope it’s OK to chime in.</p>
<p>Oops it was supposed to quote from the original post I replied to which was about Thanksgiving in Cambridge</p>
<p>@Bubbe
Bubbe, who can blame you for being excited?! It is such a special time.</p>
<p>Re room #'s :I am not sure if you can tell what floor by the room #.
You are correct: E,W,and M signify the three Gray’s entrances, called entryways.</p>
<p>Re FOP, keys, luggage etc: unless it has changed, Foppers are urged to arrive for FOP with very little beyond what they would require for FOP week. They are allowed to store a few things (change of clothes, towel, shower essentials) in the basement of one of the dorms (I forget which one), but this is meant to be no more than one bag. </p>
<p>I have checked the FOP website ([FOPpers</a> FAQ](<a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fop/Pages/Foppers/FAQ.html]FOPpers”>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fop/Pages/Foppers/FAQ.html))
and Bubbe it appears you are correct that Foppers now seem to return to campus the evening before move-in day and can sleep in their assigned dorms that night.(I would still double check this if I were your GS).
If it is indeed so, it is a very welcome change. The way it was -arriving back dirty and weary late on move-in day- was ‘horrible’, especially since they have to help clean all the FOP equipment (tents and so on), before they can clean up themselves or think about moving in. Our S arrived sometime in the afternoon of move-in day and when we met him at the Square we barely recognized him. He was a sorry sight to behold, so we whisked him off to our hotel so that he could have a quick shower before moving in. By the time he got to his dorm it was probably about 4 or 5PM. I think it is wonderful that the FOP schedule has been adjusted so that they arrive back at campus the night before and can clean up before tackling the big job of officially moving in the next day. </p>
<p>That being said, it appears that the Fopper can only move in all his belongings the next day, move-in day.
From the website under Frequently Asked Questions:
“Q: When can I move in to my room?
A: Although you will stay in your own dorm room the night you get back from FOP, you will not be allowed to move in your belongings until the next day. You will pick up your key the afternoon you get back, and you will have access to the small bag you stored so that you can shower and change and have a place to sleep. The next day, Freshman Move-In Day, you will be able to move the rest of your belongings into your room. Despite the early access you have to your room, we expect you to follow regular Move-In procedures, as detailed by the Freshman Dean’s Office mailings. Particularly, we ask that you do not claim a permenant (sic) room or bed without your roommates being present, as the FDO mandates. Please see the Calendar of Opening Days put out by the Freshman Dean’s Office for more information on move-in day itself.”</p>
<p>Re your daughter unloading her vehicle: It is all arranged very well with cars arriving at assembly points (car parks) off campus, then getting a pass to drive on campus to offload.
If your GS arrives the night before, then he will be there to help her unload, plus if his roomies are anything like my S’s roomies, they will all come down, introduce themselves and help carry up stuff. Since we arrived in the late afternoon, the yard had quietened down quite a bit, we had no wait and it was a very fluid in-unpack-out process. Your daughter will have access to off-yard parking.(I am just not sure till what time.)</p>
<p>^ Hopefully what you are reading on the site is accurate but I have a strong feeling that that is the same info as last year and it was not how it worked out for D’s roommate(s). If I get a chance to catch her later, I’ll ask her for her input and what she remembers. But I remember thinking that her roommates were going to be there before her, and I know for certain one fopper came dirty and late on move-in day.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure all the pre-orientation kids will be getting back the day before move in because there was information about how they could pick up their keys the night before.</p>
<p>FOP kids come back late afternoon on moving in day. Two years ago, we had to wait around until D’s roommates came back before we could unpack. S is going to H this year, we might have to wait again, but we do not know if any of his roommates does FOP.</p>
<p>Daughter was a FOP leader for several years, and she says that most FOP groups get back to campus at about 9:00 AM. They then spend the next two hours cleaning and putting away their equipment and then get to their dorms to move in at about 11:00 AM. But groups that go to Maine arrive perhaps two hours later than the other groups and thus get to their dorms in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Question about vehicles permitted in the yard on move in day - the website states that only trucks under 15’ in length are allowed to park in the yard. If I have an extended cab pickup truck that measures about 17’ long, are they going to be sticklers about it? Or is the rule meant just to keep out big delivery trucks and moving vans?</p>
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<p>I suspect this is the case, but I don’t speak for the Harvard campus security people. It seemed to me that the Harvard cops directing traffic on move-in day were more interested in maintaining an orderly, traffic jam-free event than they were in measuring vehicles to enforce this rule down to the inch.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am the father of a newly admitted international student. We live in a very remote place and my wife is pressing me to go and help our daughter on move-in day but looking at the schedule of the orientaion week it looks like she is going to be very busy and not able to see us. It is a very long trip to Boston and if we can only be helpful for just one day, I was wondering if it is worth it or if it would be a better idea to go for parents week-end in mid-october where we might have a better chance to spend time with our daughter? But maybe I am wrong and we could spend a week in Boston after move-in day being able to see our daughter often without disturbing or interfering with her integration in her new environment ?
Thank you</p>
<p>Personally, I found it important to help my daughter move-in, make last minute local purchases for her, and see her safely established in her new environment. But if the goal is to spend maximum time with your daughter, that won’t happen much past the actual move-in day. By the end of the day it’s time for parents to leave and let their kids get on with their college experience and getting adjusted to their new life. Don’t try to hang around with her on campus once the move in is complete. That would probably be embarrassing for her since all the other parents will be gone. Letting go will be hard but it’s got to be done.</p>
<p>We scheduled touristy stuff to do in the Boston area on our own for the days after move-in and only visited her once more briefly to say goodbye before flying home.</p>
<p>I would agree that move-in day has more value than parents weekend. But I will state that though we left, I know parents of two of D’s roommates were there for multiple days. It is not that uncommon. How much time did they get with their child? I have no idea.</p>
<p>Though we did not “stay” we live 25 minutes away and I was called back to campus multiple times over the next few days to purchase/deliver various things that were needed for the room.</p>
<p>Papadelilou- Although it would be nice to help your daughter with the move-in, I agree with your assessment of the shortage of social time you will have with your daughter. Her schedule will be absolutely crammed full of events, none of which she will want to miss. A lot of bonding and early friendships form in a very short time and you do not want to pull her away from those opportunities. </p>
<p>I suspect she is probably quite independent and resourceful, and will be able to find the local hardware store and office supply store right near campus to shop for any last minute necessities for her dorm. She will have more local roommates who will either bring or buy many room supplies, and can always share the costs, or shop with them.</p>
<p>The parents weekend is a magical time when your student can share with you all she’s discovered about Harvard: her classes, profs, roommmates, extracurriculars, as well as her hopes and worries. My vote would be to opt to attend that weekend rather than move-in, since only one trip is feasible.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments. I like fauve’s description of the parents week-end being magical. We will try to make it for both events and stay around 2-3 days after move-in day just in case, although travelling 17000 kms for 2-3 days only is really tough!</p>
<p>We live really close to Harvard. On Freshman move-in day we arrived around 2:00 (DS was disorganized about packing and in no real hurry). All his roommates had moved in, so we made the remaining bed, put his stuff in the dresser, briefly met his roommates and their parents, went and got a snack, said our goodbyes and left because the only parking space we could find was a two-hour meter. He was anxious to get acclimated on his own and was familiar/comfortable with Cambridge. </p>
<p>I am already anticipating that for Sophomore move-in, I will be driving him and all of his roommates stuff that he stored over the summer, live-parking while he unloads, and then driving away–hopefully with a warm thank you. </p>
<p>I think it depends on you and your student’s comfort level.</p>
<p>@papadelilou - Could you arrive with your daughter a few days (or a week) <em>before</em> move-in? You could spend the time sightseeing in Boston, buying supplies, and then helping her move in. This might not be possible if she’s doing a pre-orientation program.</p>
<p>I feel pretty strongly that there’s no time/space for parents after move in day… it’s pretty essential social time for frosh.</p>
<p>^my daughter will participate to FOP so we cannot do that.
I fully understand that she will be very busy in the days following move-in day and I fully agree that we should not interfere. I wish you could explain this to my wife (she cannot speak english) who originally wanted to rent an appartment in Cambridge and settle there for the next four years! It took me a lot of persuasion to bring this down to a few trips to Boston during the course of the year.
I guess we will go for move-in day and I hope my wife will eventually accept the fact that our daughter has to live her own life.</p>
<p>Sorry to ask, but I see in many posts abbreviations such as “D”, “S” and “DS”. I guess D and S stand for daughter and son but what does “DS” mean ?</p>
<p>^Dear Son/Daughter :o?</p>