<p>On the role of visiting days etc.:
My son went to them at both Harvard and MIT. At MIT he had a great time with all the organized activities, but not much sleep. At Harvard his host basically ignored him, he hung out with other prospectives and some current students he already knew, much more low key. Afterwards he had a hard time deciding but chose Harvard, and its worked out quite well. :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much, Gadad!</p>
<p>1moremom, yes, she was at RSI.</p>
<p>DS also came home from RSI sure he would attend one or the other. It drove me crazy during the application process when he would only apply to four schools (H, MIT, Cornell to appease his GF and our flagshipās honors college). He always wanted to go to MIT, until he went to RSI.</p>
<p>Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom Parents out there! Had a nice day with family which started with a brunch with hubby and with Ronsard-m-aimait! Hope all had a wonderful day!</p>
<p>bookcase-- come with the room or to be supplied? What furniture does the College provide-- I have heard that the beds are elongated cotsātrue? If so, where best to find sheets?</p>
<p>Doe last yearās frosh sell their used furniture.</p>
<p>If there is an item you wished you had supplied, what is it? If there was one thing that you DID send that was unneeded what was that?</p>
<p>Each student is supplied with a bookcase, twin-long bed, chest of drawers, and a desk. </p>
<p>The overhead lighting in the dorms is very dim. A bright desk lamp, and a bedside lamp are important for reading. (A tall halogen floorlamp was provided in the house dorm, but it shoots the light upward, not down.)</p>
<p>My daughter said her sleep was much better once I picked up a memory foam mattress topper for her bed. She had complained non-stop about the bed. Be sure to buy X Long twin sheets.</p>
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<p>We did that for our D too, and she liked it much better.</p>
<p>Couple of Boston Globe bookmarks for Junior Parentsā Weekend or move-in:</p>
<p>[Cambridge</a> restaurants beat BostonĀs for innovation, experimentation - The Boston Globe](<a href=āhttp://www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants/articles/2011/05/11/cambridge_restaurants_beat_bostons_for_innovation_experimentation/]Cambridgeā>http://www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants/articles/2011/05/11/cambridge_restaurants_beat_bostons_for_innovation_experimentation/)</p>
<p>[The</a> best pizza eateries in Greater Boston neighborhoods - Boston.com](<a href=āhttp://boston.com/ae/restaurants/gallery/pizzacrawl/]Theā>http://boston.com/ae/restaurants/gallery/pizzacrawl/)</p>
<p>The pizza restaurants include Cambridge 1 on Harvard Square, Gran Gusto in North Cambridge, and Za in Cambridge. Could be more that I missed. If other parents would like to comment about any of the restaurants mentioned here, thanks in advance.</p>
<p>They make the toppers for x-long mattresses? which brand, if you donāt mind? </p>
<p>Is there any laundry service he can subscribe to or does everyone shlep stuff to the coin machines (if that is the case, we will have to pack twice as much stuff because I doubt he will be doing that very much (and nothing white, as sorting would be beyond all imagining 
))</p>
<p>There are laundry services offered by private companies. But most of the kids I know washed it themselves in the coin machines. One of my daughterās roommates got all the way through 4 years at Harvard without ever doing laundry. She bought something like >60 pairs of underwear, and when she started to run low she would ship them home to her mother to wash and return. Everyone thought this laundry-phobia was a hilarious, over the top quirk on her part.</p>
<p>Etondad - We just ordered a regular length topper. D only uses the first 5ā8" of it anyhow. :)</p>
<p>The way I figure, DH doesnāt need softness for his feet that extend past the topperās length. Etondad, your son will figure out the laundry thing eventually!!!</p>
<p>Hi all! Thanks for all the suggestions. I am making my listā¦and checking it twice. </p>
<p>I am wondering what folks have done about bank accounts. Do we need to get a local one or will it work to work with our account from home? Does anyone have thoughts on the Harvard Credit Union?</p>
<p>On a more difficult note, what have folks done about funding their students for incidental purchasesā¦meals, clothes, etc. We are trying to figure this out.</p>
<p>YAY! my son just finished his last final of his junior year. Itās bitter sweet. Iām thrilled that heās almost done with college because heās excited to start life. But, Iām also sad because it just shows how my kids are growing up and are so much less dependant on me 
</p>
<p>oh Cāest la vie!</p>
<p>btw, it took my son several months of not doing laundry his freshman year to finally get the hang of doing his own laundry - we were NOT paying for private laundry service. They figure it out when they get sick of their dirty clothes :)</p>
<p>lhenkin - The Bank of America location just outside the main gate to the Old Yard has a whole room of ATM equipment. It may or may not be the best financial deal in the Square, but its convenience canāt be beat.</p>
<p>Laundry - the Harvard Student Agency has a drop-off laundry service that worked well for my d. It was economical and saved her a ton of time and stress. </p>
<p>Stuff for the room - we bought a standing/reading lamp that came in handy. And foam mattress toppers are a very good idea.</p>
<p>As for banking, during move-in, many if the banks in the yard had staff members on the sidewalk offering their deals. D opened a local acct. In Cambridge, but the offer quickly changed and fees rose repeatedly. She has since closed that acct and she will be opening an acct at the credit union in the fall. In addition to the local account, she kept/will keep her acct with our local bank so we could quickly transfer funds for her as needed. This worked for us.</p>
<p>guitars, I know how you feel! I spoke with my DD, who is a senior, last night and she is done with all exams. I canāt believe how quickly time has gone by. Graduation is in two weeks!</p>