<p>Thanks huinsider. My son is going to be living in Quincy, so he’ll just wait for it to arrive.</p>
<p>What are the veterans’ parents stand on rain coats?
Should we buy one now to bring over, or would my D survive without one for the first few weeks? She’s got rainboots and an umbrella already. Thanks!</p>
<p>Southbaymom, Your DD should do fine without a raincoat for the first few weeks. I am not sure if you are planning on attending Parents Weekend (23-24 October), but we found this to be a good time to buy any missing supplies/clothing.</p>
<p>I didn’t buy my daughter a raincoat until her junior year, and she was just fine. You can always bring one up in October as MSMDad suggested, or you could mail her one if she wants one.</p>
<p>Mitzy - My approach to pre-partum depression three years ago was to engage my envy as a Harvard wannabe. I really got into all the details of freshman life there, and subsequently found excuses to visit nine times in three years. Watching my Ds grow into such savvy, worldly young adults during their time at H has been the thrill of a lifetime. And thanks to AirTran’s off-peak fares, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the campus, Cambridge and greater Boston.</p>
<p>Speaking of getting savvy and worldly, my 5’2", 110-pound D2 got involved with the Tae Kwon Do Club at Harvard last year and then did study-abroad this summer in Buenos Aires. She got home yesterday and told her mom and me that she and a friend were mugged in Argentina a couple weeks ago by kids who wanted to steal their purses. To put it bluntly, D2 said that once she determined they weren’t armed, she beat the crap out of them. When I asked what form this beating took, she said “a headlock followed by a knee to the groin, a few punches to the face, incapacitated him by ripping his clothes . . .” I asked if the mugger was injured and she said “it would have been worse for him if I hadn’t been wearing heels.” </p>
<p>You can learn a lot of stuff at Harvard.</p>
<p>^ ^ Too funny!</p>
<p>thanks for all of the helpful info, everyone!
We’re planning to ship things this coming week - maybe 3-4 boxes from home. Do you parents recommend UPS or USPS?</p>
<p>I called Harvard Mail Center (very helpful) and they told me that shipped items for freshman may be shipped for arrival August 13 (yes the parents booklet said the 10th but the Mail Center said they will not have the list of students until the 13th). Having moved one child across the country without this service, I am very excited that I will be able to shop early and direct ship to Harvard. So now it will all be about the personal items, which I think we will be able to carry with two suitcases each. Although the xbox will probably need to be shipped. 
I made a list of the online merchants that were suggested earlier in this thread and plan to take advantage of their services. Thank you Harvard Mail Center.</p>
<p>It was so convenient for our family last year when we arrived on move-in day. We had most of my son’s things delivered (through Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock) directly to Harvard. When we arrived we just borrowed a cart from the mail center and took his boxes directly to his room. So easy and Harvard did a great job having everything in order for the students to pick up. No problems at all. Clothes and such my son carried in 1 large suitcase and my husband and I also carried some of his items in our suitcases. We didn’t even have to rent a car, we each carried 1 suitcase and that was it. We ordered his winter coat and his winter shoes online and had it sent to him also. Coming from California, this was the best way for us.</p>
<p>Gadad, do you happen to know whether Harvard has a karate club? I can’t find one in the organizations list so I may be looking under the wrong title. I’m the same size as your daughter but my background is in kenpo karate. I’ve never had a situation like what your daughter faced - not been out in the world much yet - but its great to hear her martial arts training came in handy!</p>
<p>A quick google search show that the undergraduates at Harvard formed a karate club in 1963 (YES, 1963!) but I couldn’t say whether that club still exists!</p>
<p>[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: Undergrads Will Form Harvard Karate Group](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=252244]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=252244)</p>
<p>(Can you believe that the Crimson from 1963 is online?)</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, I googled, Richard Cotton, the writer of the above article. Turns out that he is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBC Universal! </p>
<p>I guess that even back in the 60’s, writing for the Crimson paid off!</p>
<p>[NBC</a> Universal > Executive Biographies](<a href=“Leadership | NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA”>Leadership | NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA)</p>
<p>gadad, </p>
<p>Wow, so glad to hear that your D came out of her ordeal well. Good for her for being so responsive.</p>
<p>Actually Guitars, when D2 was four years old, I had to teach her six-year-old sister how to defend herself from D2’s surprise attacks. D2 has never been a girl to be messed with. But martial arts training doesn’t hurt either. :)</p>
<p>Does any one have any advise for getting/ applying credit cards for Freshman? I would like my S to build his own credit hisory if possible. A few of cards saw on the internet seemed to have very low credit limits.</p>
<p>D just turned 18 and applied for her first card. We went with Bank of America since she/we already have savings and checking accounts with the bank. Card arrive in about a week and the credit limit is $1000 which for me was a pleasant surprise. When son, who is 4 years older, applied for the equivalent card at the same bank before his freshman year the credit limit was either $300 or $400.</p>
<p>We opted to get a debit card from Bank of America for my daughter in her own name.</p>
<p>^ D has had one of those also for about 2 years. </p>
<p>The main difference in my mind is that I do not believe that you build a credit history with a debit card (but I could be wrong) and I wanted each of my kids to have a 4 year history of good credit established before finishing college. BTW Bank of America ATMs are all around Harvard as well as a branch office in Harvard Square. It sounds like this will make things easy for her while there.</p>
<p>we also got my son a debit card from BofA right across the street from the Yard. My son did not qualify for a credit card, but the teller told us that it is helpful to have a debit card. Not really sure what this means?? We should probably consider trying for another application.</p>
<p>^^Huh? BofA has a student package that we just signed D2 up for. She will be a freshman at Dartmouth this fall. The credit card has only a $700 limit, but it’s a start. They did ask our income too, but we don’t have to co-sign for the card. Try again. You should be able to get something out of BofA.</p>