<p>I’m sorry–didn’t get through all the 90 plus replies, so may be repeating information. My daughter has been going coast to coast for school for quite a while, but it was just this year that I found out that some colleges are affiliated with shipping services, such as college boxes dot com. I have used this service once, and it solves many problems. They ship the packing materials to your house (amazing) including tape. You download shipping labels. They pick the boxes up at your house (amazing). They ship them to your school, and even hold them if it is too early for delivery. If they have a relationship with the school, they will actually deliver the boxes to your dorm room. Amazing! For all that service, it costs less than I was paying just to ship the boxes myself. Even if your school is not affiliated with them, they might be with a similar company. If not, you can still use this company, and they would just deliver your boxes to the mailroom, and you’d have to lug them over (usually schools have carts you can use.) When you are leaving for the summer, same thing. They deliver empty boxes to your dorm, you pack and print labels, then make appt to have them picked up at your dorm, then they are shipped home or they can even store them. The way I finally heard about this was from a mother I know who packed their kid up to go from CA to DC. Move-in was during a hurricane-like storm–luckily they flew in early, flights were cancelled, students were delayed, a big mess. I said, you poor thing, how did you manage to get his boxes to his dorm in that weather? Oh, they were already in his dorm room. I was floored! What is so great about this is that instead of having to go to local stores and figure out how to get things back to your dorm, find washing machines, etc., you can buy sheets and towels at home, wash them a couple of times, and pack them. They send you more than enough boxes for everything, including pillows. They will ship a desk chair if you wanted. So when you arrive you are totally ready to go, as if you’d packed up the family SUV. Sorry to sound like an ad, just can’t believe the tribulations I went through until I figured this out.</p>