Can you more experienced parents pass along some tips for making move-in day go smoothly?
Decide what boxes or suitcases fall in the “need to unpack now” camp (underwear, toiletries, etc) and which ones fall in the “if it waits a few days, no big deal” (winter clothing, back-up toiletries, etc).
If relevant, use the BBB buy-ahead and pick up strategy instead of schlepping stuff on a plane.
Here are a few things that worked for us with our older two.
Take everything you know you will keep out of the wrappers and boxes while you’re at home. Organize and pack by category: clothes hanging, clothes for dresser drawers, desk items, toiletry/shower items, etc.
On move-in day, eat breakfast. Drink water. People get hot and grumpy and stressed very easily on move-in day.
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Keep a small bag with move-in helpers handy - magic sliders, door stop, command adhesive hooks/poster strips, hammer, screwdrivers, batteries, light bulbs, etc.
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Arrange the room furniture before moving all the stuff into the room. (Bunk or unbunk beds, rearrange, etc.) If you plan on rearranging, bring magic sliders to make moving the furniture much easier.
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Use a door stop to keep the door open for whoever is lugging stuff into the room while the other person is putting things away.
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Pack a large garbage bag with the bedding in the reverse order of how you will make the bed. Pillows, comforter/duvet in the bag first, mattress pad/cover next, foam topper next, encasement last (so on top in the bag). It makes it easy to pull out and put each layer on the bed.
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Hanging clothes on hangers, pull a garbage bag up and tie the tie handles around the hanger tops. Goes easily straight from the car into the closet.
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Pack dresser drawer clothes in walmart bags separated the way you will want them in the drawers. Toss them in.
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Pack desk drawer items in the desk tray, tied tightly in a bag, so it can go straight in the desk drawer.
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This should probably be number 1 - let your kid decide how much or how little help they want from you once you get things into the room. They are all different on this.
Stay as calm as you can and have fun and good luck!
Go early. My nephew was all moved in by 7:30 and my sister heading home. The line of cars on the highway was worse than any football game day. My daughter went on a mountain bike trip so got to move in 3 days early. That was very nice.
If the dorm has an elevator, consider buying a collapsible/folding hand truck. About $30. Saves you hand carrying everything.
Best advice I have is go to Lowes and purchase some cardboard boxes. Once you unpack them simply break them down and slide them under the bed. They take up alot less room than plastic containers.
Not workable at colleges where student helpers unload your car and move everything into the student’s room immediately after you arrive (a strategy used at some colleges that do not have adequate-sized parking lots near the dorms – the idea is to empty out your car and get you to drive it to a distant parking lot as quickly as possible).
Also, rearranging furniture in a double room should be a joint decision between the roommates. If your kid arrives first or if the roommate has already arrived but is not in the room when you get there, it would be rude to rearrange anything.
I second the vote for the hand cart. I even saw someone with their kid’s Red Rider wagon – and people were jealous!
Have Clorox wipes (or whatever brand) handy so that if the furniture needs to be wiped down, you can do that before unpacking.
I second this: This should probably be number 1 - let your kid decide how much or how little help they want from you once you get things into the room. They are all different on this.
Maintain a sense of humor at all times.
"Keep a small bag with move-in helpers handy - magic sliders, door stop, command adhesive hooks/poster strips, hammer, screwdrivers, batteries, light bulbs, etc.
I will disagree on this. I don’t see a need for hammer, screwdrivers, etc. IME, you’re unpacking personal things, not assembling furniture. The college should provide bed, dresser, desk, bookshelves already set up. Dorm rooms are small, so if your first reaction is to bring furniture, you may want to rethink and streamline what you’re bringing.
I think a power cord multiple-plug thing is far more useful!
Before you get a hand cart…find out if your kids college has upperclassmen with carts who help,with moving the “stuff” from your car Big laundry bin carts. Both of our kids had this and the upperclassmen helped move them also.
We borrowed a hand cart from a friend and never needed it.
The best hint about move in…convince your kid that they only need to take half of what they THINK they need to take.
Moms - no handbag. Wear a wristlet or a small cross-body for ID, cards, cash and phone.
Don’t include anybody who isn’t going to be a help… this is not the day for an elderly grandparent or a preschooler to come and see Susie’s dorm room. If they are not able to lift boxes and walk long distances in hot weather-- they should stay home.
We did need a screwdriver and hammer. The mattresses were on a metal spring frame that could be raised or lowered on the wood bed frame. You needed the tools to undo the screws. The closet had moulding about 6 inches off the floor. We bought a piece of wood from Lowes and hammered it to sit on top of the moulding for an extra shelf.
If your stuff doesn’t fit into a small Toyota Corolla or similar, it won’t fit into your kid’s dorm room and you’ll end up hauling it all home.
Seriously- those lists at Bed Bath about what a kid needs to take to college? None of my kids freshman rooms could have fit half that stuff.
Bedding, towels, clothing, a few personal items to remind kid of home. Anything else- kid can buy locally if it’s an emergency or online if kid can wait a few days.
Those elaborate “organizing systems” to maximize closet space? Unless your kid is competing in the Miss America pageant and needs multiple evening gowns, shoes and bags, and a boat load of beauty products, you won’t need them. We were astonished by how much stuff parents were trying to cram into a small dorm room- multiple small appliances, arm chairs, stands for media centers and tv’s, dozens of pairs of shoes and winter clothing ( even in “snowy New England” you don’t need Ugg boots in August.)
The best strategy is to go minimalist at least for now.
We ordered a dorm fridge from a chain store for pickup at their store close to the college. It saved room in the car for other stuff. That allowed us to unload our car at the dorm, and then pick up the fridge and bring it back to the dorm.
Most chain stores do have a system where you can order online and have it ready for pickup at a certain store on a certain day. That also saves time in the store, particularly for stores that are very busy on move-in days in college towns.
Also label all the boxes with a student’s name and room no. if you expect any student volunteers to help you move in.
Bring a very basic set of tools, and leave some of them with your son or daughter.
My son said the college’s wifi system got overloaded and slow at certain times of the week (particularly with thick brick and cinderblock walls in the dorm). Therefore an ethernet cord was helpful, as was a thick mattress topper to make the mattress more comfortable.
On move-in day, we went to a grocery store in a shopping center near the campus. It is really hard to get in and out. You might look for a grocery store and other stores a little bit further away.
Go early, that way if they have carts, etc… you will be able to get one and you will have less wait with the elevator. Unless it has already been decided, first in gets pick of which bed they want, etc… It is nice to have 3 people (one to sit in the car in the loading area (and park it after everything is taken out), one to move the stuff from the loading area to the front of the dorm and the third to stay with the stuff). The fold-up hand truck thing can be very helpful, and if you end up not needing it for this move-in you may need it for a future move-in.
Try to have your child find out how move in works at their campus.
It could be you pull up in front of the dorm and burly people pluck stuff from your car and put in a big wheeled bin and bring it all up to the room.
It could be that you have to park across the street and tote your stuff over and go up the stairs as there is no elevator. (that is what happened to us)
So my suggestion is to bring a folding hand truck.
Also, there are usually some older students that are assigned to help. If they are proactive, great! If they are not, you may need to corral them to help you.
As a parent, I wanted to help my kid get everything set up as I wasn’t sure if it would if I didn’t… and my kids were okay with that. Listen to your kid…they may want you to go.
Underderstand the timefames that are expected… often you are assigned a block of time to move in.
Also understand when parents are expected to leave.
If you are going to buy their books from the bookstore, Pre-order their books so you can just pick them up.
Renting fridges may be a good idea because you don’t have to transport/store them over the summer, unless that is easy for you to do. If you do buy a fridge, buy it near college so you don’t have to transport it.
Less is more. Have them try to underpack clothes and get more later.
Consider what boxes/suitcases/etc they pack in…you want them to be able to fold up/store inside each other and fit under their bed.
There’s no law that says you have to send everything all at once. You can send boxes with winter clothing or have the kid bring them back with him at Thanksgiving.
Don’t bring books from home. Are you really going to re-read Harry Potter for the 12th time? No. You’ll have enough new books between your books for class and the library.