do we need to buy printer? I have been thinking about it, but thought the dorm may have printers…
Dorms often have a printer/computer center, depending on the size of the dorm/college, but there will also be printers all over campus buildings. Also, many assignments are now turned in online so, other than proofreading a hard copy (which is preferable), they are not racing to find a printer in order to turn in an assignment in class. Very skippable on the packing list, in my experience. First kid took one, never used it.
On a printer, I think I would wait and see. My son didn’t take one but wanted one at Christmas. School had several he could access that were close by. He just found it easier to have one in his room. Was pretty cheap and small so it works well.
Other tips from this mom of 3 and recipient of almost 8 years of CC advice -
- If making the bed for your child makes you feel better - do it in this way:
Foam mattress topper, then mattress pad to keep it in place, then two fitted sheets with a $20 in between,then two pillowcases on the pillow. You can advise your student to at least take off the top fitted sheet/pillowcase at some time in the semester to have a “clean” sheet underneath and you’ll know when if they mention the $20
** this only works freshman year, after that you’re not allowed in the room !
- If you’re emotional, say your “goodbyes” at home:
Take the time to say whatever you want to say to them in the quiet confines of your own home (brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it ). Then tell them when it’s time for you to leave campus you’re just going to give them a quick squeeze and leave. No one wants their parents in their dorm room, dorm hallway or anywhere else on campus creating a scene. It can be an emotional, crowded, chaotic time - don’t add to it .
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SERIOUSLY listen to the advice to bring less. As others have mentioned, you can Amazon Prime them anything a few weeks after they settle in. Leave at least 1/3 of the clothes they plan to bring at home with the promise that you’ll send what they want in a UPS box in 2 - 3 weeks. Don’t be surprised if they don’t want any of it.
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Fan and a back pack that you pack with - power cords, simple tools, scissors, cold bottled water, granola bars, door stop and a few large black trash bags. Add canister of chlorox pop-up wipes if you want but your student won’t care.
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Consider leaving much younger siblings at home if at all possible. It seems that they’re mostly tired, bored and hot. Will also give you a chance to spend some last special time with your college student
Good luck and enjoy the day !
We totally utilized and loved those 99 cent bags they sell near the cashiers at TJ MaXX, Home Goods and Marshalls. The sizing is perfect for dorm packing and organizing the unloading process and they are easier to load in the car than rigid containers. Tie the tops in a loose knot so they are easy to grab.
Enjoy the adventure!
My rule of thumb is that whatever can’t fit in the car can usually be bought at Target/Walmart etc. Boys seem to need less than girls but it should basically fit in a car. My son is leaving in the early morning to drive 13 hours to his new job. His car is neatly packed with no extra room. He’s just hoping he doesn’t get searched at the Canadian border like his roommate did a couple of days ago. My messy son is leaving in 2 weeks to go back to school and he fits everything into his car-or throws everything into his car…ugh!! When he comes home for the summer we have tubs out in the garage and unload his college stuff directly into the tubs. Otherwise his room becomes a bigger disaster than it already is on a daily basis. Didn’t have to do this for the other kids but this way it’s out of the way for the summer and all ready to go when he leaves. Both boys do need beds this year so they are buying the memory foam ones that come in a box from Walmart. Son who leaves tonight has been told he will be transferred after 6 months so he plans on selling bed and whatever else he buys and being able to leave with everything in his car again. We also will sell son’s college bed and whatever else he acquires so we don’t have to haul stuff back with a trailer when he is finished school.
We fit all of S’s gear into suitcases and flew with him to campus. We didn’t even use all the baggage allowance we were allowed. Seriously, dorms aren’t as spacious as what they hay live in at home and the space is generally shared with a room mate. Whatever else he needed, we got after landing and unpacking him. For D, she needed even less because S have her the things he no longer needed. If you brought a trailer, I have no idea where all that stuff would fit!?!?!
“He’s just hoping he doesn’t get searched at the Canadian border like his roommate did a couple of days ago.”
What were they looking for? (I don’t need to know what they found!)
If anyone has experience crossing the border with a lot of stuff then I would be very interested in hearing about it. I will be driving up from the US to Canada in a few weeks with a car full of stuff for my daughter’s dorm room in Canada. I am curious how tough they will be. Up to now I have crossed the border many times with little trouble. However, I don’t usually have a car full of stuff.
Wow–we have never been searched on our few border crossings between the US and Canada. I guess it may depend on what they’re looking for, age, profiling, etc.
Agree with Pkchamp re the vacuum storage bags…wow, we used those for the first time recently, and can’t believe we didn’t try then earlier…real game changers.
We always laughed at move in at the families unloading and lugging in multiple cases of bottled water. Your kid will die of thirst if you don’t, as there is no water to be found in Boston. My caution is to be careful what you send all year. We found at move-out the car was way overcrowded - all those amazon prime shipments over the course of the school year accumulated.
I agree on the Amazon shipments @kiddie. Shipping it there free does not help if you have to ship some of it to get it all home!
@kiddie , so true! The contents of several care packages, especially ones meant to keep DS well stocked with personal hygiene and l as undry supplies, came home unopened. (But my laundry room at home is well stocked!)
We cross the border from Michigan into Canada all the time as we have a cottage in Canada. Searching CAN be random but often is done if there is something suspicious. What is visible when the border agent looks in your car windows (rolled down)? Sheets and school supplies? Or beer and a beer pong table?! Just be prepared to share appropriate info. “We are driving into Canada to drop off S at so-and-so college for the year.” I would recommend taking new stuff out of boxes/packaging - so there is no trouble with having to pay duty (not sure how they would deal with this for a dorm - but they ask us each time we cross if we have anything new will be leaving at the cottage). But if it’s out of original packaging they won’t really know new or used. They will ask how long “you” are planning to stay. They may ask about any fresh food (lunchmeat, meat, fruits/veggies) - this is more of an issue coming back into the states.
We have only had our car searched once in decades. We just had to pull over, get out of the car, fill out some forms and wait while they looked through things. We got a small hand slap for bringing back some deli lunchmeat. 
So when my daughter was in college, I would try and help with the toiletries. In every care package, I would throw in a few items - shampoo, toothpaste, etc. One year, when we were packing her up to come home we realized she had 7 extra deodorants!
Biggest Waste of Money: Decking out your dorm:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biggest-waste-money-decking-dorm-190910084.html
^^I’m always on the other side of this debate. I fully supported (within affordability) perks that made our kids more comfortable at college. A tv is nicer to watch a show on with your roommates (yes, they studied A LOT and worked but still enjoyed putting on Good Morning America or Mike and Mike while getting ready in the morning and relaxing with a reality show at night). Who wants to run down the hallway to use the floor toaster in the morning - much nicer to pop toast in in your room (and while my kids loved breakfast, they quickly preferred breakfast in their rooms over the cafe). A futon is great for having another place to sit in a small room if beds are lofted. So confining to only be able to sit on your desk chair or on your bed! - not very homey! And their dorm room IS their home for a solid 8 months.
We did bring a trailer a couple of times. It wasn’t packed full but was much easier to load than my H’s SUV which still also needed to hold 3 people. No big deal, pull the trailer up, unload it quickly - even in one spot on the lawn with someone watching the stuff - then park it a little distance away till we were ready to leave. My H thought this was much less hassle than stuffing a car to the brims and trying to fit everything in.
Now, my three did all go to small privates. Not fancy, but privates. So there weren’t thousands and thousands moving in at one time.
No one brought china, no one had clothes galore - but they did have a good selection. No 50 inch screen tv but a 32 inch.
My youngest is moving in as a junior next week to a campus apt. We just went shopping for a plant stand, pot and flowers for outside her apt. door (university approved, not a fire hazard). THAT represents home for her and was important. Small price for being comfortable and at home, at school.
A few things I’ve adopted over the years:
*Put all clothes that are going to be hung up onto their hangers, tie the hangers together at the top, pull them up through a giant hefty garbage bag and poke the top of the hangers through the top, and tie the end closed. All you have to do is stick them in the closet instead of unpacking them.
*Ikea has inexpensive giant blue heavy duty bags with great long handles, you can get tons of bulky stuff into them, they are super easy to stack in your car, and to lug into the dorm. Then you can just crunch them up to take home. Make great laundry bags too.
*Instead of taking bookcases, take either plastic shelves you easily assemble, or we use black wire cubes that we zipcord together in the corners to make cubes for food or shoes etc. They fold up flat in your car. Takes a few minutes to put together, but not bad.
*Pack towels in your refrigerator, clothes in your garbage can…use every bit of space. Take things like food and toiletries out of boxes and condense.
*Use saran wrap to wrap around things that might open in transit, like laundry hampers, refrigerator doors, storage drawers. Then you can just slice it off when you get there, super fast. DON’T use packing tape, it will be hot and might adhere to your items!
*Because I swear it is the hottest day of the year on move in day (no matter when your moving day is, not matter where you are!) take a box fan and plug it in first thing!!
I have two moving in the on same day this year at different colleges in different directions, wish me luck!!
I love those blue Ikea zip bags. I even got the cart that works with them for move out, since it is light weight.
I bought a Magna Cart for college moves. Never used it, but it is very handy now - Mr. uses it to haul stumps out of the backyard to load into the truck.