<p>So, we’re old hands at D’s Parents Weekend, and can safely predict the list of activities. It’s really ALL about the football game. Don’t get me wrong – it’s great fun, and D has become a huge football fan. OTOH, we just got the info about S’s Parents Weekend (fortunately the 2 don’t conflict) and the list of activities goes on and on and on … I was reading through it thinking there must not be a football game, but indeed there is – against RPI. Of course the real point of the weekend is to spend time w/ our S (or D), but the list was pretty impressive. I mean, we can even get our photo taken w/ the WPI mascot, Gumpie the goat!</p>
<p>CBBB, sounds like fun 
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<p>Answering my own question: yes! I checked a few random books on Amazon and the savings ARE significant. Well worth the effort. I don’t now what made me think the college would get some sort of publisher’s discount and pass it on to the students!</p>
<p>Savings are huge. At S’s bookstore they had “used” prices too but they never had the books so if you ordered them online you ended up paying for new ones. I really dislike the fact that some bookstores won’t release the ISBNs. I don’t see why the bookstore should be a for profit part of a university. D’s school has ISBN’s on all the books and it really makes it so much easier to find used copies.</p>
<p>For second hand books I almost always end up at half.com but for the four books I just ordered, they broke down as follows: 2 half.com, 1 amazon (used), 1 Barnes and Noble (used).</p>
<p>And don’t forget that you can sell the books back through half.com with only a commission paid after the book sells (namely listing is free). I put all the used books up that S or D doesn’t want, have them on a special shelf in my den, keep leftover boxes and bags from books we’ve received to rap them in for shipping and just wait until they sell. Better than books that are never used again and collecting dust.</p>
<p>On another topic, D requested roommate to be her friend on Friday morning. No response yet. Told her maybe roommate is on vacation. What else do you say?</p>
<p>Lots of reasons that the roommate could have not responded…maybe she’s an infrequent facebook user…or maybe she’s a constant user and he parents have banned her.</p>
<p>Lord have mercy…Husband is now wanting to go up in the attic and pull down all the things Son can take with him to college…you know, like the red hot pot that was purchased in 1977…I told him we have a checklist and have almost everything and PLEASE don’t start emptying the attic…I’m afraid. Very afraid.</p>
<p>OMG, missypie! LOL! I haven’t laughed that hard in weeks! Have you thought about a second career as a comedy writer? It sounds like you have lots of material in your own home!</p>
<p>I certainly do…and darn this cool snap. We’ve had so many 100+ degree days, which means the attic is unbearable for most of the summer. But today it’s rainy and 72 which means Husband could actually stand to venture up there. I need to think of a distraction to keep him out of the attic until it gets hot again…should have waited to do the 5 hours on tech support until today.</p>
<p>I was interested in the comment about parent’s week-end and football. Both S1’s school and S2’s school schedule their parent’s week-end around when there isn’t a football game. I presume there are no hotel rooms/parking to be had on football week-ends. Alum may have the towns locked up for years in advance. </p>
<p>Luckily we were driving distance from S1’s school so could make all the home football games without a hotel (H hasn’t missed a single home game in three years). Still working on where to stay for S2’s games. However, no problem booking parent’s week-end.</p>
<p>More on ISBNs – we have run into the problem that sometimes bookstores order “packages,” such as text books packaged with work books or lab manuals (e.g., languages) or CDs. Then the ISBN will be different. This was the case, e.g., when D1 took Japanese. We could not find the books matching the ISBN anywhere – not even on the publisher’s website! She found out from the prof what the components of the package were, and we found the books that way. Yes, it can take a lot of time and sleuthing, and you have to judge whether the savings is worth it.</p>
<p>My older daughter became a pro at shopping the sites, and by her junior year she was locating and purchasing all her own textbooks. </p>
<p>I should also add that in selling used books, it was her experience that she could do often do well or better selling the used textbooks she no longer want through various informal sites or bulletin boards at her schools. E.g., the students in her department (CS) had such an online forum for used books. The bookstore isn’t always happy with this, but there’s nothing illegal about it.</p>
<p>Before she graduated, though, she did sell what she left from her spring term back to the bookstore; it was just easier to have it off her hands than to have to ship it home to California.</p>
<p>LOL! about the 1977-era hot pot. Wouldn’t the heat in the 100+ degree attic over many years have damaged it?</p>
<p>missypie, what else is in the attic for son to take to college?</p>
<p>I was talking to a friend today whose daughter just received her housing/roommate assignment. The daughter has a name that could be either male or female, so of course she was paired with a male roommate!</p>
<p>Thanks to all for posting their shopping tips here! I think we have done as much shopping as we can pre-roommate assignment (Wooster will not mail out assignments until Friday and D leaves for Algonquin this weekend, so she won’t know until she gets back a week later - only a few days before she leaves for team training - UGH!)</p>
<p>My coup was taking advantage of the 50% sale on Ott-Lites at Joanns - got a nice desk lamp for D and am considering getting a floorlamp as well (that I can always return or use at the house if there is not room for it in the dorm). I swear by them for my night reading and crafting stuff…I couldn’t believe how much dorm stuff they had there for a “sewing” store (bed risers, storage, etc.), so if BBB is sold out of anything it may be worth it to check there, and they usually have 40% off coupons pretty often…</p>
<p>Google Joanns printable coupons. You can print off your own 40% coupons!!</p>
<p>Oh gosh, it seems like I’ve been away forever. I’ll try to catch up with your posts.</p>
<p>Suffice to say DD got her room assignment and got what she wanted. She has made contact with her suite mate and was very happy to hear she is one of the RAs. She reserved all the books for her classes and we are just counting down the days. She made contact with her section leader in band and has ordered all the things she needs for her band uniform. I can’t believe it really is all coming together.</p>
<p>I checked out the school bookstore’s website and they have a page to put in D’s student # and get her booklist, it’s just not updated for the fall term yet. </p>
<p>We have been shopping off & on. We have most of the bedding and went to a college shopping night (20% off) at Container Store on Sun evening. We had already checked out BB&B, Target, etc. so we stuck with items unique to C.S. or on sale. I hadn’t even thought about Joannes, will have to check it out.</p>
<p>Roommate assignments do not come out until after Aug 1. However, D’s school page already shows her dorm with room number and the girl she plans to room with (met on facebook and in person at orientation) has same, so it looks like she got dorm & roomie of choice.</p>
<p>It seems as if we hardly ever see D lately. She is spending as much time as possible with her friends,some of whom are leaving quite soon. This is also the most free time she has had in years what with dance being done and not having the pressure of school.</p>
<p>FallGirl – “dance being done and not having the pressure of school.” Exactly the same here. D loves it.</p>
<p>D2 has physical today. Still no sign of packing. 3 days until she departs. Still needs to shop for school supplies and toiletries.</p>
<p>Ah, Joannes…two+ full aisles of dorm stuff in “girl” colors and a tiny section of the same stuff in gray…that’s *all *they need to complement the cinderblock walls…gray accessories. (But the girl stuff was adorable.)</p>
<p>I kept that Container Store invitation all summer, but when it came down to it, there was nothing unique that we needed from there…the organize-y stuff from WalMart was just fine for Son.</p>
<p>Yesterday Son got up a 2 pm, went to a birthday party at 7 pm, got home around 11:30, then stayed up on the computer until 3 am. Repeat today? Of course, when I heard him come upstairs to bed at 3 am, then I was awake for a while, worrying about how he will possibly succeed in college (and not make a roommate insane.)</p>
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<p>Makes me feel a bit ill to even read those words. How are you holding up?</p>
<p>I thought my Ds bookstore was run by Barnes and Noble – isnt that common, or is it only smaller schools. In any event, all you have to do is input your classes and section, and it spits out books, new and used (if available). So she ordered all used. We will try to get to bookstore early and make certain they are in good shape - if not, exchange. </p>
<p>I am now getting nervous that all her stuff wont fit in my car. She has a single, so I am pretty confident it will fit once we are there.</p>