<p>I would agree with Amazon Prime. If you are a member, you can invite up to 4 family members for free. It will come in handy as we will be ordering the majority of DS’ stuff for his dorm.</p>
<p>Amazon Prime is awesome. That is why I am not stressing too much about remembering each little item we might forget, or some of the bulkier things. In the dark ages, when I went to school, there was nothing, no place to buy anything. The bookstore sold Dial soap and toothpaste, but otherwise you’d have to wait until fall break to get anything you needed. :)</p>
<p>Definitely getting the shower tote and he already has slides he can wear.</p>
<p>Debating whether to get him a new suit (his current one is rather inexpensive and has been let out once) or whether his blue blazer will get him through anything he’ll need at college.</p>
<p>Can anyone advise on whether young ladies will need a formal dress (long dress)?? Or will a cocktail/little black dress and nice shoes be enough for occasions that might come up. I can’t imagine that she’ll need anything too formal.</p>
<p>Coral, I think it really depends on the school. Ds1’s school as a winter “formal” each year, but the pics I’ve seen show girls in short dresses rather than long.</p>
<p>Coral, the other parents from my D’s school have said to send a formal dress & cocktail dress(es) because there are several events campus- and dorm-wide she may need them for. I guess they could just as easily be shipped if needed.</p>
<p>My D is in a sorority and goes to a lot of formals, but all the girls wear short dresses. She did take a long formal with her, but she hasn’t had an occasion to wear it. She lives in DC, so we joke that she’s waiting for a State Dinner at the White House.</p>
<p>I’d have to imagine the formal varies by school - and kid. I can’t imagine my dd wearing a dress let alone a long dress. Her prom dress this yr is the first she’s ever worn. As for short dresses, she ain’t that kind of gal!</p>
<p>D’s school hosts a black-tie event every year for graduating class but she is not taking this as a predictor of what to expect for freshman year. She plans to take a couple short dresses (and by “short” she means “not ankle-length”). Plus a couple blazers and skirts for academic related events such as career fairs.</p>
<p>We signed up for amazon prime a couple weeks ago. I bought her laptop from there since in addition to free shipping - I saved quite a bit on sales tax. I already have plans to ship lots of stuff to her and my son via prime. </p>
<p>D loves tea and coffee (almost applied to Smith just because of their daily “high tea” - she told college rep who visited her school “Oh, I like tea”) and will be taking a Kuerig with her. Amazon has great prices on the pods.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the culture of the school for a clue for what kind clothes to bring. Some schools, such as the DC schools, have a lot of students on internships so they tend to dress “nicer” even in class (since they have to leave directly for their internships). Also if your child pledges fraternities/sororities, they will need more formal clothes for events. My S will be at a music conservatory with lots of public performances, etc. The students there are encouraged to dress professionally, so he will get a lot of use out of his suits and dress pants.</p>
<p>When they get to that point, I’m planning to send my Ds with at least one mom-approved traditional business outfit, whether they want it or not. </p>
<p>At an engineering school tour it was clear that the student greeters were told to dress in business attire. The men looked fine, despite many of the suits being a bit big. Suit, dress shirt, tie, shoes are somewhat hidden, they can get away with it. Many of the women, in contrast, clearly had no experience or help choosing business attire. Skirts and jackets, yes, but… Glittery white strappy 5" heels with a black suit. A ribbed cotton tank under a shiny poofy-short-sleeved jacket. Black cable knit tights with a navy blue suit. They exemplified the female engineer stereotypes.</p>
<p>D1 will be easy, she already owns many appropriate items. D2, well, she’ll fit right in at that engineering school!</p>
<p>Formal attire: D1 was in a sorority and they had lots of formal type parties. She wore short dresses (very short). In fact she brought quite a few of the dresses from various high school dances (which she shortened). The girls would trade dresses and we would often see pictures from parties with various girls wearing her dresses. Some sororities require a black or white dress for various functions. S2 is not in a fraternity. He does have a suit and has worn it to a sorority date dance or two and to a couple of work functions.</p>
<p>My D received her first unsolicited credit card offer today in the mail. Yippee. Now I need to google the opt out number and get her off the list. I discovered when the oldest went off to college that I could get her a card on one of my accounts and my good payment habits counted toward her credit rating. Her card has a different account number, so if she loses it I don’t have to cancel mine.</p>
<p>Momofboston: doorstop. YES!!! :)</p>
<p>Hello all…</p>
<p>We had graduation last Thursday and all went well. S is glad to be done and ready for the next phase of his life. </p>
<p>S just received his res hall assignment and is in a 4 person suite. </p>
<p>S recently decided that he wants to be a Design major (architecture, planning, industrial design, graphic design, etc.). I thought he had ruled that out but i was wrong again. I had to reschedule orientation, hotels, kennels, etc quickly as orientation is next week. </p>
<p>We plan to send S with either a blue blazer/dress pants combo or a dark charcoal suit. </p>
<p>Meal Plans…we have the option for a 14,17, or 19 meals per week plan. We are leaning towards the 14 meal per week plan…any thoughts from previous experiences?</p>
<p>Good morning! </p>
<p>Still 3 weeks until graduation for us. DS is having a grand time in Washington DC. I have started thinking about his graduation party. Let me know what worked and what didn’t.</p>
<p>Mealplans: My older two had a 14 meal per week plan. It worked out great, it was a premium plan so there was lots of flexibility. BUT, look at the price difference, if it isn’t much you might go for one of the higher plans.</p>
<p>We also had graduation last Thursday. Couldn’t have asked for better weather with the whole family in town. They finally left on Monday (whew!) and I am exhausted. D leaves for orientation tomorrow morning, so I’ll have a preview of that empty nest soon enough. ;)</p>
<p>Meal plan: My D realized that if the cafeteria was in her dorm - she actually went down for breakfast more often. When she had to walk to the cafeteria, she would skip breakfast or just eat yogurt and coffee in her room. This is probably especially true in colder climates. Unless your kid is a big breakfast eater, early riser and doesn’t mind cold walks, I would say go for the smaller meal plans.</p>
<p>one piece of advice I have been hearing, if the meal plan includes of “flex” points, is to shoot low and then add points because unused points are lost at the end and points can always be added if needed.</p>
<p>Congrats on the graduations. Classes are done here for Seniors, but graduation isn’t until June 6.</p>
<p>Prom coming up this weekend. Graduation not till late June! But, I can feel the air change in the house. I think summer is arriving and leaving HS is beginning to sink in. Finally, she is not so crazed about her schoolwork…
about dorm stuff:
D1 brought milk crates that stack to school. She found it helped as extra book shelves, shoe/closet shelving etc. she stacked some on top of her desk, to make extra shelving on the desk.</p>
<p>DS is done and laying about the house a lot. Still had one banquet, but he is coasting. Graduation is next week.</p>
<p>The weather is looking unseasonably HOT this weekend - like 90+ degrees, which will not be welcome for the 100 people coming to the graduation party 
I suppose it’s preferable to rain, but still. Not sure how to handle keeping all the food okay in the heat.</p>