<p>Thanks @2016BarnardMom! Obviously things have changed since I was a pledge! I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to get through all of undergrad without writing a check. But he will have some just in case I guess. </p>
<p>Yes, my son will have his starter checks. We’ll see if he uses them. So far my D has never needed a check. As someone else mentioned, online bill pay does allow them to have a physical check sent anywhere too. These kids are living in a different world than we did! They don’t even use quarters for laundry at Michigan.</p>
<p>Coolest thing at Michigan- the washers and dryers are all online. There is a website where you can check the machines for your dorm and see if any available, how many minutes are left on all of them which are in use, etc. If you note which machine number you have, you can check online to see how much longer until you need to switch loads. How cool is that??? We used to run back and forth, back and forth, waiting for a machine to open- forget how long our stuff had been there- which could lead to someone taking your stuff out and leaving it in a pile in the laundry room! </p>
<p><a href=“http://housing.umich.edu/laundry-locator”>http://housing.umich.edu/laundry-locator</a></p>
<p>Can I ask why you are all sending passports? My DS has no imminent study abroad plans nor any other international travel planned at the moment. He will have his drivers license. He did need birth certificate to prove citizenship (or a green card would have worked) to get a job here. He just had to know his SSN. Hmm. I wonder if a photocopy is good enough for employment. (Now that I think about it, his passport is close to expiring! It was on the to-do list for the summer and didn’t get done. First chore for Christmas break!)</p>
<p>At Vanderbilt, in order to get a job on campus, they require an original Social Security card (no duplicates).</p>
<p>My daughter got her housing assignment today, and got into the “favorite” dorm on campus which is suite-style honors housing. She’s very excited about that. But, she is assigned with 3 sophomores who roomed together last year as freshmen, and she was pulled in as the forth.</p>
<p>I’m concerned that she will be sort of “odd man out” in this situation. They already have a system for living together and she’s going to miss out on all the freshmen bonding. I’m trying to look at the positives, which are that the roommate has already emailed d and told her the other girls are really nice. I wasn’t expecting this and I’m not quite sure how to think about it!</p>
<p>I ended up with a junior as a roommate my freshman year. It was actually quite helpful because she knew the ropes and was happy to teach them to me. There were plenty of others on the floor who were new, or transfer students, and it didn’t hinder my experience at all. In fact, not being in the freshman dorm, I didn’t have to deal with the same crazy/party/hookup scene that went on there. Some of those kids- first time away from parental controls- oh my they went wild. </p>
<p>Thank you, BarnardMom, that is very reassuring! (Not the wild part LOL). D has been having some anxiety problems this year, and I’m thinking it might actually be really helpful that they are more settled with a routine. I guess I’m just worried that they will just kind of ignore her since they are already friends. But if they sort of take her under their wings that would be so great.</p>
<p>I have been wondering the same as @Maryjay60 – why do freshmen need their passport at school? My son’s school allows the students to file the identification paperwork needed for on-campus employment when picking up their student ID card, so I was just planning to take the passport home with me, assuming I even remember to pack it.</p>
<p>Re: checks. I ordered checks for my son, which prompted a very interesting conversation about how credit card bills are generated and paid. At the conclusion of the conversation, he announced that it would be easier to pay on-line!</p>
<p>@CT1417
Its mainly for kids that need to travel by plane. Just in case they lost their DL, they have the passport to use. And if they lost both the passport and DL then they can order a passport using the birth cert. </p>
<p>I am curious if most kids bring a lock box or little safe to school for passport, ssn, checks etc. don’t want to be paranoid but worry she will misplace or lose if she doesn’t have secure location. Love to know what you are all doing.</p>
<p>And one more question…do any of you repeat parents have any tips on packing for the newbies? Not what to pack but the best way to organize/pack stuff. We are traveling about 10 hours by car. So many of you have such good little hints…could use some. We hit the road next Thurs.</p>
<p>RE: packing and organizing… this may be obvious, but take all the new stuff out of its packaging. We came home yesterday with $200 of Target puchases… many, many armloads of bags. But once we opened all the packages and threw away the packaging, and actually packed the items in their appropriate places (ie medicines in a plastic bin as a “medicine cabinet” etc) it was a MUCH more compact and manageable pile.</p>
<p>@lab317…son will be taking a small locked “cashbox” we purchased at Staples this weekend ($25) It has a handle and simple 3digit combination code. Also bought a cheap bike lock which S will use to secure the box (through the handle) to either the bed post or closet clothes bar (if there’s a shelf above). Son will be flying several states away and I wanted him to have a stable reliable place to store his passport and SS card. Will encourage him not to put drivers license there (even though he won’t be driving) because it’s a pain in the event both the SS card and drivers license are lost/stolen.</p>
<p>D has had her own checking and savings account for a few years now, and she got her own credit card last year. I too will make sure she has checks just in case. They have a local bank I’m not familiar with near campus. No Wells Fargo. I’m debating whether to have her open an account at the local bank. I like the idea of keeping her accounts with Wells because it makes it easier for me to transfer funds periodically. The only downside would be paying ATM fees for cash withdraws. Umm. </p>
<p>D got her dorm assignment last night and spent the next few hours talking with her new roommate. She got the dorm she wanted and it sounds like she and her roomie are two peas in a pod! The dorm is lovely, but for some reason it doesn’t have doors on the closet. Strange. Now I have no idea what to do with her shoes. </p>
<p>Those air compression bags are great for packing bedding. We also put things in storage drawers and then taped the drawers shut for travel. We have 3 cars making the trip (me, ex-H, and D) so we should have enough space. </p>
<p>@overtheedge - avoiding ATM fees was the main reason we closed DS’s Wells Fargo account and moved it to PNC. Thankfully we have PNC branches here too so when he is home for break he can use local branches. We did lose the ability to easily transfer money in and out of our accounts, but I can add money to his Case card via credit card online and that is accepted almost anywhere he would shop around campus. You could just open a local account while still keeping Wells Fargo open too.</p>
<p>If he can’t use his Case card he can use his debit card which should have more than enough to cover any emergencies (say a hotel room if he gets stranded at the airport or something). And if it’s something like the hotel scenario I can always call and prepay his room with my card. Maybe I’ll put him on my credit card just in case.</p>
<p>Not sure I really have any packing tips. We are organizing things by putting like items together (all toiletries together, etc.). He actually has less stuff than I thought he would have, but his pile doesn’t include clothes, shoes, or athletic equipment yet so it will still grow. We have a big SUV and we will take the third row of seats out and fold the second row down flat so there will be plenty of room.</p>
<p>Sheets are going in the wash today. Hopefully not the last time they’ll be washed. She doesn’t get her room number until move in day. It doesn’t appear there is any one standard room. When she was there for orientation her room layout was very awkward, with one bed having to be in the middle of the room, but very spacious walk in closets. The room they say is standard is completely different, and I just looked online and saw a room with a very tiny closet. Move in day may be very interesting!</p>
<p>Another thing I have made sure both my sons had was a copy of our health insurance card. Thank God they’ve never needed it but just having it would save a lot of time and trouble in an emergency. Especially for S2, who traveled for sports in high school - I was afraid he would be injured out of town and would have problems being treated without it. </p>
<p>New to this CC board, and so glad to read so many threads that strike a chord. Very mixed feelings about S’s departure for college in just a few weeks, very excited for him, but also worried about how I’m going to handle it. He is an only child…'nuff said. He has seemed somewhat in denial this summer, more concerned with his summer job and hanging out with friends than in planning or discussing his departure for college. It is a relief to see that this seems to be quite normal.</p>
<p>I am VERY anxious to see how he adapts to college and being away from home. He attended a VERY small private school, which I believe factored into his decision to attend a small Christian LAC about 75 miles away, rather than a large state university. He says that he will be coming home every weekend—I hope he doesn’t because I feel like he will settle in better if he stays there on weekends and participates in activities.</p>
<p>I’ve been accumulating “stuff” for his room all summer—he really hasn’t been into it, aside from his MacBook Pro. Maybe that’s just a boy thing, that he doesn’t care about dorm room stuff. I’m gathering lots of good ideas here, double-checking the lists here against what I’ve gotten, and preparing for the 23rd of August, move-in day!</p>
<p>MOVE-IN DATES</p>
<p>8/01 Calla1’s S – UCSB
8/08 Beadymom’s S — UAlabama (early move-in Honors program)
8/08 Maryjay60’s S — UAlabama (early move-in Honors program)
8/09 Eyemamom’s D — Auburn
8/11 go2mom’s D – Vanderbilt
8/13 Classof2015’s S — College of Charleston
8/12 2014 Novamom’s S – Case Western (early move in for varsity sport)
8/13 Momreads’s S – U. of Alabama in Huntsville (early move in for varsity sport)
8/15 Gertrude McFuzz’s D — Temple
8/15 Onlyonemom’s S — UVM - Honors college (Trek program - actually move in August 22)
8/16 lab317’s D – Willamette University (early move-in outdoor program- actual 8/21)
8/16 4beardolls’s S – Vanderbilt
8/16 jrmama496’s S — Vanderbilt
8/16 yellowgranite56’s D — Vanderbilt
8/17 austinareadad’s S – Rice
8/17 Ordinarylives’s D – Simpson College
8/18 Dave_N’s S – University of Pittsburgh
8/19 1dilecon’s D — Pepperdine University
8/19 12dandelion’s D – Rochester Institute of Technology
8/19 AvonHSDad’s D - Villanova
8/20 Cakeisgreat’s D – Quinnipiac honors
8/20 Momfromme’s S - Columbia (before outdoor trip)
8/21 Ovrseasmom’s S – University of Pennsylvania
8/21 Vandyeyes – Tulane
8/21 RenaissanceMom’s S – Tufts (public service pre-orientation program; orientation begins on 8/27)
8/22 2018dad’s D — Cornell
8/22 CT1417’s S – Cornell
8/22 mdcmom’s D – Cornell
8/22 mathmomvt’s S – UVM - Honors college
8/22 tperry1982 D – Yale
8/23 Overtheedge’s D — Sewanee
8/23 AsleepattheWheel’s S – Emory (outdoor trip for three days starting 8/19 – then we move him in)
8/23 1mississippi’s S – Mississippi College
8/25 My2sonsfromca’s S — Emerson
8/27 staceyneil’s D — Mount Holyoke
8/28 BarnardMom’s S — UMichigan
8/29 Bisouu’s D — Drew University
8/29 smakl70’s S - Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech.
8/30 akmom124’s D — Brown
8/31 Sweetbeet’s S – University of Denver </p>
<p>We leave on the 12th for son to move into Sewanee on the 13th – he’s doing a longer orientation which involves a course. He got his roommate and dorm assignment last night. Got ‘the best dorm on campus’ and it has a suite-style bathroom, which is nice. (It’s also haunted, if that interests you.) We decided that the residence people must have had fun with the roommate assignments – He and his roommate both have unique ethnic names that are hard to pronounce. Of course you would put these two people together! Fun for all!</p>