@Mwfan1921 maybe have her look into Burton Women’s Down long jackets. They make quality jackets that are stylish and actually functional. They’ve even had hip ladies like Gewn Stefani design jackets for them with Burton x Lamb collaboration. The Burton AK line is top shelf stuff. That’s what I wear. You can find good deals on stuff like that right now online, as shops are looking to dump stuff and make way for 2020 gear coming in 2 months.
@Mwfan1921 ugh. Canada Goose coats are $1000 a pop. Can’t imagine what the Montclair brand costs.
What group chat is your D in? Kids she met when visiting? S19 keeps in touch with a handful of boys he met but I don’t think they chat too much. I expect he’ll be talking more to future Polar Bears when he gets his roommate assignment.
Moncler is worse, seems like minimum ante of $1,500…nope.
I think the girls in the groupchat met initially via the student facebook page, then overtime some reached out to D19 via instagram and snapchat. I’m not even sure if this group communicates via text groupchat or only snapchat. I expect the girls are more active in terms of communicating than the boys!?
Holy cow! I never knew coats were so expensive! My D got a free coat at a free military yard sale dealie and I’m sure that will be enough for her. She wears her waterproof timberland boots all the time anyway because she finds them comfy, so I think that’s it for her for winter. I’m glad she’s going to Philly and not somewhere colder.
I hear you on the time dragging, @Stuffedquahog. My D19 had her last IB exam in mid-May and graduates Friday. She’s in London right now visiting old friends (we were there for four years before our two years in Geneva), plus meeting her college roommate in person for the first time. She returns Thursday night, so she’ll miss her graduation rehearsal and plans to just follow everyone else and wing it.
My in-laws and my mother arrive on Thursday as well for the graduation. The in-laws’ flight lands in Zurich and my mother-in-law is infirm, so I’m flying up there Thursday morning, renting a car and driving them the three hours down to Geneva. My wife will be in Amsterdam on business, getting back Thursday as well, and S22 will still be in school, so my mother will have to make her own way to the hotel. Graduation on Friday afternoon, and we’ve made reservations for a nice family dinner that night. Saturday we’re hosting a smallish graduation brunch at our place, and that night D19 and her classmates have their fancy hotel party.
Amid all that, we’re making preparations for our move back to the States on June 29. I’ve been making calls to set up our utilities, we’re compiling info for our Swiss taxes, my wife spent four hours at a government office waiting to get our departure attestations (yes, you need an official form to depart, at $25 a person). Hard to believe we’ll be living back in the States in just a few days. Really looking forward to it.
Counting my lucky stars D17 goes to school in southern Cal where a pricy winter coat is not the norm! Expensive cars line the dorm parking lots though. ? S19 will be in a cold climate but he will not care about that kind of thing thankfully. Those high top waterproof Vans will probably be right up his alley so thanks for that suggestion @RightCoaster. I’m going to check with the mother of an upperclassman at his school who is from our area to see what type of cold weather gear her son wears. I did note, while visiting his school as well as another in upstate NY in the middle of this past winter, with several inches of freshly fallen snow and temps in the teens, the sidewalks were shoveled so clunky boots did not seem necessary for walking to/from class.
My kid’s favorite winter coat - a friend of mine was in Germany when the Berlin Wall fell, and came home with a full winter East German Army kit. Six years ago my friend was downsizing so we went to his house for a yard sale. Kiddo fell in love with the coat even though it was way too big for him. It’s rarely cold enough for him to wear it but he wears it whenever he can anyhow. it doesn’t have any insignia or whatever, but it has that Cold War military vibe.
Kiddo says he wants to wear it onto the plane so we don’t have to ship it. Yeah, in August.
Which reminds me, need to make him learn to sew on lost buttons before he leaves.
Check with the school on bed risers because some might not allow them. At my D’s school the beds were hight adjustable and there was room for a 3 drawer cart under the bed at the highest setting.
I recommend buying the necessities like bedding, towels, surge protector, long charging cable, Ethernet cable (if the school has Ethernet ports in the room for more reliable internet speeds, shower caddy and shoes if they have communal bathrooms.
Lamps, and storage items can be purchased later on Amazon if needed or at local stores.
I think Moncler jackets are more wishful thinking than what the kids will actually show up with! There will likely be more Patagonia, North Face, Columbia. As for boots, I know a lot of kids wouldn’t be caught in LL Bean boots, but in Maine they are a homegrown brand and source of pride.
As for lamps- not all dorm rooms will have a good overhead ceiling light, so at minimum a desk lamp can be a necessity.
@homerdog Around here it was definitely Timberlands in HS for boys but according to my son most moved on to LL Bean boots in college. We did without the Thinsulate. That’s what socks are for. 
But they do sell out early in the season…that is true. They have had inventory issues the last few years.
Coats…S17 had a Patagonia (bought on sale) for everyday…a Burton for snowboarding that he has had forever. Lord only knows what S19 will do. He has a snowboarding jacket but I think he, too, will want a Patagonia. They have thinner down jackets that work well.
I hope so and you are likely correct. But, in the off chance they do show up with those jackets and D19 doesn’t (which of course she won’t because we aren’t paying for that, and she is still asleep at 10am rather than having a job to go to), she will just add it to the long list of perceived slights that she will complain about at every Thanksgiving and Christmas in perpetuity! ?
S19 has a good stock of coats. A Patagonia that he will likely wear most of the time when it’s cold and a Burton snowboarding coat with removable lining for when he’s outside for longer periods. And he has dozens of winter hats. We just need a shoe/boot run!
@Mwfan1921 using the initials for D17’s school that refers to the rumored type of girls who attend, reflective of their supposed material desires. While D17 is not one of them and has managed to find many like-minded friends thankfully, she acknowledges there are definitely plenty of girls walking around with their designer bags and shoes! And cars, as I noted previously. 
Most of the days in the the northeast are colder and grosser, then snowy. Even when it snows its only a few inches at time, unless there is a blizzard type storm which might happen a few times a year and then school gets cancelled until things get shoveled and plowed out. It’s not like the kids are walking through snowfields to get to the dining hall, class, gym etc.
A good, warm, weather resistant ski/snowboard jacket, a casual pair of warm gloves, a hat, some nice socks, maybe a scarf, and weather resistant shoes are all a kid needs to walk around campus and be warm on school days.
They can add ski gloves, snow pants, winter boots, technical first layer pieces, if they want to go outside and play in the snow and be warm and safe.
My kids like to wear fleece lined flannel shirts with a layer or 2, or down vests and flannel shirt and cozy slippers for hanging around the house and staying warm in the winter. I love thinner tech down vests. I wear them over a flannel and stay warm most days, but can add a shell layer on wet and windy days.
I could probably write a book on this subject.
No bad days, only bad clothes.
Thanks for all the tips… yes, we left some stuff out …laundry basket, dishes/flatware etc.
D19 is an inverse snob so won’t look at Canada Goose on principle, even though they are great coats. (My wallet admits to being relieved.) She has perfectly serviceable winter stuff (we go to Tahoe regularly in snow season) and will probably wait to see what everyone wears before deciding if she wants anything else. Her snow boots are not very fashionable; she has this idea she can wear wool socks with her chelsea Docs and that will do - which she has done ok for her in nyc winter before, including one of those arctic vortexes or whatever it was called - but it remains to be seen if that will be sustainable beyond the week or so a year she’s done it so far.
Late comment, but @Rightcoaster Awesome story. Selflessness and understanding the value of teamwork!
Feeling both happy and sad at the winter weather discussion. I thought these were decisions we’d need to make, but alas… On the other hand summer clothes take up much less room. I worked about 20 minutes walk off-campus for a few years, and those knock-off duck boots served me well in NE, but only came out during rain, snow and slush.
D went on her planned trip with friends at the end of May, then was abducted at the end of that trip for an impromptu 2 week visit in FL. She’s back this week for drivers ed. Then off again for 6 weeks. I miss her when she’s gone, but not as sad as I should be for this new normal. Possibly because I’m on a house de-cluttering, downsizing mission, and it is easier to be extreme when she’s not here. Not missing the more frequent trips to fuel up, either. Perhaps, when I am satisfactorily minimalist, I’ll curl up in a ball.
Oh, has anyone used the OCM Dorm linens program? Was skeptical because they actually seemed reasonably priced. Made me question the quality.
edited: and wouldn’t you know, there are threads on cc for this very topic.
My daughter loves her Bean boots (we are on the east coast) and wears them a lot in the winter. but my son only wears his Timberlands every now and then - he lives in his casual sneakers and Sperrys.
Target Walmart and such have inexpensive XL twin sheets that lasted several years for my D. She had two sets.
We did not get the package through the school.
Both my kids have winter boots (Timberland and some from Nordstrom) and D has a puffy longer coat for the freezing weather and S a wool jacket, he layers that with tshirts, sweater and sweatshirt if necessary. Both wore gloves and hats on the coldest days. But I bought both coats on sale.
@ninakaterina the worst thing about drivers I encounter around here are people who look right at you, and then pull out right in front of you. And people don’t like doing wide turns for some reason.