Laughing at this thread as I pop an Advil from the pharma-stash DS took to school because I insisted (and then brought home, safety seals intact)…
I wonder how this move out went… 
For many years with three kids, Dorm Mountain returned to a corner of the living room. After a few days “off”, they went through everything to remove unnecessary items. The mountains did get smaller each year. A few years, we had a mountain and a hill, storing S’s out of state roommate’s belongings. This year, nothing returned as youngest is staying through the summer for work. I’ll miss him and his minimalist mountain!
We had a dorm mountain in our basement for the six months my daughter co-oped in another city and rented a furnished apartment. It was mostly bedding, which I find are the bulkiest items.
The girl is sorting in our foyer / living room right now, and we’re figuring out where Dorm Mountain (love this oh so accurate term!) will reside this summer. Probably the bonus room which is also my office. Sigh, lol.
I don’t even know what happened to the stuff my son tool his first year. I think he gave some of it away, packed the rest into his SUV and drove home. He took a lot less back this year. Now I have no idea where he is putting his stuff for the summer. He isn’t coming home before he goes on his study abroad mini term. He hasn’t asked me so I’m leaving it up to him to figure out! Somehow stuff just seems to appear at the frat house. Maybe he is leaving the stuff there.
One of our kids went to college a 2 hour drive away. First year, we filled up the ceiling a minivan.
By his senior year. We used one backseat in a Volvo sedan, and the trunk. And that included 4 musical instruments. And concert dress clothes.
Really, he was fine.
The cross country kid…4 suitcases , 2 carry on bags and two personal items.and a trip to BBB, target and staples. At the end of four years we had six suitcases and anything that didn’t fit was donated
Mine surprised me. I do not know what she has acquired because she and several friends (all freshman) rented a small storage unit, signed up for car to go and moved all the stuff in. Mine is paying for her share of the unit so I suppose there is an awareness that square footage eats up a money. I’m not certain what happens after graduation because we live over 2000 miles away but it was nice not to be involved!
You do need a pillow sheets when you move in (perhaps even the pesky XL twin size). Most of the rest of the dorm items can wait.
I’m often the oddball out of this but to me a dorm room or college apt is a home. And a home might mean more “stuff”. While I don’t support every knicknack their heart desired I did support nice room accessories/furniture, tv/tv stand, etc. that made their place where they lived 9 months a home. We did not spend a lot of $$ - we used attic/thrift store finds, inexpensive but worthy store bought stuff and most of it lasted/has lasted several years.
That said, we always cleared out a spot just before college kid was coming home that would be the home for the “extras” over the summer - either a spot in the attic, basement or spare room. BUT, like others we did ask them to go through stuff within the first few days and to set aside stuff they didn’t use or want to give away or whatever.
The frustrating thing for me is that my kid gets to move out all his junk, only to move back into the same dorm, almost same room, 3 months later. Dorm won’t hold anything.
“This ones one me – kid doesn’t need the whole dang medicine closet when she can walk to a CVS. In August I bought everything I could think of she might need – and 80% I brought back home today”
No one wants to walk to CVS with a fever or when throwing up or when suddenly so congested in the middle of the night that it’s hard to sleep. Just have it in the room. Even a fully stocked “ whole dang medicine cabinet” takes up little room under the bed. It’s in my opinion not the place to be minimalist.
You can always send in the mail that one or two items they found they needed (bathing suit, formal dress, notebooks with info, shoes, etc).
Even a blazer, dress shirt, dress pants and tie fit nicely in the medium flat rate box when S begged we send it up so he could be appropriately attired for engineering career fairs that were frequent at his U.
@maya54 – you raise a good point. I think it’s the jumbo version of practically everything I sent that was the mistake! Small size starters for key OTC medicine would have been better.
All my DS’s medicine cabinet fit in a plastic shoe box. I was thankful for it when he had minor illnesses and when he got some sort of fever/stomach virus last month. He had pain relievers but, of course, I forgot to include Pepto and Gatorade. His kind and helpful roommate went out to get them for him but you never know who will be around to help.
DD managed to cram all of her stuff into her Ford Fiesta and is driving home right now. 
She can’t put it in our bonus room because we’re holding a neighborhood meeting there next week. I guess she’ll pile it in her bedroom.
Dorm mountain is currently in our living AND dining rooms! And D took off for a few days at a family lakehouse of one of her new college friends! But she was only home two days. She spent the first day pretty much sleeping and the second day finishing a final paper she had to turn in.
She knows she has to tackle it when she gets back this weekend!
Be careful what they bring in the house. There were roaches in his apartment after his sophomore year and I didn’t know it. We laid the bins in the family room and I saw the roaches a few days after I’m my kitchen. I went bonkers I took everything out of my entire kitchen and had the exterminator come out. I think I got them before an infestation as I only saw two after that. Got the exterminator out again and that was that.
Brings back memories. Son took far less his second year. One spring I prevented H and son from pitching his pillows- I found room for them and he did not need new ones the next fall. Fast forward more than a decade from buying those pillows for the new freshman- he recently, finally, replaced them he told me. Maybe someday he’ll ditch the old (from when we had a vacation condo when he was a kid) couch from his college apartment days that travelled with him.