My dd went from Southern California to upstate NY. We paid extra for a large single. Most of her gear was for winter stuff. winter coats, boots, blankets, etc.
Your son needs to wait on his shipping because he will probably have a roommate or two. Each roommate will say what each will bring. The rooms are tiny in most dorms. Each student usually gets a desk, chair, bed (bunk), and sometimes a dresser or a shared closet. That was all three of my kids’ dorm descriptions at 3 very different colleges.
His space will be the top of his desk-which isn’t that big. That’s where his equipment will go. Is he sure he’s going to bring all of that stuff? He can’t impose on his roommates space.
Unless the monitor is specialized and necessary bcause he has specific vision issues, wait to find out what he needs for his classes. For example, design students often find that they need upgraded computer memory and video capability.
My daughter was not a ‘gamer’ in high school, but in college a new friend had the whole game world set up in his room (same dorm, different floor) and I know she spent a lot of time up there playing games. Her boyfriend also liked games and she had some remote thing that she could play with him. New boyfriend has some games he plays, but not a lot and she’s cut way down on it.
The friend did do it a lot. He was in computer engineering and also played an instrument so that took a lot of time, but if you ask me, they did spend a lot of wasted time on the games. My daughter also took a record player and albums, and I doubt she really used them much.
I’d say take ONE xbox in luggage when he moves in and if he needs a screen buy one there or have Amazon deliver it. I bet he could pick up a used one pretty easily.
As I’ve posted on many other threads - “less is more”. Start lean, then send more as needed (if it fits).
I’ll echo the concern about Xbox. There are so many exciting things on campus the first weeks… as well as intense academics. Sadly I do know a few engineering students that had to drop out. I can’t say it was the gaming addiction that for sure caused it, but having that distraction was surely NOT a good thing when things got tough for classwork.
One of my kids knew another engineering student in the dorm that was not happy. So the well-intentioned mom send MORE gaming gear. My kid commented that it was the last thing that student needed since he already spent too much time in the dorm room.
And have him give you access to his canvas etc, waive FERPA or whatever your kid’s school requires so you can see his academic etc account. As long as you are paying, you can set such rules. He can refuse, of course, just as you can refuse to pay. It isn’t a terrible idea for a gaming kid who has shown you how this rolls even when he lives under your literal thumb.
this is probably a dumb question from the parent of kids who have no interest in an xbox but why would he want 2 of them? Has he seen a room / pictures of his side of the room?
They are two different types of Xboxs. Have different games on them. Will have to bring only one because of limited space. I’m thinking the other will remain here so he can use it on breaks.
And I’ll add that although me daughter played more games once she was at college, they weren’t in HER room. The rooms that had the gaming systems did become ‘party central.’ The xbox and other systems can make it easier to make friends, it can also be hard to get rid of those new friends when you need to study, go to eat, go to class, etc.
My son goes to school 7 states away, isn’t a gamer and is very low maintenance with minimal possessions. That being said, we still rented a storage unit with some of his school friends to leave things at school over the summer. Things like bulky winter clothes, bedding and a desk hutch he bought on campus simply didn’t need to come home.
A friend of his at school lives over 2,000 miles from campus. When the friend called his dad to ask how he was going to get all of his possessions home do you know what the answer was? Throw it all away! My son couldn’t believe it.
@twoinanddone point is the important one. You really don’t want your kids room to become the hub of the dorm. Leave it all at home. If they move off campus in a future year you can consider sending it.
Our kid also rented a storage unit one summer (the other two summers, she stayed working at her school). Put all the dorm stuff in the storage unit and only brought the clothes she needed and toiletries home, and her laptop and instruments. No video games, however.
There is plenty of gaming kids do on their computers, so really, if this kid is a big gamer, he is going to find games to play online. You really aren’t going to have any control over that.
DS bought himself a Nintendo Switch as a HS graduation present. It is small and it travels with him in his backpack. He left the Xbox at home, with the turntable combo thingy his girlfriend gave him. Buy a screen locally if it needed. New or for about $25 used at a Goodwill store. One roommate was playing games too often last year and not getting enough sleep or focusing on homework, but he seems to be better this year.
DS and his roommates bought a tv together for sophomore year since they now have an apartment-type dorm. He only brings clothing and the Switch back and forth. He did shared storage last year and I will be arranging a small storage unit for him this year.
Btw - we also shipped nothing. We did the BBB pickup, 4 suitcases for the two of us on Southwest Airlines including prepurchased room items, shopped locally for toiletries, etc.
@JeanneAP, as an OOS parent of a kid that just finished freshman year at UVM in Engineering, leave ALL of it at home.
If he is assigned a triple, there is NO room for Xbox or turntable.
There is limited time to even use that stuff and even if he found room and time, it plays into him isolating himself.
We drove a packed car up, including a monitor. It was rarely used because the desks in the forced triple were under a loft with terrible lighting and no room to move around or set up easier.
Pay for you each to fly with 2 bags and don’t take anything else. Being from NOLA, he’ll need all new jackets, boots and winter clothes, so not much should be packed anyway.
Most UVM students need space in the dorm room for skis or hockey equipment. He can rent for the season.
I would really think twice about the reality of taking a turntable and albums. With packing and dorm space at a premium, and the fragile nature of those items, digital music sources are so much more practical for the college environment. He’ll look forward to the analog sounds when he comes home, but will realize what a mistake it would have been to take them to school.
Our kids both were able to acquire inexpensive monitors in college. They are VERY low priced to buy where needed. I would never consider shipping them. When they were done, they sold or gave them away easily as well.
We definitely believe less is best, especially as most kids have lived in a solo room at home and are moving to share a tiny dorm room. Crowded is not good for anyone.
We had to fly to get to our D’s college (which was 4,800 miles away) so we pre-ordered much of our D’s dorm needs (e.g. bedding, towels, etc.) through Bed, Bath, and Beyond and picked them up at their location closest to our D’s college after we arrived with her for the college’s freshman orientation program.
She also rented micro-refrigerators and microwaves through a company that had a contract with the college with her roommates each year so she didn’t need to bring those, either.
We purchased some small dorm furniture items, such as storage cubes, desk/table lamps, and shelf units from Target after we arrived.
When she came home for the Summer, her college had a convenient arrangement with a local storage company that would provide boxes and packing materials at the end of the Spring term and pick up the packed boxes and personally owned furniture from her dorm room and deliver them back to her when she returned to her new dorm before the start of the Fall terms.
She graduated earlier this month. After her commencement ceremony, we flew home with her and six checked bags. We also mailed two Priority Mail flat rate boxes home that contained books and other heavy or bulky items we didn’t want to pack in our checked bags. Fortunately, I’m a United Premier Gold frequent flyer and my wife and I received first class upgrades for the first segment of our trip home, so the two of us were entitled to three free checked bags each. As a result, we didn’t have to pay any checked bag fees for our flight home with our D.
Our D donated items such as her personally owned dorm furniture and clothes she no longer needed that we did not wish to bring back with us. After graduation each year, her college has a tag sale of student donated items, with proceeds going to the university.