<p>We live in VA and D will be starting school in CA. Of course, we want to bring as little as possible on the plane (there will be two of us traveling to CA and only one back!) D will just bring clothes, laptop, cell phone. I’d love to hear tips on how and where to get bedding and other dorm supplies. When we hit the ground, we will need to maximize our time running around accumulating everything she needs (including a bike) in the couple of days before the start of school. What things did you/your student find absolutely essential and on the other hand, what was unnecessary? Her school will provide (for rent) a combo fridge-microwave.</p>
<p>No advice other than utilizing UPS and or doing stuff online to be sent to school.</p>
<p>I moved cross country but my kids were 2.5 yo :). Good luck!!!</p>
<p>You locate the closest Bed & Bath or whatever, order online, and set pick up for once you’re in CA. Don’t forget hangers, laundry bag. You get your extra long twin sheets now, before choices run out- assuming you need T XL. Depending on bike preferences, you can also scope out choices and pricing online and pre-order. Many of us do the WalMart or Target run, once at campus- for last minute supplies, a case of water bottles or Brita pitcher, laundry soap, a desk lamp, maybe a fan. Figure out whether you’ll give her copies of any Rx and if there’s a pharm close enough. For campus jobs, mine had to I-9, so they took along passport, SS card, DL, etc. Girls often also like a set of favorite photos- we made a collage (size that will fit in her suitcase,) had it laminated at a copy shop, she picked a few photos we bought cheap frames for, once there. The funny thing for my D1 was that, after personal products and favorite clothes, the one critical thing to her was water and soda- she’s outgoing and liked meeting new people and sharing that. Exciting times ahead. Enjoy.</p>
<p>Oh- anything you do mail or ship: be very sure to use the target address the college specifies. They often set a particular spot for all the deliveries. Also, mine had orientations that involved outdoor trips- and required boots. Unfortunately, when that’s the case, often better to buy at home, break in a bit and carry on the plane.</p>
<p>I second the Bed Bath Beyond idea. Dd went west to east. We ordered everything possible from there, and collected those 20 percent off coupons. You can use as many as you have! Find the thread on movein tips from last year…excellent ideas. We rented a condo instead of a hotel on vrbo dot com. same price, and a washing machine and enough room to spread out and get rid of all the extra packaging. Be sure you keep strong scissors, a doorstop, a couple trash bags, and a few other tools in your purse. One mom suggested packing all the bedding in trash bags, washed and in reverse order (e.g. Mattress cover at the top, comforter at the bottom. this seemed silly, but it was great…once the bed is fully made, it seems half the work is done and you have a place to pile the rest!</p>
<p>We did the other direction, West Coast to East, but the principle should be the same: triage</p>
<p>TheMom did a spreadsheet, broken down by categories. </p>
<p>Each item was then assigned a “Bring,” “Ship”, or “Buy Local” flag.
E.g. winter clothes were “Buy Local,” no sense trying to find appropriate items in SoCal.</p>
<p>Size & weight were considered: there was no use burdening a suitcase with drugstore items, notebooks, pens, papers, etc. </p>
<p>Lucked out that D’s college had a program where we ordered her laptop computer and picked it up there…one less thing for the plane but otherwise that would have been a “Bring.”</p>
<p>The quota on “Bring” was would fit in D’s two suitcases and one of mine. Some things might raise eyebrows: a stuffed animal, a few “comfort” DVD’s and books, etc. </p>
<p>The spreasheet made it easy to run around like crazy to places like the aforementioned Bed, Bath, and Beyond et al. and pick things up, along with buying a mini-fridge for her room, beat the rental price after a year and a half and was of better quality.</p>
<p>I agree that organization is key. Excel is your best friend for this project.</p>
<p>I wanted to minimize the amount of shopping we’d have to do once we arrived, so my goal was to ship or pre-purchase as much as we possibly could. </p>
<p>Bed Bath & Beyond was a life-saver for large and bulky items we needed to purchase (linens, fan, garbage can, desk lamp). Over the summer, you go into your local BB&B and head to the bridal registry. They register your student, and then give you one of those guns and you walk around the store and select what you want. They find the BB&B that’s closest to the college, and you tell them the date you’ll be there. Once you arrive, you go into the college-town store, pay, and walk out with the stuff. </p>
<p>BB&B didn’t have a comforter that D liked, so we ordered that online from JCPenney, and had it shipped to the college-town store where they held it for pickup. If I’d thought of it in time, we might have ordered her sheets and towels this way as well. </p>
<p>We packed up D’s large and bulkies (shoes, winter clothes, her Apples-2-Apples game, and yes, a stuffed toy or two) into large boxes we got at Home Depot for $3. A week before departure, we took them to the Post Office and mailed them Parcel Post, and they were waiting for her when we got there. I’m not sure if all colleges will accept packages before the student arrives, but it’s worth checking into. We shipped three very large boxes for about $75. I always pay the extra 65 cents for delivery confirmation.</p>
<p>For school supplies and desk supplies, I was afraid the college-town stores would be picked over by the time we got there, so we bought at home during the summer. This stuff tends to be heavy for its size, so we used the Post Office’s Flat Rate Boxes. Books and CDs were shipped the same way. Flat Rate Boxes are the best thing ever, and I still use them for care packages. Those are 2-3 day delivery.</p>
<p>We packed her current-season clothing in suitcases and those flew with us.</p>
<p>That left only HABA, paper products, cleaning supplies, and a starter supply of snacks. Before we left, we made an extremely detailed list and then hit the Target once we got there.</p>
<p>LasMa - Great tips on how to ship and what to ship. Very helpful!!! thanks</p>
<p>West to east coast move. Less is more, better to start off with less. Dorm rooms aren’t large. If your child starts without something and then realizes they need it, it’s easy to order things and get them shipped directly to the school. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you get free two-day shipping, which is very useful.</p>
<p>If you fly Southwest, you get two free bags per person. Between you and your kid, that’s four bags plus carry-ons. You can get a lot of stuff out that way. If you’re planning on visiting your kid during the semester, you can bring out another bag of stuff later–good for colder weather clothing (though for CA you won’t need heavy winter gear). </p>
<p>Whatever you buy, keep things wrapped until they’re really needed. That allows you to return anything extra.</p>
<p>The BB&B people are great, but human–check your order before you leave the store to make sure that they included everything. And consider placing your order sooner rather than later, as they do run out of items at the pick-up sites. </p>
<p>Many schools have a group trip to Target/Walmart/whatever during orientation to fill in odds and ends; if that’s the case, you can skip doing the big shopping trip with your kid on the west coast.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that Amazon Prime is free for the first year for students! (Ahhh…they love to suck you in… ) I told DD’s family to buy gift certificates for BBB and Amazon for graduation presents -</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. I’m sure this is immensely helpful for those who are moving from the west coast to the east coast.</p>
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<p>True and true. They do give you a list which is handy for checking against all your lists at home. If you discover you missed something, I’m sure you can go back and add it.</p>
<p>Also, you don’t pay when you order, so if you change your mind about an item, you just have them pull it out when when you go to pick it up.</p>
<p>We made the same college move in 2006. Here is what we did…first we flew Southwest so that each of us would have two bags to check. We did NOT ship anything at all.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One bag had linens in it (DD wanted to take HER quilt and some towels she received as gifts) plus a few odds and ends clothing (like socks and underwear).</p></li>
<li><p>Second bag had clothing for DD in it.</p></li>
<li><p>Third bag had related items…shoes, a little more clothing, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Fourth had my clothes for the three day trip, plus any school supplies DD wanted (desk things, etc).</p></li>
<li><p>We each carried a backpack and another item. DD carried the computer bag and I carried the instrument case.</p></li>
<li><p>Larger items were purchased in CA. We did the Bed Bath and Beyond thing here, with pickup there. This was for bulky items like pillow, desk chair pad, mattress pad, lamp, etc. We also made a staples run for a small printer. Trip to Target was for toiletries and a small TV.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When I flew home, I brought back two of the large suitcases. One was a piece of junk and went in the trash after the trip to CA. The other stayed with DD for her trip home. Oh…one of the things in one of the suitcases was a small folding duffle bag.</p>
<p>The most important thing to remember with this plan…rent a car that is large enough to hold all the baggage. Our first rental was large enough but the opening going into the trunk was NOT large enough. We upgraded to a midsize car and all was well.</p>
<p>As an FYI…DD stored most of her stuff in the summers when she came home. No need for that college “stuff” here anyway. When it was time to move out after 4 years of collecting stuff, we told her…it had to fit into 5 suitcases (there were three of us traveling so we had 6 bags but WE needed to use one for the return trip). She fit everything she wanted to bring back into those 5 suitcases (thank you SW Airlines)…and got rid of the rest. We actually traveled to CA for graduation with 5 empty suitcases.</p>
<p>Start saving your BBB coupons now. Just to clarify… you go to your local BBB store and pick out what you want and they will have it ready on the date selected at the store you picked.</p>
<p>When you arrive at BBB they will pull your order – check the boxes. Feel free to remove things you have changed your mind about and you can add things as well.</p>
<p>We did Target and Wal Mart for toilitries, small fridge etc. My child did not have a car so we probably over purchased some items – but he used them through the year. He had plenty of storage, your child may not. Also hit Office Depot for some school supplies. (Wal Mart and Target were surprisingly picked over because the local k-12 schools started the same time as the U.</p>
<p>Agree with the rental car suggestion, make sure it is a large enough. We did the same thing with suitcases as someone else. Most went home with me.</p>
<p>S flew alone to CA with only a carry on (summer clothes/toiletries) and his laptop. (Didn’t want to have more than he could easily carry on bus, shuttle to get to campus.) We mailed a couple boxes with bedding and heavier clothes, school supplies etc. which he picked up when he got there. Done.
Simplify. Travel light. No need to pay for extra plane tickets for parent/s.
S didn’t have a refrigerator and didn’t need one. Although he went to a small college in a rural area and had no car, he was able to get basic stuff (toiletries, laundry detergent., snacks) at campus store, or get an occasional ride to town.
Don’t think of going to college as “moving” (kid doesn’t have to take ALL of his/her possessions). Think of it as “going on a trip.” Most kids take way too many clothes. They’re gonna do laundry, right?</p>
<p>Second the folding bag - we have three of this one which was originally recommended on this board. They are strong, light, and fold into a little pouch,but have no wheels so you have to lift them. [Samsonite</a> Tote-A-Ton Duffle Bag : Tote-A-Ton](<a href=“http://shop.samsonite.com/Samsonite-Tote-A-Ton-Duffle-Bag/dp/B003L7T762]Samsonite”>http://shop.samsonite.com/Samsonite-Tote-A-Ton-Duffle-Bag/dp/B003L7T762) Straps are strong - bag is tough as nails!</p>
<p>Water bottles? Brita pitcher? Where on the west coast is she going that you need to supply something other than tap water? (Sorry, pet peeve.)</p>
<p>Don’t buy the bike right away. Desperation drives prices up and if she can manage for a few weeks… well, bike prices usually go down in the fall because retailers need to sell their old stock. This does not apply if she’s buying a used bike, but keep in mind many bikes on Craigslist are stolen.</p>
<p>(Why not buy a used bike locally and then ship it? It doesn’t cost much and you’d have all summer to look.) (And get a really good lock.)</p>
<p>I am something of a minimalist… I travel very light, and I try to encourage my kids to move light (until they settle). DS went to college with three duffle bags and came back with (four years later) four–and shipped three boxes of books.</p>
<p>Just some other options that have worked for us. Drugstore.com and dormbuy.com are great places to purchase items and ship early. Look for discounts right before school starts. Most school post offices will hold items.</p>
<p>I would check school’s policy on shipping items early. D’s school directed not to ship for arrival prior to checking in, as they would not guarantee secure storage. UPS does hold for up to 5 days, I believe. Also…if you are shipping something big/bulky/awkward, keep in mind the distance from PO to dorm…</p>
<p>Thank yoooooooooooooou for all these fantastic tips!</p>
<p>I am smacking myself in the head over the one about renting a big enough car. I don’t know whether I would have figured that one out! At home, I drive my four kids around in a mini van. But! When D and I went out to SoCal we rented a Mustang convertible! A two door car! And neither door slides! I forgot they still made those things! I was sooooooo looking forward to that again, but I can see it will not be the optimal choice if we are going to be transporting lots of luggage and supplies. Darn it all.</p>
<p>But thanks for pointing out the obvious! I don’t think it would have hit me until we tried to roll the top down and jam our four Samsonite duffles in through the roof!</p>
<p>I didn’t think of the car trunk opening size either! My daughter was standing at the side of the rental car lot with four suitcases, 2 backpacks, an instrument case and a computer case. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies without the rocking chair. It was then that I realized that the trunk opening was too small for the 29 inch suitcases. </p>
<p>It all turned out fine. We actually had a PT Cruiser and it was great.</p>
<p>I agree with others… Encourage your kiddo to pack light. There ARE stores on the west coast. </p>
<p>My son advises…put everything you think you want to take to college in ONE room. Then only take half of it. You will still have too much stuff.</p>