Thanks to all who responded to the will a dolly be more of a help or a hinderance moving into a dorm with stairs and 4 floors. I KNOW there are student helpers to help carry stuff in and there is a micro and fridge in the room. My daughter is not packing real heavy bins or boxes, either, but there are a lot of kids moving into this dorm with as much or more stuff. My husband is 60 years old but very capable and so is my daughter, of carrying stuff. ( My daughter is only 5 ft tall(short arms and weighs @125 lbs. With that in mind, I just want to plan as much to help my husbandI saw pictures of a lot ofpeople carrying stuff themselves. I hope there are enough helpers to go around and if not I want to be prepared to plan as much to help my husband and daughter with the least amount of
cont. trips, especially if it is the weather isn’t favorable.
My kid moved into a college with about 8000 or more freshmen all moving in at the same time. There was not an issue…at all…with the helpers they had at the school.
You should not plan to use a dolly to move multiple boxes up stairs at one time. That will not work well. Multiple trips are a much better idea.
The exact circumstances of move-in depend on the campus. But at many schools, you will only be allowed to park near the dorm for a very short time while you (with or without student helpers) unload the car. Then, someone will have to drive the car to a distant parking lot and walk back.
While this is happening, there may be a wait before your kid (with or without student helpers) can bring stuff to her room. During that time, be sure that the pile of stuff isn’t left unattended. At some colleges, there is a risk of theft on move-in day. If the student needs to go sign in to the dorm and get her key, one of the parents should stay with the stuff while she does it (while the other parent moves the car). If only one parent is available (not your family’s situation, but it might apply to other people here), one person stays with the stuff while the other moves the car, and then the parent stays with the stuff while the student checks in. Obviously, this takes a lot longer than doing it with three people, but it’s better than leaving the pile unattended.
If there are student helpers, use them, of course. But anything that’s particularly valuable or fragile (laptop, musical instruments, etc.) should be hand-carried by the student or parents because the helpers may handle things roughly. And absolutely every container should have the student’s name, dorm, and room number on it.
My kids always seemed to pick the top floor of no-elevator buildings. And those awesome sports teams helping move in the first-year students is a one time thing only. They won’t be there to help you move out, or to move in for subsequent years. I have occasionally used a hand truck but not so much on the stairs. Take your time, it’s okay to need breaks. It sounds like you should be the pile watcher while your child/the help does the actual moving.
I still laugh at vision of my son’s roomies dad sitting on the dorm floor putting together the futon. Everyone had to maneuver around him, it was taking forever to complete and he was not enjoying himself.
It’s a workout. Think of it that way. Of course you’ll make multiple trips, and life will go on. If you are physically unable to carry things as you indicate, then maybe you get to be the one who helps unpack while daughter and husband go back and forth. There’s little way around avoiding multiple trips, so it is what it is.
Never had any helpers actually bring suitcases to the room - just out of the trunk (which wasn’t really that big of a deal - two able bodied parents and an able bodied kid should be able to handle a move-in).
Even one able bodied paint…and the kid should be able to move the stuff. As noted above…there are helpers for the move IN, but there are no helpers for the move OUT. So your kid will need to deal with moving anything out…or you will…when the school year ends.
We told that to our kids…and they abandoned the futon idea.
What size rooms did any of your kids have that would have even accommodated a futon? To me, it’s like thinking about bringing a piece of furniture with me to a hotel room!
@pizzagirl, I saw several futons going into my son’s dorm at the University of Maryland when he was a freshman. The double rooms had beds that could be bunked. If you did that, there would have been room for a futon.
17’9" x 11’ including the closets. Both beds lofted, futon under one of the beds. I knew the length available under the beds and we purchased a futon that would fit, 72". Still room for fridge, microwave, 2 chest of drawers, 2 desks, 2 desk chairs under the other bed and in the remaining open areas. Cramped yes, but when others drop in, a place is needed for them to sit. No other chairs provided. I think virtually all rooms had a futon one of the roommates brought.
At visiting day, I ordered a love seat for son, and paid delivery. I’m sure he slept on it, rather than climb up to bed. He didn’t have a fridge, as each hall had a kitchen.
The couch is probably still in use, as is the window a/c.
At any dorm any of my daughters moved into, you had to unload the car at curbside and one parent had to move the car to large parking lot somewhere. There were always teams of upperclass students who swooped up all our stuff and delivered it to the rooms upstairs in seemingly a matter of minutes. It really was never an issue and that included mini-fridges, one year a TV, toaster oven, fans, etc., etc. Thousands of students move into college dorms every year with lots of stuff… keyboards, surfboards, skis, lacrosse sticks, luggage, clothes on hangers, sets of plastic drawers, plastic bins filled with stuff, full-length mirrors, etc. etc
By the end of the year, your kiddo should have made some nice friends and they can work togehter to move themselves from one place to the other, including handling stairs. Our D was able to enlist the help of two nice guys to have her help move from her place to another place. She bought them dinner and said it was SO worth it! 
I still don’t get the question. Isn’t it self-evident that dollies don’t work on stairs? What am I missing?
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Yeah, I think we’ve exhausted this conversation. Closing thread.