<p>Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. We have to fly to LA for my son’s convocation on Friday morning then fly to JFK, arrive at 10pm, rent an SUV, drive to New Haven, pick up all the stuff DD ordered at Bed Bath & Beyond Saturday morning, buy a futon with a removable cover (since I am sufficiently grossed out by the possible stains and lice comments and Hunt does not do couches), pick up all the stuff my daughter is sending in boxes at the post office and then wait for her to get back from FOOT. My guess is she will walk in to her room and we will be passed out on the futon. </p>
<p>George, the only flaw in your plan may be picking up all the boxes at the post office. She may have to do that herself another day.</p>
<p>By the way, we picked up the futon cover at Target I believe–it was a nice heavy duty one that zipped on. (I haven’t seen futons sold with extra covers). My son also put a big throw over it as well, which was easily tossed in the wash with his regular laundry, and the zipped-on cover washed when we visited. </p>
<p>George, we did the same thing last summer since my son’s internship didn’t end in time for him to move in. Lucky boy was able to walk into a room completely set up and ready for him–he was eternally grateful and we got to bask in the ‘most awesome parents in the world’ role for a little bit. 
And, yes, we were very grateful for that futon after all the hard work. :)</p>
<p>Well, when anyone mentions irredeemable stains, especially when left during a visit by a guy… Lol he opened the door, I couldn’t leave it out there dangling without a reply!! Lol </p>
<p>August bill is posted. No cleaning fee. Did anyone else get billed for cleaning? I remember someone said it would be on the August statement. I find it hard to believe there was no fee. The suite was so dirty, but D left first. There was no way to clean with stuff all over the common room and bathrooms. Her roommate had things spread all over their bedroom to finish packing. Maybe they all got it cleaned after we left.</p>
<p>we did not have a cleaning bill. This is our last year, and we never have had one. This year they might have had cause as my DD’s suite mate (who was gone of course) had put those command strips where it wasn’t possible to remove them properly, so they were left behind. It seems it is more a threat than actually implemented. Side note, my DD worked alumni reunions and stayed in a suite on Old Campus and it was absolutely filthy when she moved in. Trash in the corners, dust bunnies the size of cats, etc.</p>
<p>I’m actually scared of moving day, lol… really, wth do you bring for them?</p>
<p>Everything! Except the kitchen sink! :)) </p>
<p>You really don’t have to go overboard with bringing stuff. New Haven is not Antarctica–they can get stuff. There is a drugstore nearby, and the Yale bookstore has lots of dorm stuff-wastebaskets, pillows, etc. (They aren’t super-cheap.) If you’re coming in a car, you can go out to IKEA or Walmart to get additional stuff if necessary.</p>
<p>@Hunt @Saona63
I was joking. There are tons of places that offer dorm stuff. All within a 5-10 minute drive. </p>
<p>@Saona63 </p>
<p>If you are traveling down Rt 15, you can stop at BB&B, in Hamden, then hit Whitney Ave. it’s a straight shot down to NHV/Yale Campus. A seven minute drive maybe? </p>
<p>There’s also Target, if you’re staying in the Milford/Orange area or coming east on I95. Again, only a short drive away.</p>
<p>Hi, everyone! I am so relieved to find this thread, as we are coming from the midwest and don’t know any Yale families yet from whom to seek advice. My son is assigned to Pierson, which I guess means he’ll be in a teeny-tiny room in L-Dub. He and his three suitemates have barely communicated, and haven’t discussed who’s bringing what AT ALL. He doesn’t seem at all stressed, but I sure am! Is it true that two students really share one closet in L-Dub? And there’s no storage space whatsoever? We are flying in to meet him after FOOT, and have never tried to move someone in suitcases before!</p>
<p>@buldogmom </p>
<p>You might be better off heading to Target, IKEA, BB&B or Walmart, SAMS Club, Costco, BJs, TJMAXX, Marshall’s (they are all pretty close to campus) after peeking at the room. No sense in lugging stuff that won’t fit, or items he won’t need. </p>
<p>I think you’re right–no sense trying to guess. Hopefully the other boys’ parents will be there and we can all figure out on the spot what we need to pick up. Frustrating how non-communicative the boys are with each other!</p>
<p>If they don’t care, why should you? Let them figure it out.</p>
<p>@bulldogmom, I gave up on trying to encourage communication about things like furnishings. I imagine that for most of them, they’re a few short weeks from an experience unlike what they’ve experienced before, making new friends, saying “until Thanksgiving” to old friends, psyching themselves up for being in a group of phenomenally bright and productive people, and DAD, you want to talk about f&$@(@ FUTONS??? Not that my DS would ever, but it might be what’s happening in another home </p>
<p>DS and I just had a talk about his first semester. He is concerned that he won’t have time for making friends, getting involved in ECs, etc. because of his course schedule, which currently is planned to include one class (MATH230) with a reputation for very time-consuming problem sets. He’s not a typical math student (his love for and ability in the subject developed while halfway through high school) and his friends have usually been humanities kids.</p>
<p>His fear is that “you make most of your friends in the first month,” and what will happen if he spends his first month at school locked in a dungeon doing problem sets with kids who are more like stereotypical math students. I don’t think that’s the case, but he has extrapolated from his high school experience, where the friends he made in the first few days are his best friends today. Are your kids’ experiences in line with that?</p>
<p>@IxnayBob, my son had schoolwork that was extremely time-consuming and also had a job, so he did not spend much time (relative to many of the kids he knew) in ECs. But he pretty quickly found a nice circle of friends in his residential college. That is the beauty of the RCs – all that living and eating with the same group of people lends itself to friend-making. </p>
<p>In his friend group, most of the kids have different majors – a wide variety. But make no mistake: even without MATH230, they ALL have a lot of work. So it is easy to find someone else to study with when you are grinding through a problem set. My son and his pals developed the routine of working together in the largest common room shared by his friends. As sophomores, they often worked together in the RC’s library.</p>
<p>As a rising junior, his best friends are in still his RC, but several of them are not people he met his freshman year. Many students with time-demanding ECs (a cappella groups in particular), do develop their closest friendships in ECs. But again, I think residential colleges make it very easy to meet people. Prediction: your son will be fine, and will continue to make friends beyond the opening days of school. </p>