Only Directed Studies, afaik, but I assume if your son were interested in that he would have applied already.
Btw, I think there are a variety of floor plans in Vanderbilt, but the Facilities Department may be able to tell you more (including whether your son’s suite comes with any furniture besides bed, desk and chair - some freshman suites do).
@CT1417
My son was at Vandy last year in exact same suite plan. Rooms are small. Closets are small. Common room is nice. Furniture included is bed (drawers underneath) one small shared dresser, a desk (each student has their own).
A fan is a must!!! I must have lost 10 pounds in sweat putting together my son’s bed!
Vandy is beautiful but I’m a bit biased.
Opt for the registry at BedBathBeyond and pick up stuff at Milford store. Easier than trying to do shopping once you get there.
Enjoy!
Thanks @tonymom – I live within an hour, so will just bring essentials up on Friday for move-in day and then ‘extras’ when I return on Saturday. I hope to avoid all local shopping.
Thanks for the note about beds including storage drawers beneath. I have these large wheeled IKEA totes that my older son used under his bed, but I will now leave them in the attic.
I have stashed two fans in the garage, figuring that one may be needed for the common area. Fan is the first thing to be unpacked and plugged in before the struggle with that three inch memory foam mattress set-up begins!
Was there any specific storage/closet fixture that you found useful? Is there a wall-mounted bookshelf that allows for a clip-on lamp?
Thanks again!
Funny thing is the four guys wanted to do their own decorating…at the end of the year they still only had the twinkle string lights, area rug and standing lamp I bought while I was there. Apparently they were fine with a minimalist approach 
Since you are close furniture purchased will be easily kept at the end of the year. There will be a housing handbook in their suite which stipulates what they can and cannot do to the rooms. Having said that not sure any of the four read it.
Nice to do a snack run so they have treats (non perishables) for the suite.
Closets are very small btw…
There are those hanging type of bags that hold bathroom items that will be helpful as they have to cart stuff to and from bathroom.
Kinda wish we had brought more framed pictures to make it homey but again more stuff to be stored at end of the year…
Along these lines…anyone know if TD has bunk beds or regular beds?
@tonymom. all the beds are “bunkable” - up to the kids in the double, and the available room, whether the beds are bunked or unbunked…
@tdy123
Thanks! Very helpful
My daughter will be at Branford/Vandy! Yay! @tonymom since you’ve been so helpful 
I figured I’d get my question in too… do the common rooms in Vandy fit a futon? Was going to get one for the girls but want to make sure it will fit and we can’t seem to find room layout/size anywhere on line. Thanks!
It would be a bit of a squeeze. I know some kids just put sofas in front of the fireplace since it’s not functioning so that would be an option. Problem is desks and chairs for 4 students usually end up in the LR since doubles are so small. If it were a small futon it would work. My hubby got one at IKEA for his office that was on smallish size and inexpensive so win win
Yes, the Old Campus dorms are hot for the first month! I saw a lot of those square window fans in the windows - they sell them at the campus store.
For those of you staying at a hotel the night before, someone on this site gave great advice last year. Leave the hotel early to avoid the rush and find a place to park (we parked in the lot across from the shops on Broadway). Grab breakfast or coffee, and get the key for the room. Our daughter was in Old Campus, and the key pick up was there) Then get your car and get in the line for drop off.
Also, there were lots of questions last year about attire for parents at the head of college reception/freshman convocation. No one really cares what the parents wear. The best advice I got was to dress for any family photos that might be taken.
Also, on Thursday the Target is fully stocked. On Saturday, it’s really picked over. If you think you might want/need something, buy early and return if you don’t end up needing it. Keep in mind that what goes into the room in August must be packed/stored in May! Less is better, especially if you don’t live within driving distance.
@Faulkner1897 – thanks for the helpful suggestions.
Question about your getting in line for drop-off…does the line just keep growing all day? I notice that Yale does not assign move-in time slots, but was hoping that if I showed up mid to late morning that it might have died down. No such luck?
Are you referencing the box window fans? The kind that were around when we attended college, and lived in Manhattan. Those work great, but I guess I thought they might not fit in the windows of the old buildings at Yale. I have never been inside a residence, so am basing this on nothing.
Iirc, the drop-off line moves pretty quickly because there’s a small army of students (plus the dean) from each residential college greeting the cars as they pull up, taking out the items and running them upstairs. Very welcoming - but probably the earlier you get there, the better.
^ IME, the move in line is the 8th wonder of the world, as upperclassmen swarm to strip your cargo hold clean. I’ve heard that it sometimes doesn’t impress, but ours was memorable. And loud. And welcoming.
While I’m in a reminiscing mood, and having just initiated a transfer of funds from Vanguard to checking in anticipation of paying DS’s Fall tuition: I envy you new parents. A small percentage of entering freshmen won’t find fulfillment at Yale, but the overwhelming majority will be positively transformed. Would they have done as well elsewhere? Maybe. Would DS have done better at MIT or CMU? Maybe, but life isn’t all CS, even for a CS major.
I was reflecting on why I moved that money even before getting the tuition bill, and well before the deadline for payment. For one, the Money Market account it was in would have earned very little in a few weeks. But, more importantly, it is the happiest check I write. I’m not insane; I’d rather Yale were free, but my (or, more accurately, DS’s) return on investment is staggering, and I am touched by how he has benefitted from being at Yale.
I apologize for getting so sentimental, but it’s DS’s last year at Yale, and I hope all of you new (and somewhat new) parents will feel the same in a few years.
My daughter had a powerful small fan, and it was the first thing we unpacked and plugged in on that hot day last August. But after seeing the window box fan in the campus store and observing them in the windows around Old Campus, it seemed like that might have been a good and efficient choice. Particularly given how small some of the rooms are.
Just chatted with my daughter and she informed me that many of the Old Campus dorms are going to have basic furniture in the common rooms this year. It sounds like a few of the dorms had this last year, but not my daughter’s dorm.
One other tip while we are on the topic - my daughter did FOOT last year and did not get back to campus until 1 pm or so on move-in day. She is typically one who likes to do things herself, but she agreed to let my husband and me get her stuff up to her room before she arrived (with the help of the upperclassmen). We were able to get her key and get into her room. We did not unpack for her but we did make her bed. It was nice for her to arrive and have her stuff in the room already. It was also nice that we had a hotel room that she could use to shower (after 6 days of no shower during FOOT) since some of her suitemates and their parents were in the suite unpacking.
@IxnayBob … I felt the same pang of sentiment this weekend when I prepared finances for my son’s senior year.
I really like being a dad, and this last support makes ma a little sad.
Not sure what the concern is with getting on the line at Old Campus early. Agree with @IxnayBob that the upperclassmen make things very efficient and my car was stripped in under a minute. Only problem I ever had doing this twice was there is a large police presence turning from Elm onto College that day directing traffic. My cell phone rang and I answered it by hand in a rental car to say I would call back - not even on 5 seconds. Cop pulled me over to issue a ticket since it broke a CT state law. Talked my way out of it with some difficulty.
I had great success finding a lovely sofa for $65 at the Goodwill (or equivalent) a few miles from Campus on Dixwell Avenue. I’ve always thought that an entrepreneurial upperclassman would do well loading up a panel truck with used sofas which could be sold for a quick 100% profit by displaying them on Old Campus. Home Depot is up that way too and I had them cut a 4x4 post into two sets of custom height bed risers since the under bed space worked better with our storage bins when I had a few more inches than provided by the BBB plastic ones. Roommate was thrilled to have the other set from the same cheap post. I found it very helpful to have a basic set of tools at move in and now give a prepackaged set as all or part of my high school graduation presents. I left DS with a cordless drill which made him very popular.
The line does not last long for move in day because you pull up, they unload it all to the curb and then you move the car. While you are moving the car, it will all be brought to the room for you to unpack. It goes really fast because the swarm of kids hits fast and hard.
As for the fans- we had a smaller standing fan that fell over and broke the first year. The second year she bought a tower fan that oscillated so that she could move the air around the room. it sat on her bedside table. A window fan would not have worked for her as the windows last year did not open wide enough to fit one. She used her tower all year to also move the heat around the room as the radiators were over by the windows and the room was long. Her room is much smaller this upcoming year- we might end up putting her fan on her desk this year.
@IxnayBob and other parents of seniors - can you believe that our kids are seniors!! I have been on CC since my D was in middle school and have become great online friends and confidants with a lot of you (lots or private PM conversations). Seeing the questions the parents of incoming freshmen are asking is making me very nostalgic. As stated, my D has had a great Yale experience and is very excited about returning this year - a day late because of yet another fully paid fellowship in Germany in August. But, if you read back through my posts, the first weeks were very hard, as a shy only child she was sometimes overwhelmed, and she did not make the club sport team she wanted (in a sport that she was a MVP at home). All these blips made her try new things she never would have imagined. In retrospect, those early disappointments pushed her to experience parts of Yale she never would have if she had stayed in her comfort zone. But it was so hard to watch, from afar, as my only baby struggled. Even as an alum, it was so different to have a child there, but I did have the luxury of familiarity.
To the freshman parents, welcome!! We will be here for you during the last few weeks leading up to move in, the hectic first days, the nights when they call home crying, the first time they realize that As are no longer the default grade, and any roommate drama. They do survive. Our kids are proof.
To my fellow senior parents - let’s hold on for this last stretch and we have to plan a CC get together during graduation. Maybe something as simple as a quick coffee at Starbucks. I’d love to meet you guys face to face.
Ok, so now I am sorting through all the parent paperwork and saw the $1,166 charge for Yale Health coverage. My kids are still covered under my company’s BCBS plan. I am looking at the web page for admitted students and there is a section that says basic coverage is provided for no additional fee. So I assume that means if my kid gets strep throat or has a minor injury requiring stitches, he goes to the health center for treatment and my insurance is not involved. If treatment requires some specialist, he would have to go to YNH or some other local hospital/specialist and it would go through my insurance if I waive the specialty coverage. Is this understanding correct? My son is pretty healthy and has decided not to pursue intercollegiate sports, so is this the recommended way to go?