Dorm questions for those of you with students at a distance...

[Jane in NC]

My husband attended undergraduate school several states away in an era before students filled their dorm rooms with lots of stuff. We were talking the other night about our minimalist son who we predict will nonetheless travel to college with a fair amount of stuff--summer and winter wardrobes, computer, mandolin. How do those of you with students who fly across the country or several states away deal with this? My husband's undergrad granted students who were returning to the dorms in August permission to store things over the summer. Do schools still do this?

 

When I look at some of the lists of items for student dorms and consider the fact that (hopefully) my son may be flying to and from his dream school (with the occasional visit from us), I am wondering about experiences at schools where a significant number of students are from outside of the state or region. One school my son visited reported on the van that goes to Walmart, etc. on certain days, allowing students without vehicles the opportunity to pick up needed items. Is this common?

 

Am I naive? Does everyone just go off to college with a car?

 

Jane

[Barb_]

They don't have the option here (ASU) to leave their things on campus, but there are various short term storage solutions close to campus that cater to the population. Of course that means more $$$

 

Barb

[Osmosis Mom]

At Wellesley there is storage with preference given to those who live a specific minimum number of miles away. I'd assume most other places have something like that as well. Is you ds going to MIT? He can ask around on Facebook or something; they should have people answering accepted students' questions.

[Brenda in MA]

to drive ds to school, but his roomie is from across the country. The roomie arrived with his mom via plane a few days before move-in, and they stayed in a hotel and rented a car. He brought several suitcases full of clothing on the plane, and then he and his mom spent a couple days shopping the local discount stores and malls to pick up the other things he needed, including a microwave, clock radio, lamp, and his bedding.

 

I believe that ds's school does have summer storage available. They had shuttle runs to Walmart during orientation week, and the campus is served by local public transport buses that run to local stores and malls. Freshman aren't allowed to have cars on campus, so my son and his friends frequently use the local buses.

 

Brenda

[Jane in NC]

At Wellesley there is storage with preference given to those who live a specific minimum number of miles away. I'd assume most other places have something like that as well. Is you ds going to MIT? He can ask around on Facebook or something; they should have people answering accepted students' questions.

 

No, he is not applying to MIT, but BU is on his list. Given the close proximity of family members in MA and Boston's mass transit system, this school would not be so problematic. But I have been wondering about some of the LACs in smaller cities/towns to which my son is applying. These small cities do not have mass transit which makes a trip to Target a bit of a challenge. (My kid will be the one balancing a load of stuff on his bicycle!)

[Jane in NC]

to drive ds to school, but his roomie is from across the country. The roomie arrived with his mom via plane a few days before move-in, and they stayed in a hotel and rented a car. He brought several suitcases full of clothing on the plane, and then he and his mom spent a couple days shopping the local discount stores and malls to pick up the other things he needed, including a microwave, clock radio, lamp, and his bedding.

 

I believe that ds's school does have summer storage available. They had shuttle runs to Walmart during orientation week, and the campus is served by local public transport buses that run to local stores and malls. Freshman aren't allowed to have cars on campus, so my son and his friends frequently use the local buses.

 

Brenda

 

Thanks Brenda.

 

We're still waiting on acceptances and merit aid awards, so clearly I am getting ahead of myself wondering about logistics! :D

 

J

[Chris in VA]

My parents lived in FL and I went to Ohio State. We couldn't cook in our dorms, and bed linens (not blankets or pillows) were provided. I went with a large trunk that later became my first coffee table (geez, hubby and I had that for 4 years as a coffee table!! lol), and a suitcase. I thought I was pretty darn prepared--then I see my roommies with laundry carts full of stuff!

 

No, we didn't get access to a van. Nope, no Target back then, anyway! Only went to the Mall once in 4 years of living in Columbus (unless you count the late night excursion we took to the Ohio Center, posing as models for a photographer friend!).

 

In your case, just depend on the roommate to bring the microwave and fridge, or rent one--most colleges have a rep for the dorm fridge people.

 

You can always send extra goods via UPS--

[creekland]

My son will be going to a school 12 hours by car from us. I went to a school 12 hours away from my home. Maybe the link is genetic...

 

Anyway, our plan is to drive him there with a vanload of stuff - then support the local economy filling in the gaps. Many towns have goodwill and other such thrift shops that thrive off the revolving college students. For each break he will fly or bus back home. Over the summer he'll rent a local storage area to store his stuff in. Unless we come up with more money for him to have a car, he'll be bumming rides off his buddies.

 

This is our plan since it's exactly my experience, except I went to a school with great public transportation and used their buses to get around town when I had to - this school does not have that. It is close enough to a city that he can fly or bus home fairly easily. If we can come up with the money, he'll go with a car, but he'll still only come home with it over the summer. We'll also still all drive there together (two cars at that point) to drop him and his stuff off.

 

Many people choose to rent U-Haul trailers for the "drop off." We won't, but it is an option.

[Laura Corin]

and a bicycle. I can't remember what I did about storage over the summer though.

 

Laura

[LynnG in Arizona]

This was a problem even 20+ years ago when I went to college. :) I went approximately 1500 miles from home. We shipped several medium/large boxes with my bed linens, towels, shower tote, typewriter, reference books, etc. In addition, I took 2-3 suitcases with me.

 

Of course, we had to clear out our dorm rooms in the spring. I think that first year I found a small storage unit and then took a taxi van to load up my stuff. I must have explained what I was doing when I called the van (and paid them accordingly), because the whole process took maybe an hour round trip by the time I loaded the boxes at the dorm and then unloaded everything into the storage unit.

 

Now I'm already dreading this same issue with our own freshman daughter. In her case, I went shopping with her during dorm move-in this August with the help of a rental minivan. At this point, she has quite a bit of stuff accumulated. ;) Goodness only knows what we're going to do in May; I'm worried about it already! :confused:

[Kareni]

Our daughter is at a college cross country from us. Storage of two items (a bike and a box, a floor lamp and a suitcase, a mini-fridge and a trunk) is provided for students who come from across the Mississippi. It's possible that the two items might have some size limitation with which I am as yet unaware.

 

We flew out as a group of three and paid a fee for six suitcases of which only one was for the parents. We also sent a 30 pound box of books which my daughter deemed she could not live without -- this contained both reference books and selections of her fantasy collection. (She seemed to be harboring the idea that she would have plenty of time for pleasure reading while at college!) The box we shipped media mail which was quite inexpensive. Go with a very sturdy box if you do this; her box was mostly packing tape when we picked it up!

 

We considered traveling by Amtrak. Using this method, one can transport three items of checked baggage for free per person in addition to carry on luggage.

 

We too bought a variety of items on arrival -- mattress pad, desk and bed lamps, rugs, desk supplies, trash bin, flashlight (a requirement of the county in which she lives), laundry basket and detergent, etc.

 

My understanding is that many students jointly rent summer storage units with their friends. How they get their belongings to these units, I do not know.

 

As for cars, freshmen are not allowed cars at my daughter's college. Since my daughter does not drive, this is no great loss for her!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LibraryLover]

I've known people to rent pods, or small storage units near campus.

Edited December 9, 2009 by LibraryLover

[Nan in Mass]

Local friends will probably be the solution to his problems.

 

When I went to school I flew with my fish, crayfish, a guitar, a bike (in a box I got at the airport), and my school pack, and I boxed everything else up and shipped it UPS. A friend drove me back and forth to the airport and stored my stuff for me. My roommate's mother was a travel agent and made my flight arrangements for me.

 

Remembering that, I told my son's roommate that I would take him back and forth to the airport and he could stay with us for any holidays he didn't go home. And that is what we've done, both for the roommate and several other friends. We also have stored stuff for him, although the school has storage. It sort of has to because lots of the students have hunting and snowboarding and boating gear that doesn't fit in their dorm rooms. My sons' school helps arrange rides for students who need them and has housing available for those who need to stay a little late or arrive a little early, when the dorms are closed. The school also matches students who live far away with towns people. The profs also are aware of who can't go home. UMass used to keep one dorm open for the students who couldn't go home.

 

With any luck, one of his friends will be local. If not, the school may well make provision.

 

-Nan

[TravelingChris]

My son went to college when we were stationed in Europe. His father flew back with him for the beginning. Dh rented a car. He was able to help our son buy and transport a few items we hadn't been able to get beforehand in Europe. My son had the military ship him a a small shipment to his dorm. Other things they brought on the airplane. We had already found out that he would be able to store things in the dorm storage area.

 

We don't yet know where we will be when dd goes to college. Most likely she will choose a college next year for FAll of 2011 and we will move in the summer of 2011 before her college. Not knowing where we will be living, we can't figure out anything about shipping. We will be inquiring of her potential choices about such matters because we are not shipping things overseas or across the US every summer.