High School Class of 2016/College Class 2020

[Riles_and_Gabe]

We are flying out on August 16th to take my son to campus (from Maine to Illinois). I honestly don't know how I am going to fly home without him on the plane with me. I am so excited for him but so sad for me!

His orientation will just be a couple of days before the move in date on August 20th (they had earlier orientations but it just didn't work with our schedules). He won't know his class schedule until he gets to orientation. We are also dying to find out who is roommate is going to be (we won't know until the 10th).

Thank goodness I already have my plane tickets for Family Weekend in September. Leaving won't be quite as hard since I know I will be back in a few weeks.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, we think ds's roommate is gay! He went online and filled out this profile, and he ended up matching really well to some guy. Both love sports, rap, cars - lots of similar interests. They've been hanging out this summer with a bunch of other students who met up online. They requested each other, both got other roommates. The first picture ds saw of his new roommate was him in a gay pride shirt surrounded by a bunch of girls. Apparently he's really into musical theater.

Ds did the HS plays for 5 years, and some community theater, so I think that might have something to do with it. Oh well, ds does have some gay friends (from theater), and he is pretty tolerant. His new college friends were teasing him that he will either be crushed on, or have to deal with his roommate bringing guys back to the dorm.

The guy he wanted to room with has a roommate that is into hunting, fishing, camping, etc., nothing he has any interest in.

 

[punkin]

Well, we think ds's roommate is gay! He went online and filled out this profile, and he ended up matching really well to some guy. Both love sports, rap, cars - lots of similar interests. They've been hanging out this summer with a bunch of other students who met up online. They requested each other, both got other roommates. The first picture ds saw of his new roommate was him in a gay pride shirt surrounded by a bunch of girls. Apparently he's really into musical theater.

Ds did the HS plays for 5 years, and some community theater, so I think that might have something to do with it. Oh well, ds does have some gay friends (from theater), and he is pretty tolerant. His new college friends were teasing him that he will either be crushed on, or have to deal with his roommate bringing guys back to the dorm.

The guy he wanted to room with has a roommate that is into hunting, fishing, camping, etc., nothing he has any interest in.

Honestly, how do they pick these roommates anyway? I found out a little more about DD's roommates. Two are international students. That should be interesting. One (like I said before) is very religious. I think my crazy left wing, social justice warrior DD will come as a huge shock.
The girl DD wanted to room with got placed in a double with a sophomore. Luckily, she's on the same hall, so we will see how all the personalities mesh.

 

[jetskigrl]

No roommate assignment for DD yet (it is supposed to be this week). But they may be holding off if the other girl didn't send back all the forms yet. They have until August 12th to send the forms and I guess they want to make sure both roommates have completed the paperwork before they will introduce them. I wish they would hurry up, LOL. I'm curious to hear if they put her with one of the kids that she already knows from the honors group.

 

[MomofKatie]

DD picked her roommates back in April- the 4 of them are all pretty similar and seem to be very friendly with each other. They have been talking on Facebook for months, and 3 of the 4 went to the same orientation and got to meet in person.

For roommate selection, the university had them do a questionnaire and let them know which kids best matched them, personality and habits-wise, but then it was up to the individual kids to contact each other to decide if they wanted to room together. They then got to pick their dorms and even exact rooms, with the first to pay their housing deposits given first choice. DD picked her room (and pulled her roommates into it, as well) way back at the beginning of May.

Tomorrow is the day- we head out very early from home, drive 400 miles, and move into the dorm at 2pm. The minivan is packed to the gills, the last homemade dinner has been eaten, and we are ready to get this show on the road!! DD has a one week long Honors College service project, then classes start on the 16th.

 

[maxaroni]

Well, we think ds's roommate is gay! He went online and filled out this profile, and he ended up matching really well to some guy. Both love sports, rap, cars - lots of similar interests. They've been hanging out this summer with a bunch of other students who met up online. They requested each other, both got other roommates. The first picture ds saw of his new roommate was him in a gay pride shirt surrounded by a bunch of girls. Apparently he's really into musical theater.

Ds did the HS plays for 5 years, and some community theater, so I think that might have something to do with it. Oh well, ds does have some gay friends (from theater), and he is pretty tolerant. His new college friends were teasing him that he will either be crushed on, or have to deal with his roommate bringing guys back to the dorm.

The guy he wanted to room with has a roommate that is into hunting, fishing, camping, etc., nothing he has any interest in.

When DS23 set off for college, he was placed in a triple. Each room was the standard type room but they each had a bathroom, no communal bathrooms. One of his roommates was gay, DS had no problems with that. They hit it off during the summer before moving in. Turns out DS loved having him as a roommate as he did all the cleaning! He cleaned each day and even did the bathroom each day. The guys started out saying they would take turns cleaning but didn't last. LOL.

 

[Kimberlyann11]

DD found her roommate through a campus chatboard. They have a two bedroom on-campus apartment in the honors hall. They have met in person on a few occasions and seem to get along pretty well. My concern is that this girl seems to be an overplanner and DD is the opposite. For example, she wanted to make a schedule with meals and who would cook. DD told her not to bother because she has a killer schedule and a meal plan so she doesn't plan on cooking a whole lot. Then new roomie comes up with she'll cook, DD can clean. DD didn't quite say no to that. I let her know she will have to put her foot down and make a "clean up after yourself" rule because she doesn't want to come home at 7:00 to the kitchen trashed and have to clean up after a meal she didn't even eat.

She moves in on the 19th, three days before the other honors kids and a week before campus as a whole (marching band camp). I still fail to see how we're going to fit all her stuff in the car. We have a Grand Prix and she has, along with the usual stuff, a huge instrument and a big fan.

 

[punkin]

DD found her roommate through a campus chatboard. They have a two bedroom on-campus apartment in the honors hall. They have met in person on a few occasions and seem to get along pretty well. My concern is that this girl seems to be an overplanner and DD is the opposite. For example, she wanted to make a schedule with meals and who would cook. DD told her not to bother because she has a killer schedule and a meal plan so she doesn't plan on cooking a whole lot. Then new roomie comes up with she'll cook, DD can clean. DD didn't quite say no to that. I let her know she will have to put her foot down and make a "clean up after yourself" rule because she doesn't want to come home at 7:00 to the kitchen trashed and have to clean up after a meal she didn't even eat.

She moves in on the 19th, three days before the other honors kids and a week before campus as a whole (marching band camp). I still fail to see how we're going to fit all her stuff in the car. We have a Grand Prix and she has, along with the usual stuff, a huge instrument and a big fan.

We also have a huge instrument problem and DD has not been proactive in contacting the orchestra to set up storage or find out about auditions. I told her, if she doesn't set everything up in advance, her bass is staying home and I'll actually have room in the car for her clothes. Lol.

 

[coneeny4]

My DD and her BF were placed in a Triple at a dorm which is also a hotel on the first two floors and dorm rooms on the rest. Basically a hotel room with a private bath but a 10 minute shuttle to where there classes are. They got in touch with the room mate who seemed nice until she asked them if they "smoked" she does both cigs and weed.
Trying to figure out how to handle that they don't want to have it in their room but don't want to get the girl in trouble...

 

[ski_mom]

We just found out we have a moving problem too. DD and her roommate (best friends from high school) have bought a few things from girls they met online selling some of their room decor that they used last year. Part of the benefit of this was that these girls they were buying it from were already going to have the stuff at the university. We now have found out that the stuff is going to be in Memphis which is about an hour and a half from the school. The good part is that it is on our way down, but we definitely do not have room with everything else we're bringing!

Our options at this point are to take everything we were planning on taking down and getting it moved in on Saturday the 13th. We are driving down on the 12th because it's about a 6 hour drive. Then on Sunday, DH and I could drive back up to Memphis to get the 2 desk hutches and 2 headboards and take them back to Oxford and finish the room.

Option 2 is to rent a uhaul type thing in Memphis and pick them up on Friday on our way down. I feel rather silly renting a uhaul trailer to move her in, but I'm thinking that might be the easiest option. If I'm reading the website correctly, it would only be about $30 to rent the trailer from Friday until dropping it off on Sunday at the same location. We could leave it in Oxford, but there is an extra $100 drop off charge to do that, so we could drop drop it off on our way back home.

We need to discuss and figure out what the best way is, but I'm really a little disappointed that the girls who said they could get it to oxford have not backed out on that plan, but I don't feel like there's much I can do about it at this point other than figure out another way. Oh well, part of life I suppose!

 

[Aliceacc]

My son got his roommate/suitemate assignments yesterday. So far, all he has is names and phone numbers: One from NJ, one from PA, one from MD and he's from NY.

OK, here's a question for you: how do you get all that stuff to the school?

My husband can't drive till October because of some seizures he had in April-- state law. So it's the 3 of us and my minivan. Even with the container on top, does everything fit? I'm not sure how far he is from a Target or Walmart, but would prefer to actually have all the stuff he needs. And i'm not crazy about paying BB&B prices for the little stuff.

 

[Monykalyn]

Even though we are only 2.5 hours away I want to pack up and get down there the night before move in. She has scheduled move in at 9 am- afraid if we tried to pack night before and leave early am we'd forget stuff! This way we start packing a day early, easy drive and not rush in am to get on road.

 

[mjkacmom]

My son got his roommate/suitemate assignments yesterday. So far, all he has is names and phone numbers: One from NJ, one from PA, one from MD and he's from NY.

OK, here's a question for you: how do you get all that stuff to the school?

My husband can't drive till October because of some seizures he had in April-- state law. So it's the 3 of us and my minivan. Even with the container on top, does everything fit? I'm not sure how far he is from a Target or Walmart, but would prefer to actually have all the stuff he needs. And i'm not crazy about paying BB&B prices for the little stuff.

They really don't need that much stuff. Bedding, clothes, toiletries - the college provides most of the stuff. Small fan, laptop, garbage can... They don't need winter stuff yet, and Amazon prime is great! With dd20, we only needed one minivan. When she came home during the year, she'd switch stuff out.

 

[mjkacmom]

When DS23 set off for college, he was placed in a triple. Each room was the standard type room but they each had a bathroom, no communal bathrooms. One of his roommates was gay, DS had no problems with that. They hit it off during the summer before moving in. Turns out DS loved having him as a roommate as he did all the cleaning! He cleaned each day and even did the bathroom each day. The guys started out saying they would take turns cleaning but didn't last. LOL.

I already feel sorry for ds's roommate - he is a slob! You wouldn't know it if you didn't live with him. He dresses nicely, his vehicle is always immaculate. I don't think his room has been dusted in years, no clear surfaces.

 

[WVMomof3]

Anyone else's kids have "homework"? My DD has a required reading book. I believe it is for every Freshman to read, but since she is in the Honor's College, I think she also has to write a paper on it before 1st class. She also had to do an online Financial Seminar and an online Alcohol awareness Seminar. She has started packing, and I am so glad we live close! I feel for everyone that has a far drive or even a flight. Not sure how that is done. I think she is bringing way too much, we will see what actually fits in her room. She is bringing way too many clothes, but I think she doesn't want to leave stuff behind for her sister to wear. lol 1 week left till move in!

 

[punkin]

You shouldn't need a minivan full of stuff. If it won't fit into the back of a Honda civic hatchback, he doesn't need it and you'll just have unopened stuff to drive home at the end of the year. If I don't take Dd's bass, I'm thinking of taking DHs sedan.

If I take the bass, I'll have less room than a sedan trunk because nothing can be on top of the bass and it can't be on top of anything not completely flat. If something shifts and falls, it cannot fall on the bass. The whole thing gives me a headache. Maybe she can just borrow a school bass and I'll bring hers up in a few months.

She's also fairly messy and her roommates claim they are very clean and organized. We will see.

DD's move in is 10 am on a Friday and then they kick the parents out. My niece has school that week. I'm leaving her with the dog at home. Pretty worried about leaving a 17 yo alone, but she's a good girl.
I'm leaving on Thursday morning and we will do an overnight on. The road, arriving Friday morning. I hope to be back home Friday night, but it's a traffic issue. We may not make it back and have to stop.

School is 7 hours away with no traffic, but there's never no traffic.

 

[tzolkin]

My son got his roommate/suitemate assignments yesterday. So far, all he has is names and phone numbers: One from NJ, one from PA, one from MD and he's from NY.

OK, here's a question for you: how do you get all that stuff to the school?

My husband can't drive till October because of some seizures he had in April-- state law. So it's the 3 of us and my minivan. Even with the container on top, does everything fit? I'm not sure how far he is from a Target or Walmart, but would prefer to actually have all the stuff he needs. And i'm not crazy about paying BB&B prices for the little stuff.

How much stuff are you planning to take?

Maybe I'm not planning enough, but I was assuming 5 of us could go (if the younger two want to) and all of DD's stuff will fit in the trunk of the van. She's bringing extra/not completely necessary stuff, but I still think it would all fit.

We had an exchange student live with us for a year and she arrived with one suitcase. If she could live on another continent with one bag of stuff, I'm sure DD can survive at college with a trunk-ful. (Plus we live close by, so I could visit or bring her home if she needs to swap out seasonal clothing or really wants something from home)

 

[punkin]

Anyone else's kids have "homework"? My DD has a required reading book. I believe it is for every Freshman to read, but since she is in the Honor's College, I think she also has to write a paper on it before 1st class. She also had to do an online Financial Seminar and an online Alcohol awareness Seminar. She has started packing, and I am so glad we live close! I feel for everyone that has a far drive or even a flight. Not sure how that is done. I think she is bringing way too much, we will see what actually fits in her room. She is bringing way too many clothes, but I think she doesn't want to leave stuff behind for her sister to wear. lol 1 week left till move in!

Yes, she had a summer book which was assigned to the entire freshman class, and she has an assignment for first day of class for freshman seminar (different book). She also had alcohol and sexual assault webinars she had to complete.

 

[jetskigrl]

After reading about the packing, I am wondering if DD isn't packing enough, LOL. I'm probably lucky that DD is a jeans and t-shirt girl. And she hates makeup and jewelry. So her clothing packing should be pretty easy. Also since we are close, she will probably take mostly shorts for now and we will swap those out for more of her jeans when it cools off.

Her last housing update really discouraged them from bringing personal cars (they can use a car sharing service on campus, if needed). So we may end up leaving her car at home in the beginning to see how it goes.

We are going to move her in and then since we will be back 2 days later for Family Day, we can see what else she still needs and bring it to her then.

 

[sk!mom]

Just a note from a mom two years down this road, if you start talking about renting trailers and such you are probably taking too much for a tiny shared dorm room. Freshman year, we moved DD20 in using DH's F150 extended cab and DD's Pontiac Vibe. The only reason we were taking the truck was because DD had purchased a bed loft kit from a former dorm resident and we had to pick it up an hour from campus and transport it. Everything else fit in the backseat and hatch of her vibe or in DH's small back seat. Her roommate moved in her car and her parents minivan.

Their room was crammed! Had either rented a trailer or brought more I can't imagine where it would have gone. It got more claustrophobic as the year went on with things they purchased and the two of them taking more clothes every time they went home.

Last year we moved her into her first furnished apartment with the same two vehicles. The only reason we needed the truck was because her apartment has a large walk-in closet so she took her large dresser from her room at home. She completely emptied her room at home this time of all clothes.

This year, no move! Yippee!! She's staying in the same apartment.