College Parent Tips

College dorm move out in state

 in College Parent Tips  tagged college parent by

pictured: belted tote bag /

If you have a college student in state, the move out process as a parent is different than what I posted last week about moving your out-of-state student out of their dorm room. In this case, we don’t need storage, but we do need some planning for the move!

When a student is in-state, we don’t need plane tickets, storage or shipping. What we do need are these magic blue bags! You will hear parents talk about the blue bags non-stop when you have a student in college. They are super easy to store during the school year since they fold flat, and they are strong enough for moving heavy objects out of a dorm, apartment, etc. Plus, unlike boxes, they have handles and are easier to reuse over and over again. Love that!

We have six blue bags, and it seems like the perfect amount for a dorm room. The bags are used for clothing, shoes, bedding and everything else. For my in-state student, I drove down to her university the day before packing. It is a six-hour drive so my goal was to bring a kitchen table from home to pop into her new apartment for next year, and hand off the blue bags for packing her dorm room. Here in California, housing is at a minimum. Most students end up dorming for their first year and getting an apartment for the rest of their college career. So, that’s where we are!

In packing her dorm room, we divided the bags into two groups, what comes home and what goes into the apartment. On moving day, we made a trip over to the apartment to drop off the items she didn’t need at home. Everything else was packed and moved into the back of our SUV. The next day, we drove home!

So, my in-state moving plan was drive down and drop off bags on day one. Stay overnight in a hotel. Day two was packing day. Day three was drive home! If your student attends school a little closer, you might be able to shorten the excursion. Socal is a six-hour drive from the Bay Area, so I needed a hotel stay, and coffee; as you can see in the photo above. haha

Having an in-state student is definitely simpler than an out-of-state student. Unless you consider housing. Out-of-state schools have housing, which makes living arrangements simple. In-state, here in California, means dorms the first year, and an apartment for the rest of the years. That being said, blue bags make in-state moving a breeze!

Also, always treat your student to a yummy meal during move-out. This is a reward for finishing the year strong, and a welcome break from dorm food! We went to a sushi place near my daughter’s campus. Yum!

The take-away? Get the blue bags!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

College dorm move out across the country

 in College Parent Tips / Travel  tagged central pa / college parent / travel tips by

pictured: flying across the country-no clue what we are looking at here, it is somewhere between SFO and ORD / lunch at Sheetz after arriving via red eye / handbag /

My oldest daughter attends college across the country. Now that she has been there a few years, we have move out down to a science. I fly in on a red eye, we pack during breaks between her finals, she sleeps in the hotel room, we put everything in boxes for storage, and what doesn’t fit in suitcases and is being brought home, gets shipped via UPS.

So, if you have a child attending college out of state, check with the university to see if they partner with a storage company. Many large universities do! This makes summer storage really easy, especially when you have to fly in and out of the area. The storage company will pick up the boxes from the dorm room and then deliver to the new dorm room in the fall. It makes move in and move out really easy!

This year she had a fabulous corner dorm room, with two windows! This is the view out of one window.

While she is sad to give up a corner room, she will be in a much nicer building next year, so that will be a huge plus. She usually runs out of her meal plan before the end of the semester, so it was the perfect excuse to visit her favorite restaurants in town. We enjoyed brunch and sushi. Loved it!

Of course, anytime you attend a school with a tiny airport, you have no choice but to fly through a hub; meaning you are forced to take a layover. With east coast weather being unpredictable and small airports forcing you to fly on regional jets-which tend to be small, you are prone to delays from weather.

Pro tip: Always book a long layover of two to three hours. This has worked for us up until this semester. The weather beat us this time and our flight out was delayed three hours, which meant missing our flight out of Chicago, which happened to be the last flight out, meaning a complete mess. Instead of sticking to the original itinerary, I rebooked for the next day, and we enjoyed a happy hour at the airport hotel.

Pro tip number two: Know the neighboring airports and how to get there. Our rebooked flight was out of another airport, so we already had the plan ready on how to get there and quickly book the airport hotel. The backup plan went smoothly, and we arrived home without incidence.

Of course, my daughter was prepared with her Pokemon cards, allowing us to entertain ourselves in the airport hotel. Loved that!

So, if you have a child going out of state for college, be sure to look into storage options provided by the school. Then, make sure you plan ahead for travel delays and know your options before you ask the ticket counter for help. They will try to keep your flight out of the same airport, which would have meant either collecting our bags during our delayed layover in Chicago (I was mortified by this option) or flying out three days later since all the flights were booked. I asked her to book us through a neighboring airport the next morning at 6am, she was stunned but got us on the first flight out the next day.

Also, book your flights and hotels direct, don’t use third party apps. This will help you rebook exactly what you want, directly at the airport ticket counter, instead of being at the mercy of the third party.

It might be scary to send your student across the country for college, but if you are organized, it will go smoothly, and they will have a fabulous college experience.

What I packed and wore for packing and cleaning out my daughter’s dorm room:

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

Create a Comfy Dorm Bed

 in College Parent Tips / Home  tagged college parent by

Create a comfy dorm bed from top left: mattress topper / twin xl sheet set / twin xl comforter set / pillow / squishie / mattress encasement /

The colleges are starting at the end of August with start dates continuing through the end of September. If your child is heading off to the dorms for the first time, this is the perfect time to make sure you have all the essentials for creating a comfortable dorm bed for your new college student!

I now have two daughters in college, living in the dorms. It is essential to create a comfy dorm bed for the kids so they have a cozy, comforting environment for sleeping and taking naps; as well as just hanging out. So, let’s start with the basics!

The mattress in your student’s dorm room will be slightly beefier than a camping cot; no joke. This means you need to add something to it in order to ensure a good night’s sleep. I highly recommend a mattress topper. This one is my favorite.

In order to keep your student’s bed clean, and ensure the mattress topper doesn’t slide around, this mattress encasement is a must-have. I recommend putting the mattress encasement on the bed, leave it unzipped, place the mattress topper on top of the bed and let it expand. Once it is done expanding, you can zip up the encasement which will keep the topper in place and make the bed easy to make.

Dorm beds are typically Twin XL, but always check with your college in order to validate the bed size. These twin xl sheet sets come in a variety of colors to suit your student’s taste. I recommend having two sets of bed sheets since your student will likely wait for their laundry to build up before doing a load.

Of course, the comforter is often the focal point of decoration in the dorm! This cozy comforter set will be soft and warm on your child’s bed. Love it!

Lastly, college kids love squishies! They are soft, huggable, comforting, and add some soft and fun decor to the room. Don’t bring too many during move in, the kids typically acquire more during the school year.

Those are the bare bones for creating a cozy and comfortable dorm bed! Remember to check your school’s rules regarding wall decor, and happy move-in!

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO
Cathy