Moving your kids to college—or home again—is always a tough task that can be stressful and time consuming if you are not prepared. You usually have a move-in window of less than a week to get your student settled into their new place. Being completely prepared to move your college student in, whether it’s a dorm or an apartment, will help to cut the headaches out of the process.
Though time can be short, there are a few things you can use to your advantage to make things run smoothly and efficiently when you move your college student into their new place.
News flash: college students are often procrastinators. To further complicate things, the move your college student is making out of your home is likely their first as you likely handled all the hard work any time previous. Help by ensuring they begin the packing process early. Throwing everything into garbage bags the day before the move is only going to make unpacking at school a pain. Because living spaces in college are often smaller than their living spaces at home, it is a good idea to plan ahead and purchase space-saving storage containers to keep things organized at college.
Once you’re aware of the week students will be moving in or out, schedule to complete the move during the early part of the week rather than the latter end. You’d be surprised (or perhaps not) by how many students put their move off until the last second. Things can get very clustered and complicated as hundreds, or even thousands, of students try to move at the same time. Beat the rush by getting things done early, which will also give your student more time to get settled into their surroundings.
Before you move your student into their new place, make sure they talk things over with their new roommates. This is especially important if it is their first time living together. Make a list of everything that is needed, and have each roommate decide what they are bringing beforehand. Good things to discuss include TVs, microwaves, mini fridges, DVD players, furniture, and the coffee maker.
Why? Because you don’t need four microwaves in one apartment. The available space in college homes is often very limited, and you don’t want to fill that up with duplicate items. Packing and moving will be much simpler when you know exactly what you do and do not need to bring along.
Regardless of how you choose to handle your move, make sure you have help lined up. It doesn’t matter whether you plan on bringing over the rest of the family, getting help from other classmates, or hiring a moving company, but make sure you have a plan.
If you are moving into the dorms there will be numerous people on hand to tell you where to go, what to do and when to do it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t shy away from asking for help.
If it is a larger scale move into a college house or apartment, Corrigan can help make things easier than you’d ever believe. If you are interested in getting a free quote click here for an estimate, or feel free to give us a call at 800-267-7442 if we can help in any way.
