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Now that you bought all the things you need for college and your room is filled to the brim with piles and piles of small stuff that needs to be placed somewhere so you can have a quick college move-in. Where do you begin? I know it can be overwhelming. Move-in day will be stressful for all parents and their children, especially if it is their first year going away. I hear you! I've been you! I did this when I had to go off to college and move in by myself. Then, 28 years later, I helped my son move into college. And this year, moving my daughter into her dorm is another adventure altogether. I've become somewhat of an expert in the quickest way to move it. Today, I will give you practical tips on packing for a fast college move-in day this year.
Jump to:
- Be in touch with your roommates.
- Have small tools handy.
- Move items in bins with lids.
- Divide your stuff into zones before leaving the house.
- Label your bins before you leave.
- Check the website with the dorm information the day before your move-in day.
- Get a safety box and security cables for valuables and place the valuables in them and secure them in a large bag to hide what they are.
- Gather hanging clothes and add a kitchen bag over the clothes with the hangers showing.
- Have all your decorating items in one bag.
- Take advantage of the rental opportunities for dorm fridges and microwaves.
- Purchase bedding packages from a third party and deliver them to the dorm.
Be in touch with your roommates.
Reach out and communicate with what you are willing to make communal items in the dorm or suite. The university will provide you with the email address of the other roommates. Discussing what each person will bring, like refrigerators, microwaves, bathroom supplies, bathroom organizers, cleaning supplies, etc., will save you money and minimize the amount of stuff you need to carry. It's a win-win for all. Also, ask them what time their arrival time is so you know if you will see them when you arrive and if it will be crowded in the dorm.
Have small tools handy.
Bringing a hammer
, screwdrivers (Affiliate Link)
(Phillips and flathead), and maybe even an electric drill (Affiliate Link) helped. Also, having a supply of 3M Command strips
, recommended adhesives (like painter's tape (Affiliate Link)
) for posters, suction cups that hook to the wall, and other things that help adhere objects to the wall makes for a faster setup. Carry extra batteries just in case you forgot to add batteries to something when you assembled it at home. Placing these items all in one go-to bag gave us a single point to find these items.
Move items in bins with lids.
If you have to drop off your stuff in a big bin and then move it to the dorm, it can be stressful with small things falling all over the place while transferring them into this bin. Storing items in containers where they will be staying for the remainder of the year works best. I like these large drawer bins that can be carried and stored directly under the bed (Affiliate Link) for easy access.
Divide your stuff into zones before leaving the house.
Organize and sort the items into the following zones: cleaning, closet, drawers, cooking (fridge/microwave supplies), bathroom, and deck areas. If you can, do this in your home before leaving to see what you don't have. Gather the rest of the stuff around the house and place it in these zones. Then compare your stuff to our checklist (Affiliate Link): TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE YEAR. Next, check off the items you have. And purchase the things you don't have. Remember, the list is complete, but if you don't need something on the checklist (Affiliate Link), cross it off to customize it to your situation.
Label your bins before you leave.
"Assign a place for every single item" is a mantra every organizer knows and teaches our clientele. This mantra also applies to dorm rooms. After you create zones, determining what goes in those zones is where you get more precise. This step is where you ask what group will be in this zone. Then, you can determine what to label (Affiliate Link) your bins. Using a label maker (Affiliate Link) like these, I found on Amazon, with a larger ½ inch or bigger label (Affiliate Link), works best so you can see it no matter where you are in the room.
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You can also make your labels (Affiliate Link) by using Avery Templates. If you choose to make them yourself, they will most likely be paper and have extra glue on the back because they are intended for shipping.
You can also get sleeves and slide paper labels (Affiliate Link) into them. Be sure to find tighter sleeves at the opening, as they can easily slide the papers out in transit.
Check the website with the dorm information the day before your move-in day.
Sometimes, things change. Checking the day before will give you a heads-up on what will be happening the next day. Visiting the floor plans and layout of the dorm also helps you know where you will be walking when you enter the dorm.
Get a safety box and security cables for valuables and place the valuables in them and secure them in a large bag to hide what they are.
It's better to be safe (Affiliate Link) than sorry. Investing in a safety box and security cables is essential. Your roommates may be great, and you trust them. But, they may accidently leave the door open or invite someone in that isn't so honest. Before you leave, fill up the safety box with all your valuables. There is usually a large amount of space inside the safety box that you can maximize with stuff. If you don't have a lot, you can wrap the items in the towels you are taking and place them inside the safety box so the pieces don't rattle around and break.
Gather hanging clothes and add a kitchen bag over the clothes with the hangers showing.
Leaving the hanging items on their hangers and covering them up with a bag will save you time having to place items on hangers. Find hangers that are thin with grips to help keep the things on the hangers when moving them.
Have all your decorating items in one bag.
Have your posters and adhesives in one bag so it is easy to put them up immediately. This can go near the tool bag you created to decorate the room quickly.
Take advantage of the rental opportunities for dorm fridges and microwaves.
Some schools require you to rent refrigerators and microwaves if you want them. This is an excellent option because you don't have to carry them in; they are usually delivered directly to the dorm room.
Purchase bedding packages from a third party and deliver them to the dorm.
Many schools offer this as an option, so people don't have to carry bedding to the dorm. It contains the comforter, sheets, and other things. It tends to be bulky so it will take up a lot of space in a dorm. Using an extra-large vacuum (Affiliate Link) seal bag with all the winter linens in it vacuumed down to about 3 inches thick works nicely to save space in the car.
Set up the sweaters and winter accessories in bins before you leave home.
Having a bin (12 in. x 12 in. x 12 in.) with all the winter accessories is super easy to set up when you are home because you are not using these items. Filling up the bins with sweaters, fuzzy socks (Affiliate Link), gloves, and scarves allows you to easily transport them to the dorm with minimal disruption of the items.
Taking the time to follow all of these tips before you move into your college dorm will allow you to enjoy the decorating process and the last few hours with your family. I hope this post helps you make your college transition smooth. If you have any tips from your experience, please comment below. I would love to hear from you.
Lucy Kelly says
Great strategies, Sabrina! Good luck with your daughter's move - not that you'll need luck, you have everything set up for success 🙂
Julie Bestry says
Great advice, though I can't imagine a single tool we'd have been allowed to use in my dorm back then -- certainly not hammers or drills. This brought back so many memories of preparing to go off to college, long before Container Store had spread beyond Texas, and just before IKEA even came to the US, with only the advice from Seventeen Magazine to guide us. We categorized and measured and contained everything, and my mom and I managed to get the entire room set up in 90s minutes, including clothes put away and the bed med. We had fewer container options, and I still think nylon duffel bags for sheets, towels, and other soft goods (neatly stored under the bed, even without risers, gave us a miraculous amount of space. I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to have all of this advice back then. Dorm fridges are the best and do triple duty: food storage, a table top, and magnetic message board! 😉
Diane N Quintana says
Fabulous tips, Sabrina. Putting all the handy helping tools in 1 bag or container is a huge benefit. I found that tempers were short on move-in day. My sons wanted help but they wanted it quickly with a minimum of fuss. Having things containerized in advance and easy to access relieves some of the pressure and makes it easier to put things away quickly. Anyone moving a child into a dorm (boarding school or college) will benefit from reading this post.
Janet Schiesl says
Great advice. Moving to college can be so emotional. Being organized so it's easier can certainly help.
I only moved one son into a dorm (and then an apartment). We were organized, so it was quick. But I keep learning. My sister used the large IKEA blue shopping bags to pack her for her daughter's moves. That way they could keep the bags (because they fold up) to repack when it's time to move out.
Sabrina Quairoli says
Large jumbo bags are great! We have a stack of them for each kid's move. I take them back and store them at the house and when I see them again before they move back, I give them the bags. It saves on space in their dorms and they don't get very dusty because let's face it, kids don't clean under their beds in a dorm. =)
Sheri Steed says
These are all excellent tips. We’ve also done this a number of times, and observed roommates and others doing it as well. Just thinking through things in advance and resolving issues before they arise is so helpful. You’ve demonstrated exactly how to do that.
Ronni Eisenberg says
Sabrina,
Every tip here is spot on. I think setting up a dorm room is an organizer’s dream come true. It really tests are skills.
When my oldest went off to college, I was so impressed with the moms and dads who had tools with them. As you pointed out, a hammer, screwdrivers (Phillips and flathead), maybe even an electric drill helped. Also, having a supply of 3M Command strips.
Reaching out to roommates and collaborating on what to bring is so smart. It does cut down on duplicating items that are unnecessary.
I thought the bed risers, so that we could store as much as possible under the bed but on wheels was helpful.
I also liked buying everything at Bed Bath and Beyond locally, then picking it up near campus. The bonus was being able to use coupons for that 20% discount.
You have so many amazing tips here, tried and true!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Thanks! Recently, when I was researching my daughter's university, they sent us a notice that they were working with Bed Bath and Beyond and having the items sent right to the dorm room when we were planning on arriving. WOW! This was very helpful for families, especially ones from out of the country or state.
Sara Skillen says
Although I kind of dreaded taking our girl off to school two years ago, I actually had a blast moving her into the dorm. In addition to your recommendations about Command strips, labels, and bins, we found those IKEA duffle bags to be indispensable - and still use them for all kinds of stuff now. Good luck to your daughter this year!
Janet Schiesl says
Dorm move in day is super chaotic, so any bit of organization helps. I once wrote a blog post called "what not to bring to college". Those dorm rooms are usually small, is NOT bringing something is just as important is what you bring.
Linda Samuels says
I agree with Seana about how much fun it was preparing, organizing, and moving our daughters into their dorm rooms. What an exciting time of transition! Each college had very different procedures for moving in. But even so, the more organized we were in advance, the easier it was for them to unpack and prepare their spaces. It all started before they left with making the lists of things we needed, collecting the items they wanted into labeled bins, and preparing emotionally for the big "move-in" day. One of the containers I found especially useful was the large foldable fabric zipper bag/bins. We used them to move big and bulky items like shoes and bedding. The great thing about them was that after we emptied the bags, they folded up small and stored away easily until we move-out day.
Seana Turner says
This is such an exciting time! We had so much fun moving both of our girls into school. One thing I learned is that different schools have different policies about what can be brought into the rooms and hung on the walls. Some schools, for example, allow kids to only cover a certain percentage of their walls with decorations. I totally agree on renting the microfridge. So much easier than toting your own, especially if you will be living in a dorm into which the school will deliver it. I have to laugh remembering how much we prepared, and how some of my girls' male friends threw a bunch of stuff into trash bags the day before they left 🙂