You can get into Ohio State with a 3.0 GPA or sometimes even below, especially if you are an Ohio resident, quite easily. Supposedly they are "working" on making the admissions criteria more strict (all you have to do is compare anything OSU to Michigan and if Michigan beats out OSU you best bet there WILL be change).

Now...back to Auburn and their recruitment. :D

Pre recruitment and move-in = two weeks from today!
Time to get your hair done ?
Make a list of what you need from Target when you get there
Pack your make up - they run out

I've got the rubbermaid tubs stacked in the living room. Still have a long list of things to get. I would like to avoid Target on move in day. What a nightmare that place will be.

Since this is my first daughter to send to college I'm going to assume that it's normal for her to be a little sensitive, weepy, etc. She's kind of been an emotional roller coaster lately. I'm trying to stay calm and patient with her b/c I know it's hard to grasp leaving home. I think trying to stay strong for her is the only thing keeping me from being an emotional roller coaster. Two more weeks. Oy Vey.

Brittin- It's totally normal. They are about to leave everything they know and love for a huge unknown. Sometimes they lash out too- called "spoiling the nest" which helps them separate from you and ultimately helps you separate from them also. The day of drop off with my daughter (10 hours away) was really, really tough. We were both sobbing. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to immediately begin a competitive recruitment when having just gone through a massive upheaval emotionally. I understand they do it because it is easier on the collegians to not have classes interfere with recruitment, but to me, it's a very rough time already and recruitment just adds a boat load more stress to the whole situation.

The advantage of doing it before classes is having a whole new family to show them the ropes and introduce them to friends before they have to think about classes. They can better balance social with studies.

It actually helped me having rush start immediately… I was also 10 hours away from home and had been just a ball of hormonal emotions for about 2 weeks- crying, lashing out, clingy etc… when my parents finally left my dorm room I would have had a complete meltdown had I not had to hurry to convocation!!!! Rush (recruitment) completely got my mind off of all of those feelings of being so far from home and helped me immediately start meeting people and making friends. I'm not sure how it would have been had I not had that distraction.

Brittin- hang in there!!!!

AMEN!!!! It was the same for me. I would have been MISERABLE those first few weeks without my new home prior to classes starting. They helped me adjust to everything and I thought I was pretty capable & independent already.

ETA: and I went to school back in the dark ages when you had to pay for every minute of long distance calling and NO computers, no email, no cell phones, no texting, no skyping!

Amen to your ETA! Me too, theta lady. Dragons and dinosaurs abounded when I went to school.

However (this should come as no surprise) I could not WAIT to go away. My dad drove me to Santa Barbara and helped me move in. My mom was the one who was all weepy and freaking out, etc. My dad was like "don't get in trouble, and if you do - call me, don't call your mother." Then off he drove and I launched into Life. :p Recruitment was a blast, college was a fabulous experience (even the tough stuff) because I was on my own.

I love your dad!

I'm going to save that for my kids. Their dad is a little high strung about stuff.

(Not that I wouldn't tell my DH if one of the kids got in trouble, but it's better presented as "This is what happened and this is what is going to happen because of it" so that he doesn't panic and think he has to solve the problem.)

We have one week until move-in and orientation. Recruitment begins one week from tomorrow! My daughter is very nervous and I am praying for that perfect sister who can put her at ease to show up first day - first house!

Since I went to boarding school for high school 500 miles from home, going to college 50 miles down the road from home with an aunt and uncle living in the same town didn't cause me any angst (other than the folks may have been tooooo close for comfort after having been on my own 500 miles away!). But I was glad that rush was before classes so I had some bearings in a new environment.

One more week! Hitting Bed Bath and Beyond again today with coupons in hand. I've never seen so much stuff! Daughter seems to be in better spirits lately. The sporadic mood swings have lessened. Just gotta make it through this week. Ran into a friend last night and all he could talk about was what a nightmare move in day is. But he did give us a couple pieces of advice.
1. pack a lunch and lots of water bottles.
2. take a box cutter in case you have to alter the size of the rug.

Anyone else have any tips for surviving this day?

Thanks Brittin! I would have never thought to bring a box cutter. We would have been sitting on the floor with a pocket knife! :eek:

I hope everything goes well for your daughter!

Don't forget about basic security. With all the trips back and forth from the room to the car, most people just leave the dorm room wide open. Either lock the door between trips or leave mom in the room to organize while daughter and dad make the trips so the stuff isn't free game for anyone walking by.

THIS. Do not want to start off with a negative experience.

So happy about new AU adventures! When we moved our daughter into the AU dorms a few years ago, we were given the some advice that proved to be so helpful...I added a few details we discovered as well, I hope this helps! ;)

-Bring a small dolly (and bungee straps). It helps with staging. We found a small one at Lowe's that fits perfectly in narrow halls...used it all four years for AU moves and also used it to move our son to another university...invaluable.
-Bring a tarp to help with staging on the grass, to bring into dorms. Bring a second tarp if rain is expected. (In the quad, they asked us to unload on the grass and move the cars quickly to allow other vehicles to unload, not sure if they still do that, but bring tarps just in case, we were not prepared)
-Only command strips (or the like) are allowed on the walls, they are great. We were able to hang the curtain rods with the command strip hooks and they stayed up all year.
-Bring every type of tool you could possibly need. Several dads in the Quad had to cut down bookshelves (personal property, not school property), etc, because of the odd sized rooms and ceiling heights.
-We used bed risers to raise bed for under bed storage and used the industrial Velcro tape to hang the longer bed skirts, it came off easily when we moved her out. Don't use duct tape on fabric or the beds, the epoxy is too sticky and could ruin items (I noticed several folks using twin bed sheets, instead of actual bed skirts...very clever)
-Don't worry if you don't have everything perfect, you can come back on bid day or another day to help. You may even find that the girls are fine with things just the way they are or can do things themselves.
-Enjoy time with your daughter and keep things light heart-ed while you are sweating in the Auburn heat! (Drink lots of water) We found everyone in her dorm to be excited and helpful...and hot. ;)

My daughter's school (and my son's will also) had kids with carts at the ready to load them up and take the stuff up to the room during move in. It did take 2 trips with my D, but I stayed with the stuff at one end and my ex stayed with the stuff at the other end. When you first get everything in the room, you're going to think "How is this all going to fit?" Once you make the bed, that takes care of a huge load of stuff because bedding is so bulky. I made the bed while D worked on hanging stuff in the closet. Once bedding and clothes were done, it was pretty easy to find spots for everything else :)

^^^On that note, invest in some space bags. I think that's what they're still called these days, but they're the bags where you vacuum out the air from the bag and they shrink. They save a LOT of space - especially with bedding and pillows.

I wouldn't bring the vacuum bags if you arent bringing a vacuum cleaner? They ones they have dont have a hose and wouldnt work to take stuff home.

If you are packing up a car - you might not have room for it all. Target and Bed Bath and Beyond in Tigertown will have a lot of dorm things. Both Walmarts tend to run out.

Be sure to bring things you will need for recruitment or cleaning. The stores all seem to run out of specific colors of make up, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies.

You can always mail things that are light? Book rate is also cheap.

Another tip would be free shipping with Amazon prime.

Pack your wardrobe for recruiment in a separate bag. That way you wont have to unpack EVERYTHING to have it

I bought a portable vacuum with a hose that works well and just took it and space bags with me when I went to get Hypo last summer.

Does the Quad have an elevator or is it just stairs? A dolly would be helpful but not if there isn't an elevator. Also she has a headboard that needs to velcro to the wall but all the velcro strips I found at Walmart were permanent or super heavy duty sticky. I don't think that would come off clean at the end of the year. Do you think command strips would hold up a fabric covered cardboard headboard?

The Quad does have an elevator. Keep in mind you will have to wait. My daughter was on the third floor, and we carried most things up the stairs (use the side stairs, less crowded). I don't think command strips will hold a headboard, but you can Velcro the bottom to the bed frame. That is what most of the girls with headboards did.

HQWest is correct about Amazon Prime. We order all books, and quite a few dorm supplies through it. Renting books is a great option...much cheaper than buying, you just have to keep up with the books and turn return them on time. My son and daughter (grad school), try to rent most of their books, and it saves $$.

When my daughter moved in to the Quad two years ago, there was an entire group of volunteers there to carry everything in. I think I carried one box. One warning though...some of the volunteers are PiChis. Remind your girls to be on their best behavior, not to have meltdowns or temper tantrums,etc. and keep in mind that they might be making their first impression on future sisters.

Huh? Booo! They sure didn't back in the day!

Some of the volunteers are Faculty and even the maintenance guys are there to help - dont stay up too late or let yourself get stressed out so that you are sure to start off on the right foot and moving in

Some of the volunteers are Faculty and even the maintenance guys are there to help - dont stay up too late or let yourself get stressed out so that you are sure to start off on the right foot and moving in

Someone mentioned putting up a curtain rod. Don't the dorms already have window treatments in place???

The have blinds that ate not always in the best condition - especially in the dorms on the hill.

Dorms generally have blinds, but decorating seems to be getting more popular. However, I would advise scaling back on the decor...this room will not look like Martha Stewart Living for long....

The president of my daughter's school gives great speeches. Last year, he told us he left a half-full bottle of energy drink on his son's desk during freshman move-in at his college. When they showed up for parents weekend, the same bottle was still there. And, the son and and his roommate claimed they had "cleaned" in preparation for visiting parents.

My daughter will be a junior this year and I think this story is illustrative of the reality of college living. Most of these kids are not very good at managing room cleaning, laundry, etc. Unless someone is a complete aberration, the room is not going to look good after a week has passed. Those 3M strips don't stick in humidity, so you end up with a bunch of posters and wall art that fell off. The keepsake knickknacks, little sister gifts, t-shirts, etc. really accumulate if a girl joins a sorority. Freshman year in the dorm and sophomore year in the sorority both started out cute, but devolved into mostly bare walls, cluttered sorority paraphernalia on every surface, hampers full of laundry, shoes everywhere, and unused minifridges, coffee makers, microwaves and even a TV all taking up space. And, they know it doesn't look like they intended it to, but they're too busy to keep up with it. I helped my daughter do a purge and a deep cleaning twice last year. After freshman year, my daughter rented a storage unit with some other sisters for all their stuff. Seriously, resist the temptation to buy/bring too much!

Absolutely true: the year before I went to Auburn, the physical plant installed dozens of one-way bathroom windows backwards in the girls' dorms. It was several days before this was discovered.

OMG...how is that even possible?

Thanks for all the tips ladies! My shopping list is long, but I feel much better prepared for next week! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman (Post 2283319) Seriously, resist the temptation to buy/bringtoo much!

^^^^^THIS!^^^^^^

Yea I can't echo this enough. Reduce, reduce, reduce. Most of that crap first time college families pack will never see the light of day. Especially the "decor". Leave most of it home.

Here is what happens at Auburn: the freshmen come with tons of orange and blue stuff to decorate their room with. "Oh boy, I'm gonna have the most Auburn room ever!"

Then they pledge a sorority whose colors clash horribly with orange and blue. (That would be most sororities.) Then the orange and blue stuff tends to find its way into the closet.

Lolz you might be able to keep the blue stuff

They need a KDR chapter. :)

http://www.kdr.com/

For Moms bored or needing to relax before recruitment starts
http://southernrevelry.com

HQ--I love your location! "Proudly stands our alma mater-baaannnerrrs hiiigh--"

I actually have an Auburn rec girl this year.

You have an Alabama one, too, right?