Everything you Need to Know about College Move-In Day │20 College Move-In Day Tips We Swear By

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College move-in day now can be more of an exciting and fun experience for all of you with these amazing tips instead of a tiring day that might sound like it will last for ages.

I’m sure that you’re aware of the long day waiting for you “your most awaited college move-in day”. The excitement of leaving high school, home your friends to experience college life is something beyond description.

I remember how I felt when I first moved to college, it was fun and exciting but I was a little bit afraid as everyone else was since it was my first time away from my family.

The week before moving to college was so stressful and I don’t even have the right words to describe the night before moving in!

After a few years in college, as a junior who moved in a couple of times by now, I consider myself a bit of an expert who can provide you with –what I consider- my best college move in tips you’ll swear by!

You’ll make the most out of your college moving in day without feeling drained or fed up, that, I assure you! So stick around for helpful college moving day tips.

College Move In Day Tips

1. Get Familiar with your Dorm Room Layout

Think of your dorm room as a box with a certain space and design and get familiar with what it looks like before you start putting stuff inside it.

What I recommend is that you should watch a couple of videos about the dorm that you’re going to move into.

You should watch dorm room tours on YouTube or other social media platforms, and make sure to get familiar with the layout so you know what to bring and what to leave.

This is a very important thing to do since college dorm rooms are different from one to the other, so knowing exactly where you’re going to live and the layout will save you a lot of time and effort.

2. Document any Dorm Damages

This college move-in-day tip usually gets ignored by students.

Make sure to take pictures of your dorm before you place anything in the room just to check if there were any damages before you moved in and to avoid any extra charges when you move out.

I know that a lot of people forget to do this especially since everyone is busy with just placing everything here and there, but don’t forget this one crucial step, you know “just in case”.

3. Bring a Tool Box

Having a toolbox is one of the necessities. You probably won’t really be using it, but you still have to get it and save it in your dorm room.

Also, you can get a first aid kit with it so you can use them both whenever needed which I hope you won’t need to use lol.

4. Bring a Door Stopper

It may seem unimportant to some freshman students to bring a door stopper, but once you start moving in things into your dorm room, you’ll realize how important it is to have one.

Literally, it will save you the time of opening the door whenever you go out. This is an easy tool that you’ll absolutely need and discover its importance if you don’t take one with you. I mean I’ve seen a lot of students struggling with opening the door each time they wanted to move in something or one of the parents calling their kids about the key, it could get really annoying. Also, can I say doors are heavy to keep open every single time?

5. Bring your Own Rolling Cart

Aside from the storage bin, bringing a rolling cart is a very good idea on your college move-in day.

 It helps you carry heavy suitcases and other stuff that you feel like not putting in the storage bin.

You don’t want to walk around pushing your heavy stuff and this rolling cart is a great tool that’ll save you a lot of work.

6. Bring your Own Cleaning Supplies

On my college move in day, I was shocked by how dirty the dorm room was and there was no way I place my new stuff in a dirty space. So, It is highly likely that your room won’t be as clean as you expected it to be and the worst that can happen is wanting to clean it after you moved in everything.

 So, what I suggest is that you bring your dorm room cleaning products with you, just put them at the bottom of your boxes and have them ready in case you needed to use them before you move anything inside the room. After all, you want to settle in a clean space that is relaxing and comfy in a way.

Another reason why you need to bring your own dorm room cleaning supplies with you, is that most stores like Target or Walmart will be out of stock because a lot of students are moving to their dorms the same day.

I highly recommend getting a stock of Clorox disinfecting wipes because you’ll be wiping everything in your dorm, like everything.

Related: 26 Dorm Room Cleaning Supplies You Have to Get for your Dorm

7. Bring Toilet Paper

You absolutely don’t want to forget to bring toilet paper with you.

College bathrooms may not have toilet papers on the first day you move in and even if it does, I’m sure you’ll need them later.

I’ve seen many students go to Walmart to get some after they realized they need them the last minute.

So, to avoid the trouble make sure you pack some and put them in one of your boxes.

Related: if you’re worrying about your college debt, and scared to finish college with a lot of money to pay off, this blog post goes through everything about how to pay for college debt without loans.

8. Move in Before your Roommate

This is one of the mistakes I made when I first moved into my dorm. My roommate moved days before me so she had the time to choose her side of the room, decorate and place her stuff where she liked while I had to accept whatever I got.

To be honest, I didn’t like my side of the room that much and I didn’t know who my roommate was so I couldn’t object, it was my fault I moved in late.

So, if you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, make sure you move in before your roommate so you get to choose your side of the room and decorate it however you like.

I find this college move in day tip so valid if you’re moving to a college apartment with your friends. You want to have the best room what I mean about this, you want to get the bigger one so you’ll have enough space.

9. Make Sure you Packed Everything Ahead

The worst thing that can happen is to make it to college and find out that the things you thought you packed are just not there. These things happen, yes, so make sure to pack everything ahead and to check every item on your list, especially what you deem important. 

I highly recommend to download this free college packing list so you make sure you’ve packed everything you need for college.

10. Label your Boxes From the Front

If you packed your stuff in different boxes which I highly recommend this to keep everything organized, I do advise you to label them to be more organized so when you open each box, you know exactly what you’re doing. For example, books box, clothes or decor.

That way you’ll find each item in its exact place. Also, an important tip about labelng your boxes, you need to label them from the front instead on the top as you’re more likely to stock boxes on each other.

Labeling boxes from the front will make it easy for you to know what you’ve stored in boxes without moving them.

11. Wear Comfy Clothes

Moving day is big with so much going on and so much stuff to carry, wearing fancy clothes is not an option.

On my first day in college I noticed that most girls were wearing shorts, sweaters, and other comfy stuff, that day –believe me- even jeans are not that comfy.

My favorite store to get clothes for these special occasions is Zara. However, there are stores like Zara you can comfy clothes for college move in day.

 You want to walk around feeling comfortable as you install your stuff and settle, so I don’t think you should give great importance to the way you look but how comfortable you are.

12. Bring your Decor with You

You may find it hard to shop for your dorm room décor on your college moving day since Walmart and Target will be low on stock due to high demand. I

’m pretty sure that you’ve planned your room decoration before you moved in, so I suggest you buy everything you need and bring it with you.

At the end of the day, you don’t want to get frustrated shopping for what you could’ve shopped for before you came in, it would be a waste of time and a tiring process to have a decor shopping at the last minute.

13. Bring Lamps

Since candles aren’t allowed in dorms, lamps are your best option, especially small bulbs. I recall my roommate having those little bulbs placed on her bedroom and desk the moment she moved in, they were cute and gave the room a cozy warm atmosphere.

The bedside lamps are also a very good idea, sometimes you just need little light to do certain stuff like reading, hanging around at your desk, or just taking a nap.

14. Get Help

Believe me, it’s not easy to Move into your dorm room as it takes time and effort and you’ll need help to save the time and settle as soon as possible.

For example, you’ll need someone to go and get the storage bins, someone to help you install your things and decorate your room, and many other things.

That’s why it’s important to have your parents, friends and siblings coming with you that day, they’ll help a lot with everything, trust me.

15. Don’t Forget to Bring a Fan

OMG! Can I tell you I totally forgot to bring my fan when I moved and you can just imagine how bad it was? Please, bring a fan!

You’re moving in August and it’s so hot, you’ll be sweating. Having a fan in your dorm, especially on your college move-in day is important, not this!

16. Make Your Final Dorm Shopping at Home

Make sure to shop all of your dorm room essentials at home. Everything you need should be in its right box, make a college shopping list and list all the items that you’ll need to buy, tick everything before you move into college.

It’ll be hard for you to shop once you’re there, Walmart and Target will be flooded with those students who didn’t plan everything and you don’t want to be caught in this mess.

So, you need to shop, organize, pack, and label your boxes so everything is clear once you move into college.

17. Don’t Bring or Buy What you Don’t Need Right Away

If you feel like you’ve forgotten to get dorm room items or your decor, don’t rush to buy it. Wait, maybe you just feel like you need it while you won’t even be using it.

 I highly recommend making sure everything is settled and see if you need to make a new list of your dorm room must-have stuff.

If that’s the case, you can get them from your closet store to your campus.

However, just wait until college moving day is over and everything cools down then go for it.

18. Hanging Clothes

I literally swear by this college move-in-day tip. There is nothing worse than packing clothes. The perfect way to move your clothes to college is to keep them on hangers and wrap them in trash bags.

First, they won’t get a lot of space when moving, and also, you’ll make sure your clothes are still clean which is important.

19. Make sure to Talk to your Roommate About Shared Items

Communicating is the key! I remember talking to my roommate about sharing the mini-fridge, the bin, the drawer we had, and other stuff.

You don’t expect your roommate to be your best friend but she’s going to be sharing this room with you for a whole year. This is important because dorm rooms are 2X smaller than your actual room at home so you don’t want to have duplicate stuff. You need to agree with your roommate about stuff she’ll be bringing so you don’t bother getting them and vice versa.

20. Get Storage Bins

There is a huge line for the storage bins. I’m sure that you’ve seen students using bins on their first day moving to college. They’re big, easy to use, and perfect to move all your stuff to your dorm.

However, if you stay in line waiting to get one, you’ll end up wasting time, so it’s better if you send someone to get one for you while you do other stuff.

The Best College Move In Day Tips That Will Make Your Moving Day Easy and Fun

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