Trust me when I tell you, that the summer before my freshman year, I was immensely stressed for my college move-in day. I felt this anxiety building up in my stomach all summer just because of this day arriving closer and closer. I was nervous that my roommates would hate me (I went random) or that I would not get along with them. Basically, college move-in day haunted me all summer long, and I felt pretty justified for feeling so anxious.
I was moving in somewhere that wasn’t my home, with people I had never met, and I was expected to stay there until at least December (Winter Break) while also going to classes with people I don’t know and eat food that everyone claims to taste horrible. But that’s the whole point of college, meeting new people and gaining new experiences! Move-in day can be super intimidating and really stressful, but it’s the start of something new (sorry for the Highschool Musical reference)! I am going to tell you all about what actually happens on college move-in day, hoping to give you some more insight. Disclaimer: Every college does it slightly differently obviously, so my experience may be different than yours.
Morning
- A week or two beforehand, your college will notify you with a time slot to arrive at campus to move in, so make sure you’re not late, because there will be hundreds of cars arriving along with you for that time slot.
- To be honest, most of your morning will be spent waiting in a very long line of cars to unload all your boxes at your dorm building.
- Once you finally get to the end of that line of cars and arrive at your dorm building, you will unload all your boxes (there may be some students there to help you), you’ll be given your key and you’ll see your room for the first time!
Noon
- Once you get to your dorm with your boxes, it’s time to unpack! You will definitely spend more than an hour unpacking your boxes, mostly because there are other people in the room you have to move around. I had three roommates, so imagine the four of us, all of our boxes and our families in a tiny dorm.
- Don’t worry too much if you don’t like exactly where all of your items were placed in your side of the dorm, you will have time later to situate everything.
- After you move your items in, you may realize you forgot to buy something, so this is the time you and your family would make a quick run to Target to pick those things up!
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Afternoon
- Every college is different, but most colleges have some type of event for all the families and the new students to enjoy together. My school had a huge barbecue for everyone to enjoy after moving in. It gives you an opportunity to sit with your family and really meet your new roommates and their families, so definitely take advantage of it.
Night
- By the end of the day, you’ll say goodbye to your family and head back to your dorm. This is your opportunity to meet everyone in your hallway, as well as your RA for the semester.
- Everyone will have their doors open to encourage others to stop in and start a conversation.
- And then you’re done with your first college move-in day!
Overall, everyone’s move-in day is different, but as long as you try to stay positive and make the best of it, then it can be a great experience. If you’re looking for some tips and advice on your college move-in day, I wrote a blog post all about the biggest recommendations that I wish I knew before! You can read it here!
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Living life, and writing about it as I go.
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