Sure, there’s lots of stress involved with planning what to bring to school with you, but the hardest part is packing everything into your car and unloading it into your dorm, house, apartment or whatever sort of shack you’re living in for the school year. Most students aren’t living in penthouse-sized suites, so you need to plan ahead if you want to move in with ease.
Buy items once you get to campus
Decide what things you must bring with you and what things you can purchase once you arrive at school. It’s easier to move in with less and then go out and buy the things that you feel you’re missing. It’s also important to ask if your roommates are bringing duplicates of some of the items you’re bringing. No need for multiple vacuums and Keurigs.
Get a boxed-up mattress
Eventually, you’ll have to bring your own mattress to school if you aren’t living in a dorm. This was always the hardest part of moving in for me. If you’re struggling to fit a mattress in the car, try out the Snoozecube mattress. The mattress comes vacuum sealed and rolled up in a box. It fit perfectly in my car with the other furniture I brought with me, and I was able to carry it out of my car and into my apartment with ease. It also has memory foam and cooling aspects on it too, which let you get a great night’s rest in non-air conditioned apartments. If you’re a Pitt student, you can head to Levin Furniture like I did, and pick one up there.
Take advantage of a collapsible bed frame
I highly recommend a collapsible bed frame to put your mattress on. They fold flat and in half so they aren’t a bulky item to fit in your car, and they require little assembly. They usually stand 15 – 17 inches off of the ground, which is perfect for stashing away large bins under your bed.
Keep your clothes on their hangers
Clothing on hangers can stay on hangers. Grab a large plastic trash bag and make a hole in the closed end to create a trash bag that functions like a garment bag. Then grab a handful of your clothes on hangers and slide the bag overtop of them with the top of the hangers sticking out of the bag. This lets you hang them up as soon as you get to school.
(Photo provided by StockSnap, retrieved from Pixabay)
Go trash picking to avoid buying and transporting furniture
During move-in week, other girls in my apartment scouted for porch furniture that was left for trash pickup near our street. We use it every day and we didn’t have to bring it to school ourselves. We can also leave it for the next people who move in and not worry about taking it back home with us since it doesn’t hold any sentimental value.
Move in at a different time than your roommates
Although most students don’t have control of when they’re allowed to move in, try to pick a different time from your roommates, if possible. The less people there are scrambling to get all of their belongings into your new apartment at the same time, the less chance there is for colliding into each other and dropping all of the things you’re carrying in your arms. If this hasn’t happened to you, you’ve at least witnessed it happen before.
Having an easy move-in is possible if you arrive prepared. Don’t forget to bring a tool kit for assembling furniture and comfortable clothes to wear while unpacking. And of course, make sure you thank your family and friends who took time to help move you in.