Moving Your College Children – What to know and how to choose the best college movers

Whether you’re helping your child move to another city or another state as they start college, this transition is a momentous one for many.

To make the most out of a special time and have more positive feelings than stressful ones, it’s wise to think ahead about how you’ll plan to manage the move.

Keep reading for more on what to consider in your planning process, how to pack, and what to do after you and your child arrive on campus.

Planning a student move

As you consider what arrangements will be necessary to prepare for your child’s move to college, there are a few questions worth asking:

• What do they already have that they’ll want to take with them to campus? What else will they need? Will you be able to purchase anything ahead of time or would it be best to wait until you arrive?
• Will your child be living with others in a shared space when they move into campus? If so, that may be an opportunity to negotiate who will bring what that can be shared, such as a mini-fridge, television, and the like.
• What are the move-in procedures for your child’s living arrangements? It’s good to get an understanding of what the university or college’s move-in procedures are if your child will be moving into on-campus housing.
• Will you be driving (in your own vehicle or in a moving truck) or taking a flight to your child’s college town? These options may influence how you’ll plan to move your child’s belongings to their new college home. Will it fit in the vehicle you’re planning to take to get to campus?

Packing for moving to college

Of course, packing items to take to college is a big part of the process. Depending on your travel method, you may need to consider how your child’s belongings will get there. You might think about:

• Provide assistance with packing — but only if it’s something your child wants! You can share your experience from your university days, but they’ll likely want to be figuring out what they’d like to take and what they’d like to leave behind on their own.
• Whether you and your child agree that getting some professional assistance may be ideal for this task. Professional movers can help with all or some of the packing process, from providing packing materials to fully packing and unpacking your child’s belongings.
• Depending on the distance from where you are to where your child is headed, you may also consider shipping some of their belongings. If this is an ideal option, it would be good to prioritize shipping items your child won’t need immediately (just in case there is a delay in their delivery).

Arriving to campus

• After following the campus’ move-in procedure, ask your child if they’d like help unpacking, but let them make the decisions. They may want to decorate and find spots for their belongings on their own. Again, if you’ve hired professional movers, they can help with unpacking (but can leave the organization and personalization of your child’s new home-away-from-home to up to them!).
• If upon arrival you realize that your child didn’t already have certain needed items (for example, a floor lamp, printer paper, or a shower caddy), you could offer to pick them up locally.
• Before you leave your child to get acquainted with their new campus life, it may be good to help them find key resources on campus, such as the campus health center, local pharmacy, and maybe the campus safety office.
• You can also talk with them about how often you’ll want to be in touch with each other or to visit — it’s good not to assume that they’ll want to have twice weekly chats or visits as they start their new transition with new obligations and schedules.

Helping your child make the transition to college can be bittersweet — they are beginning an exciting new chapter in their lives, but are leaving your home to do it. Hiring professional movers can help you put aside the stress of moving and focus on making these moments memorable instead. Piece of Cake Moving & Storage will ace any relocation task with flying colors and has already received top marks when it comes to reliable and reputable moving professionals. Whether it’s providing packing supplies, packing your child’s belongings, unpacking them on campus, or even providing storage for what they don’t need to bring to college (maybe you’re hoping to move in your home gym equipment in what is now a spare bedroom…), we’ve got you covered.