Hello, lovelies! It’s been a minute since I’ve talked to you guys about college, which makes sense. I’ve been in full-on summer/internship/travel mode. School hasn’t been the biggest thing on my mind. Now that the summer is reaching its end and move-in day is fast approaching, I decided to write a guide for you all. I lived at home for my first two years of college and last year was my first year living in a dorm. I’m not an experienced veteran, which is why this is a guide for first-timers. I hope you enjoy.

Related – What It’s Like To Move Out For College

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//Before Move-In Day//

//Choose The Earliest Move-In Date & Time

Ideally, get there before your roommate. This way, you’ll be able to pick the side of the room you want and it’ll be easier to move around furniture. Last year, I was able to move in a week before school started and I was one of the first people to move into the building. This year, there is only one move-in day, so it will be a lot more crowded. That’s why you should try to move in as early as possible. It will make the day less hectic.

//How Are You Getting There

The first step in the planning process is deciding how you are getting there. Are you going out of state? Will you be taking multiple cars or just one? Are you flying there? Will you need to ship any items or will you buy most of your necessities once you arrive?

I stayed in-state for college, so I took my car. There wasn’t enough room to take everything and it was much more important to me that my family come with me than it was to move everything at once. I moved in over the course of multiple trips. On the actual move-in day, I brought the majority of my things: fridge, bedding, clothes, desk supplies, kitchen supplies, etc, but I knew I would be able to move in other things later. Especially since I went back and forth a few times that first week to get my brother (who has autism) used to me not living at home.

//Make A Plan

Look up the layout of your room online and start making decisions on how you are going to set it up. Calculate how long it will take you to check-in and sign all the papers. Decide who’s coming with you and how long it will take everyone to unload everything. Things like this will help move-in day go a lot smoother.

//Pack Efficiently

• Pack Things In Containers You’ll Use In Your Dorm Anyway – I packed a lot of the things I needed in my under-bed storage and in the cube boxes I would keep above my closet. This made packing and unpacking much easier since there weren’t any cardboard boxes to throw out.
• Put All Your Clothes On Hangers And Place Them In A Trash Bag – Do this in a way where the hangers stick out of a whole. This makes transporting clothes significantly easier. You can also just hang up all your clothes immediately and rip off the trash bag instead of hanging things up individually on move-in day. This will save you a lot of time.
• Pack Things In A Suitcase – They are easy to transport in and out of your dorm, and you’ll probably need to keep one handy anyway for trips back home or to other places.

Related Posts: Everything I Packed For College | Minimal College Packing List; The ULTIMATE College Packing List

//Read Campus Guidelines

After you choose a dorm and a move-in time, your college will send you an email with the community guidelines of your dorm. Find the list of forbidden items like candles or fairy lights, so that you don’t get in trouble for bringing them. It will also include things like student conduct procedures and your “Roommate Bill Of Rights” (I didn’t know that was a thing.). You don’t need to read the whole thing because it’s rather long but skim through it a bit.

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//Upon Arrival//

//Get Parking Pass For Unloading Zone

Once you arrive, get a parking pass for the unloading zone. You’ll only be allowed in the unloading zone for an hour. Maybe less depending on your campus, so take everything out of your car immediately and worry about setting everything up later. Afterward, move your car to long-term parking so that other cars can unload.

//Sign In And Get Your Keys

You’ll have to sign a few papers upon arrival. You’ll need to have your student ID card on hand for them to scan. After you sign the contracts, you’ll receive your room and mailbox key and you’ll be free to start moving in.

//Grab A Cart And Start Unloading Your Vehicle

There should be a bunch of carts in the lobby for you to check out. When I moved in last year, I was able to move in everything I needed in one trip with two carts. Granted, I packed pretty minimally, but you should be able to fit a good chunk of your things into those carts.

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//In The Room//

//Have A Plan For Your Room

You’ve probably already seen pictures and layouts of your dorm room on your school website, but that doesn’t always translate to the real thing. Have a rough idea on how you would like to arrange things in your room once you arrive then go from there. It will save you a lot of time and you will have jobs to assign everyone who is there. Move or rearrange the furniture once you have your plan. 

//Wipe Everything Down

My room was pretty clean for the most part, so I didn’t wipe it down immediately, but I did clean everything within a week of moving in. The two biggest things I recommend is to vacuum and clean the air vent. It’s kind of disgusting how much dust and hair I was able to clean out of the room. I’m glad I did it early on because it was easier to do before I moved all of my things in over time.

Related – How To Keep Your Dorm Room Ridiculously Clean (My Weekly Cleaning Routine)

//Make The Bed & Bring In The Fridge & Microwave First

The first thing you should do is set up your bed, fridge, and microwave. Loft your bed up your preferred height, then add the mattress topper before making your bed. Afterward, set up where you want to keep your fridge and microwave. Finishing the biggest tasks first make the moving process a lot easier.

//Set Up An Extension Cord If You Need To

I only had one available plug on my side of the room because the one near my desk was connected to the air conditioner. My roommate and I shared the plug next to her desk to charge our phones, and I used three extension cords to wrap around my bed and behind the dresser and desk to use to charge my laptop and light my lamp. One of the plugs under my bed was for the fridge, and the other had the extension cord that I used to power my microwave and the rest of my side of the room.

Once you move in the bigger items, set up extension cords if you need them.

//Put Away All Of Your Clothes

I think the third thing to get out of the way is setting up your closet. If you pack smart, this should be easy. I just hung up my clothes and tore off the trash bag. After that, I put up three baskets for my socks, bras, and underwear. Finally, I just moved my folded clothes from my duffel bag to a drawer.

//Set Everything Up

The rest of move-in day is pretty self-explanatory. Set up your desk area with your lamp and bulletin board. I didn’t have a meal plan, so I set up the food area with my microwave, fridge, and pantry area. If you brought a T.V, ask the front desk about setting up cable. I really wish there was more advice I could give you here, but this honestly depends on your own preferences. Here’s how I set up and organized my dorm room.

//Decorate Last

After setting up the main areas, you can start decorating. My advice to get all your decorating done within the first two weeks of school. Otherwise, your room will never feel “finished.” My goal last year was to decorate everything I wanted to in August so that I could enjoy it for the rest of the year, so that’s what I did. Once you’re done, you’ll finally feel completely moved in.

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//Other Tips//

//If You Can, Move-In Slowly

If you are staying in-state and live near your campus, find a way to move in slowly. I moved all of my stuff in over the course of two trips. My family came with me to set up the bulkier stuff, but I was able to move the rest of my stuff in on my own a few days later. This made the moving process a lot less hectic and I didn’t feel pressured to set everything up all at once. That’s another perk of choosing the earliest move-in date: you have more time to set things up before classes start.

//Wear Comfortable Clothes

You are going to be doing a lot of moving and lifting, so make sure you wear clothes you can move around in without getting too sweaty.

//Bring Water And Snacks

This will keep your energy up while you set up your room.

//Take A Lot Of Pictures

I wish we had taken more pictures with my family the day I moved in because I don’t have a lot. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

//It Doesn’t Take As Long As You Think

I think all the moving vlogs and blog posts make it seem like moving into your dorm is an all-day affair, but it honestly doesn’t take that long. It’s a small room, and if you’ve packed efficiently, it should only take you two hours plus any time you spend decorating, which you can do on your own another day. Don’t stress too much about running out of time. You have plenty of it.

//I Have No Advice For Saying Bye To Your Parents Afterward

I literally went home with them immediately after last year, and this year move-in day is the day before Eid, so I’m heading home afterward anyway. My brother has autism, so last year the first week of me moving in involved me driving back and forth over the course of a few days to get him used to me not living with him. Because of that, there was never a real “seen you on Thanksgiving” type of goodbye. All I can say is to tell them thank you and that you love them. Find another post on Pinterest to give you advice there because I visit my family every weekend. (I genuinely don’t know what I’d do with myself if I stayed on campus for a whole weekend. It’s kind of sad.)

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Well, that’s my two-cents on move-in day. I move back to campus next weekend, and I’m really excited. One of my best friends has transferred to my university and we live in the same building! It’s going to be so fun!

Related – Dorm Room Tour

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What are your best tips for move-in day?