Simply Moving NYC – College Dorm Move-In Tips for Students Moving in NYC

College Dorm Move-In Tips for Students Moving in NYC


If you’re about to move to college, congratulations! You’re entering an important period of your life – and you’ll grow as a person, a student, and more. But the process of moving can be stressful. What do you need to do in order to make the process as moving in NYC as simple as possible? Find out now!

Advice About Move-In Day For NYC College Students

First, let’s start with some general advice about how to approach your move. Here are a few basic things you should do before you move to campus.

  • Plan your move in advance – Nobody wants to wait until the day before they move into the dorms to pack up their room – but that’s what most people do! To avoid rushing around and preparing in a hurry, try to pack up most of your non-essentials early on, and begin packing the rest of your stuff a few days before your move. One good tip is to pack up all of your stuff, and just leave the essentials – clothes, beauty and hygiene products, electronics and so on – in your room. Then, when it’s time to make the move, you can toss this stuff into a single bag, and you’re all ready to go!
  • Be well-rested – This goes with the above point. If you’re well-rested, fed, and hydrated, you’ll be able to tackle the moving process more easily – particularly in the scorching hot NYC August heat, which is when most students move into the dorms. If you’re not well-rested and ready to go, you won’t have a good time. We learned that from experience!
  • Have fun and be friendly – This is less advice about moving your stuff, but more about the move itself. Try to have fun, and be friendly! Help your roommates move their stuff in. Volunteer to help the folks across the hall move their futon. Leave your door open, and enjoy the experience – and as soon as you move in, you’ll start making friends!

So, we’ve discussed a few tips for move-in day. But what about before move-in day?

What To Do Before Move-In Day

First, if you have any fragile or delicate items, you’ll want to make sure they’re properly packed in a durable cardboard box, or a plastic container. You can use packing peanuts or other materials to keep them from moving. On a budget? Don’t want to get packing peanuts? You can use some of your clothes as box filler! Just toss in some socks and undies, wrap your stuff with t-shirts – this is surprisingly effective, and saves you time and money!

As far as cardboard boxes go, one of the best ways to get boxes is to just plan ahead, and save all of the big boxes from Amazon and other stores that come to your house. Out of luck on that front? You can buy some boxes from companies like Uhaul, or head to your local supermarket or another retailer – and ask nicely! Most store managers are always willing to get rid of cardboard boxes, and help you out.

When it comes to moving furniture, it’s usually best to disassemble your furniture as much as you can. This makes it easier to move into the dorm, especially if there is a small freight elevator, or no elevator at all. Also, be realistic about the size of your room – you don’t want to go to the trouble of bringing a nice futon or couch, only to realize it takes up 3/4 of the floor space, and have to send it home.

Nightstands, dressers, storage chests and other such containers don’t need to be disassembled. You can simply seal up the drawers by wrapping them with Saran Wrap or another type of heavy-duty plastic wrap. You can even leave some stuff in there to make moving easier – but don’t leave heavy or delicate items, as they’ll roll around, or make the item too heavy to carry. Stick to light stuff like clothes.

Collaborating With Your Roommates

Before you move in, you should collaborate with your roommates, to make sure that you’re not bringing duplicate items. You don’t need three mini-fridges, two hot plates, four TVs, and eight gaming consoles – especially in a tiny dorm room or suite.

Make sure you contact your roommates well in advance – both so you can plan what each one of you will bring, and so you can get to know them a bit! This will make things a bit less awkward on move-in day, because you won’t be strangers.

You should make a list and send it to each one of your roommates, so that they can tell you what they were planning to bring – and you can coordinate to make sure you don’t bring too much stuff. You don’t have to be too formal about things, of course, but a little bit of planning can go a long way.

If there’s any doubt about whether or not someone will be able to bring the item they agreed to bring, feel free to have a back-up plan – but be ready to haul any extra stuff all the way back down to Mom and Dad’s car!

Hire Professional NYC Movers to Make Life Easier on Move-In Day

If you want to make things as smooth as possible, one of the best options you have is to hire professional NYC movers. An NYC mover can move all of your stuff into your dorm in just a few minutes, so you’ll have more time to relax, arrange your stuff, and meet the roommates. Sure, it’s not as cheap as moving yourself – but sitting back in the A/C while the rest of your classmates sweat and struggle with their stuff? That’s priceless! (But consider volunteering to help out anyway.)

Follow These Tips For Move-In Day

If you follow these tips for move-in day, you’re sure to have an easier time as a student moving in NYC. Take another look now, and start planning your move today.

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