College Moving Guide: Dorm & First Apartment

Dorm rooms are small and shared, so the winning move is to under-pack and buy the bulky basics near campus. Bring bedding sized to the dorm’s mattress (often extra-long twin), a power strip with surge protection, a small toolkit, storage bins that slide under a raised bed, and personal items. Coordinate with your roommate before either of you buys a mini-fridge, microwave, TV, or rug — one of each per room is plenty, and doubling up just clutters the space and the move.

If you’re not hauling everything home each May, line up summer storage early — units near campus sell out and prices spike right at term’s end. Compare a small self-storage unit against student-focused pickup-and-store services that collect labeled boxes from your room and redeliver in the fall. Either way, keep an inventory list and don’t store anything perishable or valuable you’ll want over the break.

Most residence halls assign staggered move-in time slots to control traffic and elevator load, and some limit how long you can occupy the loading zone. Confirm your slot, the closest unloading entrance, and whether move-in carts are provided. Arriving at the start of your window — not the end — gives you the calmest parking and the most help still on hand.