Just got an email from kids college. They will begin packing rooms up and will let us know when we can pick up belongings. Glad it's not too far.

My son's college gave them a 10-day window to move out in the hopes that there wouldn't be crowds, and some moved out before the school decided to go on-line for the rest of the semester. We're planning to just go and do it tomorrow.

It's pretty clear that they would not allow some random student to pack up and go through the checkout procedure in my son's place. There is some paperwork involved.

Anonymous wrote:Some colleges are packing up. I would hire a student to put it in storage if school is far.

This is so easy to say, but not always as easy to do.

--Not all colleges have storage companies nearby. My DC's college is in a large town (not the middle of nowhere) but there aren't a lot of storage firms to serve the three colleges on the area.

--Not all storage companies have immediately available space to handle a sudden influx of student stuff at a time they would not usually be expecting college student clients.

--Many students are going to be rushing to get their own belongings and get the heck out of the dorms and off campus. Even offering to pay them isn't necessarily going to be an incentive for them to deal with someone else's stuff. I don't blame them if they want to grab their things and leave.

Don't assume this is as easy as "college kids always want money and storage places always have space."

Some colleges are packing up. I would hire a student to put it in storage if school is far.

To those of you who went back to get belongings:

We now are facing this too. Waiting to hear what the college (in NY state) wants us to do and when to get things.

Did your kids' colleges at least try to stagger pickups, or assign dates to different dorms or different groups (freshmen, seniors etc.) so that the dorms were NOT busy with kids and parents all trying to move things at the same time?

Our college has been very adamant about total distancing for anyone still on campus (a handful of international students and students with nowhere else to go) and I am praying we don't turn up to get DC's things only to find the dorm swarming with people doing the same all at once. It would totally defeat the idea of distancing and put a lot of people at more risk -- NY is one of the top three states with CV cases. We cannot afford for my DH to get sick at this time but he must come with us as we cannot make the trip without him along to take turns driving.

Please share your experiences -- did your kid's college try to reduce contact among people coming to pick up things??

Call the housing office at the college. They may let it stay longer. Ours still has some international students on campus while everyone else has vacated.

We picked up DC and two SUVs full of her crap last weekend.....girl definitely needs to reduce her footprint.

Our school will ship it to us.

Our college is not allowing us to come back yet. I am worried by the time they do we will not be able to travel...it is a huge trip to do in 1 day. At least 16 hours. Skies are expensive.

I would not go. The college will donate the stuff.

My son's school made us come back this week, we had to be by today. He was on spring break at the time, so we had to drive up and back the same day (800 miles total).

Be aware that the PA Turnpike rest stops were closed. That means no food or toilets. I heard on the news that porta potties have been installed.

We went back for our kid’s stuff on Tuesday. One option the university offered for families not able to do that was for dorm room contents to be packed up and shipped by university staff. Not ideal, but what they had to do as a result of shutting down the dorms during spring break, when a lot of kids were away.

Does everyone else have their stuff home with their kid??

a few hours ago, the governor of PA closed all businesses that are not "life sustaining"...so the plans may be off??