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UPDATED: August 11, 2025
Ok, here we go. If you’re reading this, it’s getting real, and college move in day is probably fast approaching.
You’re likely exhausted from the past couple of months. College decisions, prom, graduation, dorm shopping, wild swings in emotions, arguments, tears, more shopping and fear of the unknown.
Let’s try to avoid the arguments and tears on move in day. The best way to do that is to plan ahead!
This article is focused specifically on preparing and planning for move-in day, not to be confused with shopping for your dorm room essentials!
This article includes my own experiences moving my kids into dorms, yes, BUT importantly, this is based on 3 years of listening and learning from over 100,000 parents in our Dorm Recommendations Facebook group. I constantly gather all of the ideas and insights and processes and update this article continually.
While the list and steps in this article will be most relevant for those driving to college, those who are flying will also find helpful ideas and tips for a smooth move-in. Please also see this article for help with planning for a long-distance college move.
Here is your plan in reverse chronological order. Or you can jump to any of the following content:
We did not bring our younger son (he had high school that day), but it was for the best. Between my husband, my son and myself plus his roommate and his parents, 6 was too many to have in the room at one time, especially with bags and bins and stuff everywhere.
If you have some time before you travel, you may want to setup an airfare alert to be alerted when prices drop. But you should definitely book far in advance especially if you’re headed into a smaller market.
If you’ll need a hotel and haven’t made a reservation yet, do it NOW. Or look at Airbnb depending on the city. Hotel reservations only get more expensive as we get closer to move-in time. Same goes for parents’ weekend, home football games, move-out and graduation.
Some schools offer hotel suggestions and even discounted rates for local hotels. Check your college website for this information.
If you haven’t yet, also consider booking hotel rooms for parents’ weekend and other busy visit times.
If you will be in town the night before or staying the night of move in, consider making dinner reservations at a restaurant now as well, especially in a smaller town.
Need some inspiration or ideas? We have a few resources for you:
The Complete Dorm Room Essentials Guide: A Shoppable List
Have dorm shopping questions? Join our Dorm Shopping Facebook Group and ask away. We’re there all day every day answering questions!
Be sure you know the rules for your dorm. For example:
This article has the full list of dorm policies I hope you’ve researched already if you’re a few weeks from move-in, but if not, now is the time!
If you’re considering a small gift for the new college student, now would be a good time to take care of that. Something sentimental? Something cute? Something from the dog? Better to get that ordered now especially if it will be a custom order.
Here is a creative list full of sentimental move in day gifts and little touches to quietly leave behind to be found later.
Another option or an additional idea is to leave behind a few Open When cards. Open When you miss home, Open When you have a big test, Open When you’re feeling lonely, etc.
Your homeowner’s policy may cover your child’s belongings in a dorm, but it may be a better option to pay for an inexpensive dorm/renter’s policy rather than make a smaller claim against your full home insurance policy. Given laptops, phones and other electronics and expensive items brought to campus, please be sure you are covered. Policies are typically very low in cost, starting at $5-10 per month. Also see our article on the best options for a dorm safe.
If your child will not bring a car to college, let your insurance company know, and you may see a temporary rate drop. Ask for a ‘student away’ or a ‘student pause’ option. Some insurance companies require the student to be a certain distance for home such as 100 miles.
Once our students become legal adults (18 in most states), we as parents do not have legal rights to any medical, academic or financial information or critical medical decisions without the student’s permission. If the student is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated and cannot give this permission, you may not be able to make medical decisions or handle their finances during that time. Please have your student strongly consider both a Healthcare and Durable Power Attorney.
Check with your college to see if they offer any type of legal assistance with putting these forms into place. BE SURE these are not just documents for the school medical center or FERPA (to access academic records) but actual Powers of Attorney that can be used in any medical facility or off-campus housing, not just those on campus.
Not many schools offer this service, so some choose to have their family attorney draw up these documents and others will tell you to just Google blank forms. The happy medium is to use Mama Bear Legal Forms where for about $63 (after our group’s 20% discount), you know you have legally valid Powers Of Attorney specific to your state. I also appreciated their online process walking my boys through the new and uncomfortable decisions about medical directives and final wishes. We had to do this with our younger son the summer before his senior year in high school as he has a summer birthday and is old for his grade!
Mama Bear also includes the opportunity to create forms for a second state if the student will attend college out of state, and they also provide an app so that all of you can Keep the signed documents on your phone and always have it with you in case of emergency. You can learn more on the Mama Bear website, and you can use our group negotiated discount code PSA20 to take 20% off your purchase.
Check with your school to understand the move-in day process, for example:
Pro Tip: If your school is providing student ‘helpers’ for car unloading and moving assistance, consider getting a few $5-10 fast food gift cards to have on hand as thank you’s.
If your child is bringing a car to campus, be sure to know the rules in advance in case you need to apply for a parking permit or park in a specific area for freshmen. While parking enforcement may look the other way on move-in day, they will probably not be lenient for long!
Download or Print Our Dorm Move In Day Tools And Supplies List. Or Pin It!
College Dorm Move-in Tools & Supplies – Download Now
GET ORGANIZED. Do you have a big stash of items that you’ve purchased in one place? In lots of places? Start getting it together and put like things in piles. Bedding, office supplies, technology, storage items, furniture items, etc. Don’t start packing until you read the How To Pack The Car For College Move In below.
UNBOX: Open items that don’t need to transport in their packaging or boxes. It is so much easier to dispose of all of the packing materials at home than in a crowded dorm room far from trash facilities. Take pictures of the boxes and save the manuals until well after move in day.
ASSEMBLY TRIAL RUN: For items that will need to be assembled, consider taking the time to assemble them now. Even if you can’t transport it assembled, do a practice run. This has 2 big benefits. 1) You’ll know plenty early if anything is missing any parts. 2) Having assembled an item before move in day will cut assembly time and frustration by a good bit when assembling again with experience.
PACK SOME BAGS: Take a look below at the order to pack the car and start putting same phase items into your moving bags. Put items together that will be in the same “phase” of unpacking. Label bags, bins, boxes as you pack them if you can’t see inside. Label bags with individual items inside or with Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 so you know where to start when you arrive.
PRE-LAUNDER: Wash all of the bedding and towels now – everything except the mattress topper which should stay sealed up for transport. I like these zippered storage cubes or these, to store extra sheets, blankets and towels in the dorm room as well as off-season clothes. They have metal frames, so they stand on their own, also fold flat, and are great for under-bed storage behind the front-facing daily used storage.
Start gathering the clothes that will be moving to college. Leave clothes on their hangers, or move them to their dorm hangers. When you’re ready to pack them for the move, put them in the moving bag as pictured or through a heavy duty garbage bag if you aren’t using moving bags.
Moving bags make it so easy to carry heavy awkward items like these by using the backpack straps and carrying it that way.
Put any potential leaky items into Ziploc bags.
If you shipped ahead to the school, be sure you know where pickup is and how it is handled. Be prepared for long lines, and allow time for this in your schedule.
Some like to do a trial run of packing the car to be sure they can get everything to fit. See the suggested order for packing the car below!
Get familiar with the Notes app on your phone. Have it ready during move-in to jot down any quick shopping needs as you put the room together.
Pick up snacks, water, things you need for travel. For that feeling you’ll have in the car on the way to college – consider Tums or something else that will settle your stomach!
Pro Tip: Get some old washcloths, wet them, roll them up and stick them in a freezer baggie. These will go in your move in day cooler. Use them initially as ice packs and then to cool off, clean items or clean hands.
Pack some snacks. You don’t need anyone getting hangry on top of all of the other emotions!
If you’re driving, prep a cooler. Lots of water. More than you think. Did you freeze those washcloths? Don’t forget those tomorrow. Put a sticky note on the cooler to remind you.
Hydrate today too.
If you’re making a day trip, pack a change of clothes/freshen up toiletries for the ride home or for dinner after move-in. In 90% of the country, it is HOT on move-in day.
Put a small first aid kit together for move-in day – band aids, neosporin, ibuprofen.
Pack as much as you can in the car today/tonight (important – see the order below).
Now is a good time to get everyone on the same page for tomorrow.
Pro Tip: Do you have the mailing address for your student at school? Go ahead and get that now, store it in your phone in case you need to ship a few things on your drive home. Also send it to grandparents or anyone else who may want to send notes, care packages or small gifts to the new college student.
This section is most relevant to those who are driving to school. If you’re flying to school, please also see our article How To Plan For A Long Distance College Move.
Be sure to plan ahead for what you will wear on move-in day and put that aside so that it doesn’t get packed. Definitely wear sneakers, so have socks too. No flip flops or slides. If you’re bringing a change of clothes for after the move, put them in a small bag that you can keep at your feet in the car so you’ll know where it is.
Pack things in the car in the reverse order that they will be needed when you arrive at your dorm. Note that this order is for those who are unpacking their own car a little at a time. If your school offers move-in helpers who bring it all to your room, then labeling your bags will be more important than the order they go in the car!
This is a general guideline. Of course, your Tetris skills may need to win out over the perfect order. 😂
Download or Print Our How To Pack The Car Printable. Or Pin It!
College Dorm Move In – How To Pack The Car – Download Now
Deep breaths. Patience. Here we go. It is their day. You’ve got this. Smile. Breathe.
Finish loading the car and head to the college. If it is early, have a plan for coffee and breakfast.
If you don’t need to unload everything out of the car immediately and can park relatively close to the dorm, just bring in the first phase of stuff. It will be easier to accomplish Phase 1 without everything in your way. Phase 1 = the items listed above as Put In The Car Last list above.
🛑 STOP! Before you put anything in the room, TAKE A BEFORE PICTURE of how you found the room on arrival. Take a few if you can’t see it all from the doorway. You’ll be thankful for the before & after pics later.
If you do have a limited window and have to bring everything in the car to the room quickly, hopefully you can keep the less urgent items in the hall or close to the door to keep it out of the way until you’re ready for it. This is where labeling will be really important to help keep you organized and not digging through bags to find things.
1) Plug in the WOOZOO or whatever fan you have and get it going in the room.
2) Clean off the mattress with a Clorox wipe, let it dry quickly (the fan should help). If you brought an encasement, put it around the mattress and zip it closed.
3) Open the mattress topper and let it expand on top of the mattress. These may say 24-48 hours, but give it several hours today without sitting or lying on it, and it will be fine. You may have to move it later to hang wall art, and that’s ok.
4) Grab the rest of the cleaning supplies. Wipe down surfaces – desk, chair, bed rails, dresser, inside of drawers, inside of closet. Run the vacuum around the entire room. If there is an attached bathroom, definitely give that a good surface or even deep clean.
5) Finalize the furniture placement. If the students want to play with different options, now is the time! Move furniture around (if allowed) to reach the desired layout. When we moved my son in, we tried it with the beds bunked, but they decided on unbunked. Tried them in the traditional one on each side but then determined they could fit foot to foot (thank you tape measure), and that’s what the boys decided (pic below). Then we raised them to the highest notch (aka: raised height, captain height, semi-lofted) so that they could get their dressers underneath. You’ll want the rubber mallet for adjusting the bed heights – if allowed. Check with the school.
6) Unpack and plug-in the refrigerator – someone can be working on the fridge while someone is cleaning. NOTE: If you had to lie the refrigerator on its side for transport, DO NOT PLUG IT IN. It must stand upright for at least as long as it was lying down. This will allow the fluids in the coils to return to where they need to be.
Don’t put the rug down yet until the next phase in case you need to move furniture around to hang items. The rug will make it harder to move things.
Grab some water, take it all in and move on to Phase 2. Take a pic of your work in progress?
1) Wall Decor Step 1. Be sure you know the dorm rules for adhesives long before you arrive for move in. Determine where you plan to hang any wall decor. If you will be using any adhesive products to hang wall decor (Command products, wall putty, tape), go ahead and measure where you want to place these and use rubbing alcohol/wipes to clean those areas. This needs to dry before you apply the adhesive/putty/tape. Make a small pencil mark on the wall where you intend to put the adhesive.
2) Wall Decor Step 2. If you are using Command products, once the wall is fully dry, follow the instructions on the package to hang the hooks or strips. Where it says to wait for 1 hour to use, please heed this recommendation! The adhesive needs to set for at least this long, and we advise hanging these items at the very end of the move-in process even if it means moving the bed out of the way or standing on it to get them on the wall.
If you are using tacks, nails or other products that don’t require waiting, go ahead and hang these items. This may include flags, framed art, posters, strip lights, neon signs, names/letters and curtains.
3) Plug in the air purifier if you brought one. Try to place it off the floor, not in a corner and close to the air vent if possible.
4) Put together any furniture items. If possible, have someone do this out of the room in a common area.
5) Now that your under bed storage is assembled, confirm the desired height of your bed if you are allowed to adjust it. Use a rubber mallet to adjust the horizontal rails out of their current position and to reset them into their new position.
6) If you have a headboard with legs, set that up now. You’ll need to use zip ties to connect the legs to the bed frame headboard. Use several in order to maximize stability and take advantage of the horizontal slats by placing zip ties strategically just above those.
7) Install any closet organizers you may have brought – special hanging racks, shoe storage, etc.
8) Install the drawer liners if you’re using them.
9) Do a quick vacuum run where the rug will go to pickup any debris from the moving and unpacking so far.
10) Unroll the rug, tape the corners down if necessary to get through the rest of the day without tripping!
11) Place any storage furniture in the room and move the mini-fridge if it was just temporarily put somewhere earlier. Be sure it ends up plugged directly into a wall or on a surge protector. Do NOT plug a mini fridge into an extension cord.
12) Make the bed with all of the layers and get those bags out of the way.
Take a water break, and maybe a quick snack. Another picture of your progress?
If you haven’t yet, it is time to bring in the last of what is in the car and start unpacking.
If your roommate is there unpacking too, try to work in a different part of the room from each other. In my son’s dorm room, the closets were next to each other, and the desks were next to each other. It worked out to have one organizing his desk and one organizing the closet, and then switching.
1) Unload clothes into the closet and into the drawers. Fold up the bags they traveled in and put them inside one of the blue bags (still opened up).
2) Setup any food appliances and food storage.
3) Find a home for toiletries and laundry supplies.
4) Organize desk accessories and school supplies.
5) Setup lamps, clocks, charging stations and other tabletop decor and devices.
6) Wall Decor Step 3. If you’re using adhesive products that need to cure such as Command, and it has been at least an hour since you put up the hook/strip, you can go ahead and hang your decor on them now.
I would save this for last because there could be issues, and you don’t want to hold up everything else because you can’t get a gaming device or TV connected to the WiFi. That can be solved for later.
Setup and plug in the electronics. Be sure to use surge protectors (even if not required), especially for the more expensive items.
Please note that Smart tech items may not be able to attach to the college network for security purposes. This includes printers, Alexa devices, appliances with apps, smart plugs, etc.
Once the tech setup is complete, take pictures of the valuable items in the room along with a close-up of their serial numbers.
Don’t forget other valuable non-tech items such as jewelry, golf clubs, bikes, furniture, appliances and other items of value. It can’t hurt to have pictures of these items in the dorm room in case they are ever needed for a claim or for proof of ownership.
If you’re storing items in a safe with a key, take a picture of the key so that you’ll know what you’re looking for when it goes missing. If you’re using a combination lock, get that setup and store the combination in a shared note on the phone.
Store these pictures in the cloud or a shared album with parents. Call the album Dorm Move In Day ❤️!
Once everything is in place, find a place to store the empty bags and bins that are staying in the dorm, and take the collected move-in trash to the trash chute or dumpster.
Leave at least 2 of the blue moving bags folded up with the student. These are great for travel home, laundry, beach trips, tailgating, you name it. They’ll come in handy.
If you have time, help out with one last run through with the vacuum cleaner or the Swiffer mop.
Download or Print Our College Dorm Move In Day Plan. Or Pin It!
Now is a great time to get some after shots of the room. Try to get some from the same angle as your before shots to best show off your handy work!
Take some of the student alone in their room, with the roommate(s) if they are around and some with the family. You’ll have met people on the hall during the day, so someone will be gracious and take your family photos.
College Dorm Move In Day Plan – Download Now
If you don’t have plans for lunch, dinner or a grocery run after you’re done, a word of advice….don’t hang around. Take a few more pictures (get some good ones of the room to share with us in our Facebook group). Say your goodbyes. And let them get started on this adventure. You can do it!
We’ll still be here with helpful tips and recommendations even after the drop off. Now that move-in is completed, it’s a great time to shift gears and start thinking about how to connect with your student in a different way and preparing for what’s next!
If you’ve been in our Dorm Shopping Recommendations & Deal Alerts Facebook group, we hope you’ll stick around for your future students and to help those heading to dorm shopping adventures next year!
We’d also love to stay in touch in our After The Drop Off: Parenting Through The College Years group. Join us there as we all adjust to having a college student, supporting our kids through their new adventures, discussing their challenges, roommate situations and more. This is a helpful group for moms to manage through new experiences, not a helicopter group trying to manage the student! It’s their time!
They’ve got this!
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Robin says:
Amazing list. The only thing is add is before cleaning or doing anything to the room, take pictures of its current state. That way, at move out you know where everything goes AND existing damage is documented rather than blamed on the student.
Sandra M Kenney says:
I could not agree more.
Lara Becker says:
Thank you Robin, this is an excellent suggestion!
Monica Conn says:
This info is fantastic! There are a zillion “college move-in” blogs but this one breaks it down so well. Really appreciate this!
Stephanie says:
Thank you, this list is amazing and I’m feeling a lot better now! Really appreciate this list and all the links.
Dre says:
I swear by your lists! They are fabulous! With our college move in – only thing I would change is rug placement goes first in Phase 2, could even be last in Phase 1. Our college only gives us so much time to get all of their stuff inside. So furniture placement and rug placement first is key for us! Thank you for your awesome tips!!
SJ Richardson says:
The link to the “cute door wedge” takes me to the packing bags.
Lara Becker says:
Thank you so much, this has been resolved!
Haven Mama says:
I can’t thank you enough! The details and organization of this article is amazing. This single first time college mama can’t thank you enough. So many sites are so overwhelming. Appreciate you sharing your experience with us.
Barb says:
Wow — amazing list. Thanks!
Jennee' Vincent says:
thank you for this!