The day you’ve been waiting for can also be hot, stressful and chaotic. Here is some advice from veteran students, staff, and parents to help you get through!

During Housing Move-in, members of the Georgia Tech Greek community volunteer their time to help the incoming students and their guests unload their belongings and move into their residence halls. The fraternity and sorority members will be on hand to also answer any questions about membership recruitment, rush, and membership intake.
--Buck Cooke, Coordinator of Greek Affairs

Ahh...Preparing yourself for move in. Are you ever truly prepared? In a word, no. However, there are ways to be better prepared. Make sure that everything is packed, nothing is out loose. You will have to unload all of your stuff on the sidewalk and go park your car. Girls should make sure that all personal items are packed such that they cannot be seen since fraternity boys will be helping with move in and it can be awkward. Also, try to make things light. It is hard to carry really heavy stuff up the stairs. Definitely bring a dolly. Also, bring as many family members as possible so they can help. Furthermore, get the fraternity boys to help. That is why they are there. And what better way to enjoy the ratio at Tech. Other than that, remember that your room is not the size of a house. So, only bring what you absolutely need.
--Ann Marie Jones, Housing Peer Leader

Last year moving in to dorms, everyone was moving in at different times and had different moving situations, but everyone had a ton of stuff! So a few of us who were either already all moved in or had just emptied our cars got together and went looking for people to help move in. When a car would pull up full to the brim with clothes, room decorations, and an eager and anxious new college student, we'd jump right in and help the guy or girl move get everything to his/her dorm room. We started off with about 4 of us, but by the end of the day, we had a group of 15 guys and girls that could unload a car in a single trip! It was really rewarding for everyone, and made it for the parents seeing that their son or daughter wasn't going to be totally on his own at this big school.
Besides random groups of people helping move, a large portion of the Greek community volunteers to help move people in. They usually wear brightly colored shirts and are willing to help too. All in all, freshman move-in time is a lot more fun than it would seem.
--Michael Vincent, student

Don’t send them off to the dorm with everything they own. Keep winter clothes at home and make a swap for the summer attire during visits or UPS. Dorm rooms are much smaller than they first appear when empty, and you will bemoan your fate of dragging it all in from 2 blocks away-the nearest parking spot you can find, and up 4 flights of stairs.
--Pat Deutschman, Mother of Alex Deutschman, ARCH ‘06

Also if you're moving boys in, it takes the back seat and trunk of the car. If you're moving girls in, it takes a minivan with all seats removed, a small truck, and 3 trips to Target and/or Office Depot. -- Willa Kerr, Biol, 73, mother

As for moving in day--be prepared for tears from both you and your child. I was surprised when Rachel choked up first. It was awkward making the final break, knowing when to actually leave. I waited until SHE said I could go. --Debbie Givens, mother of Rachel Givens