Houston Moving News

Preparing for Your Move to College

This is the time of the year when new high school graduates are preparing to embark on the next chapter of their life. Summer is almost over and millions of new high school grads are preparing to move out of the home and into a college dormintory or an apartment near their university.

Suddenly, their hope and desire of becoming independent, living away from home for the first time in their lives, making most of their own decisions, is actually coming true. But what most have never considered, is that each day brings new decisions that were once made by Mom or Dad, or both, and they suddenly find themselves overwhelmed and pestered by having to make so many tiny simple decisions that must be made to "get through life."

It starts with the countless decisions that must be made about attending college (i.e., what do I have to do to apply, how do I get a dorm or an apartment, how can I pick my roommate, etc.), and moves on to making decisions on whether they need new clothes and will be appropriately dressed, and then evolves into "OMG, how am I going to move to college and what am I going to take with me?"

Most college-bound young men and women, and their parents, make a huge mistake by not putting enough thought into the move and the moving process. Seldom to they think about calling a moving company, as their mindset is . . . "We're just moving clothes, a PC and a few books." Most think the whole process can be handled by using a pickup truck or at worst, renting a small moving trailer.

For kids on a small budget and some dorm-bound students that don't give a hoot about what others think, a pickup truck or small moving trailer will do the trick. But times have changed and these days many college-bound students are moving to off-campus apartments and plan to take furniture, big screen plasma or LED HD TV's, computers, and various electronic equipment. In otherwords, they plan to truly move their entire world as they know it now, to their new world far away from Mom and Dad. Others, particularly young college-bound women, tend to completely redecorate their dorm rooms. I've known several young ladies from Texas have their parents purchase carpet and furniture for their door rooms, and require a 16-feet moving truck to make their moves to college.

1. Don't Wait Until the Last Minute - If you snooze, you lose. Don't procrastinate on planning your move to college. If you do plan to rent a moving truck or trailer, reserve it early. Moving is a seasonal business. Millions of Americans move before the new school term starts, millions of college students move in the mid to late summer. If you wait until the last minute to rent a moving truck or trailer, you might be too late.

2. Go Green - Save money and "green up" your college move by using used boxes for your move. If you haven't been saving up boxes for your move, we offer great deals on used boxes at Apple Discount Boxes.

3. Condense - It is quite possible that your space at college is going to be smaller than your room at home. Remember, if you're moving into a dorm room you're sharing your space with someone else, so you're really only getting to use "half of the room" to store "your things." You may only be in your dorm room for one semester, as you may opt to move to another dorm if you don't like the one you get, or you want a new roommate. So condensing will also make your next move easier as well.

4. Plan and Work Ahead - don't wait until the last minute. If you rush, you'll not only become a nerous wreck, but you'll either miss something important or try to over-compensate and pack too much. But doing a little packing each day for several days, it's much easier to condense and make key decisions on what's important and what's not important.

5. Consider Hiring a Local Mover - Too many accidents occur each year on college-bound moves. Parents and students who rent moving trailers or trucks are often times very inexperienced at towing a trailer or driving a large truck. They under-estimate the extra distance they need for braking and stopping in traffic, and often collide into the car or truck in front of them. Why take this chance? Call a professional moving company that has experienced people who move people every day. You can save money by doing all the packing yourself, and just letting one of our professional moving teams load, haul and unload the student's contents. Call Apple Moving today at 281-446-0022 for a free moving quote.