Q: How exactly does Move-in Day work?
The Answer
Hi Lillian! Depending on your assigned room, the dorm move-in days will be on Saturday, August 22nd for triples in the Units, and Sunday, August 23rd for all other room contracts. Since you must park your car in the designated parking areas (which may not be necessarily near your housing unit), I would recommend that you first get dropped off at your housing unit to check-in while your parents or friends help unload your belongings on the street closest to your building. Although check-in begins at 10 am, I would arrive around 9 am to get in line early. Though you can check-in anytime between 10 am and 5 pm, my experience has been that checking-in at the very beginning saves you a lot of waiting time. Around 4 pm, lines also start to clear up, so depending on when you are available that day, I would either go early or late. Check-in is usually in the central courtyard - find the table that is checking-in students in your specific building, and you will then receive your dorm key. You are now free to move-in your belongings! There are carts that are available for you to borrow to help you load your belongings and move them into your building and up the elevator to your floor - the only condition is that you must leave your Cal ID with them until you return the cart. Lines for the elevator usually take a long time, so if you're up for it, carrying your belongings by hand might be faster (but more tiring) if you live on the first 3 floors! After you unload everything in your room and say "Hi!" to your new roommate(s), remember to return the cart (since you can only borrow it for 15 minutes), and you can now begin to settle in to your new room for your first year at Cal! Welcome again and hope move-in day goes smoothly!
Also my friend Francisca, had this answer for you:
On your designated day, ( Saturday is triples in Unit 1,2,3) you want to arrive a little bit early for parking. You should of received a parking pass so just try to park close by and walk to the to your residence hall. They won't check in people earlier than 10 am so you don't have to rush. Checking in involves them giving you your room assignment and the keys. After that they'll let you know the unloading area for that building and you can use carts that they provide to move your belongings to your room. If your getting there by other means and don't have help you can wait with your belonging in the checking line and just get your keys and go to your room. There will be many residential advisors (R.As) to help direct you where you need to go, if you get confused and there are a lot of signs. Once you moved in your belongings you should have a packet of information telling you the move in activities for that day and welcome week events. Such as setting up internet, where to eat some food, transportation information and a campus map.
