College move-in day is approaching. Here’s what first-time students need to know

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Colleges across New Jersey are getting ready to welcome students on move-in day. For first time students, it may be a bit overwhelming to decide on what to bring. Rutgers University student Ashley Medrano knows a thing or two about moving into a resident hall on the New Brunswick campus. She's done it for the past four years. Now as a senior, she considers herself a professional at helping new students unpack in her role as a resident assistant. One word of advice is to just pack the essentials. "How you pack matters. A lot of these residence halls, at least here on Rutgers, they either have an elevator or don't, so depending on what floor you’re on, you’re going to have to walk upstairs and you don't want to have super-duper heavy boxes,” says Medrano. Most students wont’ have to do all the heavy lifting themselves. Many schools have move-in staff ready to help. "They help all the families unload their belongings from the car into move-in bins, get the belongings from the cars to their room. Help them unload in the room and the come back and then help unload the next family,” says Alexandra Cupello Waters, associate director of Residence Life Operations. The majority of schools will have a packing list of what students can and cannot bring. RAs say it's important to double, even triple check the list to make sure what you are bringing is allowed. Additional items for students to bring are a collapsible bin, Command strips to hang things on the wall, garbage bags, utensils and dish-detergent. But Medrano says one thing that's not any list is saying goodbye to your loved ones. "As someone who is coming from out of state, just making sure you set aside enough time after unpacking - even if you don't finish - to say goodbye to your families. Even if you don't need it, they need it,” she says. "