Physics GRE Discussion Forums

For some, grad school may be no more than a few hours away from his or her home. For others it will be a move of mammoth proportions. As an undergrad, I have accumulated a great number of books (text, notebooks, and my own collection) and I realized that I have no idea how I'm going to move them, much less everything else I own, to my new home. How do people usually make this shift? Rent a moving van? Is this reasonable for a 1200+ mile move? I haven't done much moving in my lifetime (just going to undergrad) so I have no clue.

books are the easiest thing to move just pack them in some boxes. As for how to move everything it depends on how much you have. If you dont have a lot of furniture and belongings and maybe know someone with a truck or van thats willing to help then there you go. Me, i already have a 3 bedroom rented house full of furniture and a *** ton of other things I will need a large uhaul and priced to move from mn to vancouver will probably be between 1500-2000$. But thats what ya gotta do.

For the record, books are definitely NOT the easiest thing to pack! I made the enormous mistake of putting all my books in one box, then trying to move it. Wasn't going to happen, let alone be able to move it up and down a few flights of stairs without chaos.

Books are easy if you have strong boxes and dont buy boxes that are too big. The USPS media mail rate is absurdly cheap for books. I still dont understand how it is profitable.

fastones3 wrote:For the record, books are definitely NOT the easiest thing to pack! I made the enormous mistake of putting all my books in one box, then trying to move it. Wasn't going to happen, let alone be able to move it up and down a few flights of stairs without chaos.

Well clearly books are heavy, if you use a lot of boxes yes takes up more space but no harder to move than other things.

Rent a van? Of course!

My wife and I have a two bedroom apt full of ***. We are going to be moving all of it with a truck, along with two cars, from the west coast to the east coast. It will be a crazy move thats for sure.

Renting vehicles isn't so easy for people under 25 though. Can I seriously mail a 4x6' bookshelf worth of books? Blah I'm tempted to go to UT for the ease of it.

dustdevil wrote:Renting vehicles isn't so easy for people under 25 though. Can I seriously mail a 4x6' bookshelf worth of books? Blah I'm tempted to go to UT for the ease of it.

Its like 26 dollars for 70 lbs of books anywhere domestic
http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail ... iamail.htm
You can only send books/records(media) though at this rate.

I forgot about how many books make up 70 lbs.

Well i have accumulated a lot of paper and books over the years plus my furniture. I am selling the furniture and will put the books in storage and then just drive out to where ever i am going with my dad (solving the 25+ thing)

blanked

This is one of my biggest worries. I drive a van (creepy, I know) so moving my stuff shouldn't be a huge deal, but I'm not going to have any furniture wherever I go (a small folding table and a desk chair -- that's it). I worry about how I'm going to get new furniture at my new place, and how I'm going to move it all myself. What will I sleep on until I get a bed? How am I going to afford driving the long distance/finding an apartment/paying rent and deposit?

Sorry, I'm rambling...but I could go on and on...

My boyfriend and I rented a 5x7 hitch trailer from U-Haul for $300, no problem even though we were both under 25, packed it up and drove it from CA to NY.

grae313 wrote:My boyfriend and I rented a 5x7 hitch trailer from U-Haul for $300, no problem even though we were both under 25, packed it up and drove it from CA to NY.

yeah i even rented a uhaul when i moved the last time.... totally forgot about that... i was even under 20 then

Someone I know was able to move a bunch of stuff from Massachusetts to California by train for fairly cheap.

For example, take a look at the quotes for residential shipping at: http://www.freightcenter.com/

meowful wrote:Someone I know was able to move a bunch of stuff from Massachusetts to California by train for fairly cheap.

For example, take a look at the quotes for residential shipping at: http://www.freightcenter.com/

400 dollars that was a bit more than USPS and UPS for the same weight. With Books at Media Mail rate
and other Fedex Ground I still only payed 250.

I remember when I started as an it was possible to just use my luggage and that of my father and to move for only 100 in extra fees. Now the fees would probably addup to more than the 400 dollars for the freight.

Wow - freight center looks like such a good idea.

Just wondering though: what are the chances that something could fall and get damaged in the process? Especially electronic items?

InquilineKea wrote:Wow - freight center looks like such a good idea.

Just wondering though: what are the chances that something could fall and get damaged in the process? Especially electronic items?

"Is there a chance the track could bend? Not in your life, my Hindu friend."

The handlers often do some really nasty things to bags in the plane: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/12/0 ... e-baggage/

I'm sure that this does *not* happen to freight trains (as much), but who knows what they do to the bags once they're out of your view...