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Parents, Students Prepare For Adjustment As College Move-In Day Arrives

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Monday began move-in week for college students across the Tri-State Area – a time for excitement and anxiety as students begin or resume classes.

CBS2's Elise Finch found out how students and their parents are coping.

Big orange bins, stacks of luggage, and cars loaded with necessities lined North Avenue in New Rochelle Monday, as students moved into the dorms at Iona College.

"Moving in was kind of crazy because there's a ton of people and you have a ton of stuff," said Juliane Donohue of Amherst, New Hampshire, an Iona freshman.

Move-in day is exciting for students, but it can also be a little scary – especially for freshmen.

"I think was excited to come and like be in a different atmosphere with like my team and my friends and everything, but at the same time, like, it was rough leaving my family," said freshman Leah Kelly.

"Not being able to see them every day and just like not having them there for me, yeah, it was sad, but got to move on," said freshman Alyssa Connell.

The administrator in charge of student life services said it is crucial to keep students busy after their parents drop them off. She said it goes a long way to keep them from feeling sad and lonely.

"We program regularly with many activities so they're not sitting in the room feeling anxious and lonely. We connect them with their peers immediately so that they have a bond and they're part of a sub-group, and then what we do it we check in -- very, very regularly," said Denise Hopkins, vice provost of student life at Iona.

"It definitely helps. It keeps your mind off of like, you know, your parents and everything back at home," said Iona sophomore Calvin Bent. "It definitely helps to get involved right away."

Parents said move-in day and the weeks that follow are probably going to be more difficult for them than their children.

"You're so busy doing all this that we don't even know what's happening, and then once we settle in and we're all done, then you start to feel that, 'Aww,'" said Marylou Teutonico of Staten Island.

"It's going to be very different. It's going to be an adjustment period, and it's going to be really sad," said Carla Bent of Huntington.

"No more noise. No more, you know, talking to anybody," said Pawel Wiluda of Southington, Connecticut. "Just me and my wife."

Administrators said it typically takes students six weeks to fully adjust to life on campus. It usually takes parents three months.

Experts said during the first six weeks of college when freshmen are adjusting, they should stay on campus and should not make any trips home – not even for a weekend. Parents should also refrain from calling their children more than once a day.

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