The start of something Hokie
From bustling residence halls to carefully coordinated behind-the-scenes details, move-in day set the stage for a new class of Hokies to begin their Virginia Tech adventure.
The process
By the numbers
Move-in 2025 took place Aug. 19-21 for first-year and transfer students and Aug. 22-24 for returning students. Facilities’ crews worked throughout the summer to make repairs and replace furniture. On-campus students signed up for move-in time-slots in July. Time-slots were staggered to minimize traffic snarls.
How many students move in per day?
On new student move-in days, 2,000–2,500 students moved in on campus each day. That dropped to around 450-600 students a day for returning on-campus students.
Math matters
How move in is calculated
This year all Living Learning Progam (LLP) students were required to move by the end the day on Aug. 20. So, if there are 300 people in an LLP, and there are 11 time slots, the group is divided by 22 to spread students out evenly across two days.
Cadet move in 2025
At a glance
New recruits took on average 23 minutes and 27 seconds to check-in from the front door of CLMS to the front door of their residence hall. The corps moved in 65 families per half hour for a total of 515 new cadets in 4.5 hours.
The entire corps move-in process is cadet-run. The commandant's staff usually mingles with parents/alums and monitors the process.
283 cadets supported move-in managing luggage carts, controlling check-in stations, fitting covers, and handling paperwork, among other tasks.
20 alumni (representing each decade since the 60s) returned to campus to hand out items and answer questions. They operated tents/water stations at the three halls, distributing as many as 1,500 items to family members over the course of 5 hours.
Move in memories
Some move-in essentials never change. Others don’t survive the decades. We reached out to Hokie alums to learn more about must-have items when they first unpacked in Blacksburg.
"When we moved in 1992, we had to purchase a heavy, clunky, wooden loft bed made out of four-by-fours and two-by-fours to set up in our rooms if we wanted more space. Yeah, that was fun."
— Dustin Eshelman ’96, Roanoke, Virginia
"In the fall of 1976, I brought a small fridge and Pioneer 35W stereo, large speakers, and crates of vinyl. I met my lifelong friends by playing Marshall Tucker!"
— David Gess ’80, Barboursville, Virginia
"I brought my sewing machine to seventh floor A.J. (Ambler Johnson) in 1973!! I met my husband, Rick, in the sixth floor A.J. lounge the first weekend."
— Susan Guthrie DiSalvo ’77, Blacksburg, Virginia
"I remember my 1986 move-in well — bringing that new student ID card with my social security number on it as ID number."
— Tracy Lynn Eastridge ’90, Charlotte, North Carolina
"I arrived with an 8-track tape player, a 12-inch black and white tv with rabbit ears, a mini fridge, and a manual typewriter."
— Clarence W. Rorrer ’75, Alexandria, Virginia
"Before I moved in 1969, my dad gifted me his slide rule. The Texas Instruments (TI) calculator hadn’t come out yet. The only phone was a shared pay phone down the hall."
— Marc Sheffler ’73, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
