New York City is home to more college students than any other city in the nation; therefore, in the next few weeks New York City will experience more moving-related stress—in dorms as well as apartments—than any other city in the nation.

I asked my friend Sonya Weisshappel, who owns New York City based Seriatim, specialists in move management and de-cluttering, and she offered helpful advice.

“Kids transitioning from out of town tend to bring more than will fit in their apartment,” she told me. “Closets in other places in the country are built out, but in New York, rentals tend not to be. So they don’t think of New York as a City that’s all about vertical space, they’re coming from a horizontal space, and that is crazy-making for most new transplants.”

I asked Sonya (@seriatimharmony) how we can help college kids and their parents reduce the crazy-making.

“The first problem is that the timeline between getting the rental and moving in is not a month or two, it’s immediate, so you don’t have time to gaze at your space. You visit once, put a down payment, walk out and arrive with your stuff. So, take some photos, double check the floor plan if you’re lucky enough to have one (most floor plans don’t put proper measures, and don’t indicate the buckles in the wall, or the radiator, all those things that will prevent your bed from actually fitting on that wall), and measure the space—an above 10-foot tape measure is a valuable tool. Then go home and determine what you’re bringing, and measure that also.”

“Once you’re moved in, immediately go and buy some baker racks or Ikea bookshelves. A basic shelving unit, regardless of whether you’re storing  books, DVDs, jeans or serving bowls, will prove vertical space versus horizontal. And at least that gets your boxes unpacked.”