Ask an Orientation Leader :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Davis
1

<p>Hey guys! Congratulations on your acceptances! And if you didn’t happen get in, chances are you’ll end up LOVING wherever you end up.</p>

<p>I’m gonna be an Orientation Leader for Summer 2013. Maybe I’ll have some of you guys in my groups. :)</p>

<p>If you guys have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them for you. I’ll be in two classes next quarter in preparation for my job, so I’ll get to know a lot more about the university than I already do.</p>

<p>I seriously can’t wait for this summer; hopefully I’ll meet some of you there!</p>

2

<p>Do you enroll in classes during orientation or do you get an enrollment time like everyone else? Thanks.</p>

3

<p>Yes, you enroll in classes during orientation. At UC Davis, there is something called Pass 1, Pass 2, and open registration. Pass 1 is your first chance at enrolling for classes–for incoming freshmen, their Pass 1 time is during a specific time on a specific orientation day. Pass 2 is for signing up for classes that were restricted to majors only during Pass 1 (for example, NPB 101L is only available to NPB majors during Pass 1, and students from other majors who want to take the course have to wait until Pass 2), if you want to waitlist a class (you cannot waitlist a course during Pass 1), and/or if you missed Pass 1 and Open Registration. Open registration is the period between Pass 1 and Pass 2 (and also after Pass 2) for students who missed their Pass 1 or Pass 2 time window, and there is no appointment for Open Registration. You can check your Pass 1 and Pass 2 time on sisweb.ucdavis.edu by going to Registration > Check Appointment Times > select your term. Right now, you cannot check your registration time, since the latest term available on sisweb is for spring 2013. They don’t put up appointment times for Fall 2013 until sometime in late April to early May (since May is when current students start registering for fall classes).</p>

4

<p>sopranokitty pretty much covered everything! Registration is pretty confusing, but your OL will explain it all to you. At orientation your OL will help you pick a list of classes and build your schedule.</p>

5

<p>Can a new freshamn sign up a class for fall 2013 before orientation?
I am in group 8 for NPB, and I am VERY nervous CHEM 2A will be full by the time I sign up for classes.</p>

<p>When are fall 2013 classes available to register, please?</p>

6

<p>No, you cannot sign up for a class before your assigned time during orientation. CHEM 2A is mainly taken by freshmen or sophomores anyway (since by the time students are juniors/seniors, they’re taking O-Chem if they’re science majors), so you won’t have to worry about CHEM 2A being full by the time you register.</p>

7

<p>They open new spots in Freshman-level classes during each orientation, so you don’t have to worry about them being full. They might fill up by the time you have a chance to register, but your Orientation Leader will tell you how to wait list. Also, it’s not the end of the world to start the Chem series in winter. In fact, the curve’s usually more generous.</p>

8

<p>Thank you for the clarification.
How would I know when is my registration time at orientation? I have already signed for my orientation in July.
And when do we meet with our major academic advisor to go over 4 years plan and what classes to take?
Thank you again.</p>

9

<p>Typically when do orientations occur?</p>

<p>As this summer, I plan to go travelling abroad from like beginning of July until August 12-13ish.</p>

<p>Does orientation occur then? Is orientation a first-come first serve basis for class registration? Like if I attend the first orientation I can take the first spots in whatever class I desire vs. if I attend the last one?</p>

<p>Furthermore, can you provide some information as to when other UC’s/privates hold their orientations as well?</p>

<p>Much appreciated.</p>

10

<p>Orientations for freshmen start in July and end in August. For transfer students, orientation is in late June. And SueNew, you can find out when your registration time at orientation is probably around May or something. Alternatively, you can bring your laptop to orientation and look it up on the first day of orientation (but you don’t register for classes until the 3rd day). No, orientation is NOT a first-come, first-serve basis for class registration, because those “first spots” have already been taken by current students. And as JeSuis said, for each freshman orientation group, the registrar open up new spots so that freshmen can get into classes they need. If not, then instructions on how to get on the waitlist will be given. If you miss summer orientation, you can just sign up for classes during Pass 2 (which should be sometime in late August, if I recall correctly) and then go to an alternative orientation at the beginning of the fall quarter.</p>

<p><a href=“http://orientation.ucdavis.edu/first-year/dates.html[/url]”>http://orientation.ucdavis.edu/first-year/dates.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>Thank you @Sopranokitty & @JeSuis for your very informative help.
Are the class registration on orientation (3rd day) assigned based on first signed up for orientation, or how are registration time given, please?</p>

12

<p>BIG QUESTION: My orientation is 2 days, one night. There is no 3rd day on my orientation?!!!
Is that the last day of orientation (2nd day) or the day after orientation?</p>

13

<p>Huh, they must have changed it this year, because I know that in previous years, it was 3 days (well, really 2 1/2 days, since the 3rd day was always shorter than the first two orientation days and ended around noon). Guess they cut out a day or something. So yeah, your registration time would be on the last day of orientation. </p>

<p>Class registration times is completely randomized, but nearly everyone in a particular orientation group has the exact same registration time anyway, which is why orientation leaders (like JeSuis) have an assigned time where they sit down with everyone in the group and help them register for classes (if you have a laptop with you, you can do that yourself instead of waiting to use their laptop to register).</p>

14

<p>If I’m an incoming freshmen should I bring a car or bike? I ride that freshmen aren’t allowed to have parking permits, is that true?</p>

<p>Is there a school gym or a La Fitness nearby?
Thank you</p>

15

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<p>Like soprano said, you’ll be in a group of ~10 students, and your orientation leader will help you sign up for classes in a randomized order. I’m not sure if you can register on your own, though. I remember hearing that you must wait to sign up with your OL.</p>

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<p>It’s true that they shorted orientation this year. So your last day will be the second day of orientation.</p>

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<p>That’s correct; freshman are not allowed to have a parking permit. I would highly recommend bringing a bike and using that as your main form of transportation. Davis is extremely bike friendly, and UC Davis is huge, so you don’t want to walk to class every day.</p>

<p>It is possible to park off campus if you really want to bring a car; sopranokitty knows more about that since she lived in cuarto and students generally park their cars near there. But I don’t think a car is necessary your first year and would even say it might be a burden.</p>

<p>And yes, UC Davis has its own gym (The ARC.) Your tuition covers the membership, so you just have to show your student ID in order to get in.</p>

16

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<p>For the college of Letters and Science, you’ll have to do that once Fall Quarter starts. Your orientation leader will know what classes you should take your first quarter and tell you who to go to for future academic advising. I know my year the College of Ag had everyone meet in a group with their major advisor, but I’m not sure if any of the other colleges do that or even if the College of Ag still does it.</p>

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<p>I’m not really sure, but I know some schools have orientation right before classes start. I also know that UCSD has different orientations based on what college you’re in.</p>

17

<p>I would like to input that even though freshmen aren’t allowed to purchase parking limits, if they get placed in Cuarto, they can park along Russell outside Webster and Thoreau Hall, and along Wake Forest Drive (except during those sweep days, which I think is on Tuesday–better move your car then or get fined, haha). Those aren’t maintained by UCD. :wink: Actually, you can park anywhere around the block where Cuarto is, just not in a specific parking lot. If you live in Segundo, just park along Russell Blvd or along Anderson Rd. If you have upperclassmen friends and their apartment has free parking, see if they can get you a free parking permit to park at their apartment–I know my apartment up on Anderson and Hanover offers free parking permits (which includes free guest parking permits). :slight_smile: If you happen to get placed in Tercero…well, unless you don’t mind the far walk, it’s better not to bring a car. I think I remember seeing on the parking permit page that there are very, very, very few exceptions that will allow freshmen to bring a car, but I don’t know what those exceptions are.</p>

18

<p>Thank you so much SopranoKitty and JeSuis for really helping and explaining how Orientation and registration works.
You have been a great help.</p>

19

<p>I have a few questions!</p>

<p>Is there good public transportation from Davis to places like the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Lake Tahoe?</p>

<p>Where would you suggest applying to live? What dorms/locations are considered the best?</p>

<p>What are some cool/unique classes that UC Davis offers that you know of?</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

20

<p>To Sacramento, you have the Yolobus!</p>

<p>To go to the Bay Area, there’s more than one public transportation involved, so it can be costly. Say you’re going to San Francisco. You can take the A line from the Silo to Amtrak, then take a train to Richmond, and from there, you take BART to San Francisco. </p>

<p>If you want to go to Berkeley, there’s the Davis-Berkeley Shuttle Bus that stops besides the Shields Library. I think it costs $10 for one trip. I’m not clear on the price–I’ve only looked at the website for the shuttle once. </p>

<p>There are no public transportations to Lake Tahoe, sorry. But if you join the Ski or Snowboard Club, you can go to Lake Tahoe with them! They always go there to ski or snowboard, but if you don’t want to ski or snowboard in Lake Tahoe, make friends with upperclassmen and suggest going to Tahoe together as a group. </p>

<p>Most people rank Segundo first, Tercero second, and Cuarto last. Despite what people think, Cuarto really isn’t that far from campus. It’s directly next to the U-Mall and Trader Joes, which are diagonally across the street from Segundo. Cuarto has the benefits of having suite-style dorms and semi-private bathrooms, so you only have to share a bathroom with your suitemates and roommate. The con is, it’s easy to be antisocial in Cuarto because you tend to make friends with just your suitemates and roommate, but my floor didn’t let that happen when I used to live there–my RA made it his mission to get EVERYONE from our floor to eat dinner at the DC together often, so whenever that happened, we would shove a bunch of tables together. JeSuis can tell you more about Tercero since he lived there. </p>

<p>UC Davis has a tractor driving class. My RA said that was the best filler class to complete his unit requirement that he’s ever taken, haha. They also have the ANS 49 class, and depending on the letter of the class (A-J, I think), you work with a specific animal. ANSC is Dairy, and depending on the times you chose, you could be doing dairy management (chalking the cows, shoveling manure, etc) or you could be milking cows.</p>