<p>We seem to always stay at the Marriott Courtyard Brookline. It is a very easy drive to campus from there. The T (one of the green lines) stops right by the hotel so you can easily ride the T to the city or Cleveland Circle (then bus to campus). Check the BC website for hotels and discount codes…</p>
<p>Ditto scottj’s comments - BC orientation was great for son and parents. My son was nervous about going so far away to a school where he did not know one person. We went to an orientation session in July (2008) after which he could not wait for school to start! He is a soph now and rooming this year and next year with two guys from his small group at orientation.</p>
<p>It’s going to come down to the wire for my son in terms of deciding which college to pick. If he picks BC he has to register for an orientation session by May 1. For those who live outside of New England and want to come to #7 orientation this year, has anyone found it full? It says orientation sessions are on a first come, first served basis so I’m wondering if my west coast son might get boxed out of Session 7, given how long he’s waited.</p>
<p>Second, for parents who have done Orientation 7, when did you say goodbye? Any timing suggestions on that? Thanks.</p>
<p>I do not believe that’s the case with orientation registration, at least it wasn’t when I had to sign up. I’m pretty sure the orientations are open up until 1 or 2 weeks before the start of that orientation session unless it has reached maximum capacity. As for the last orientation session, I’m relatively certain that students are not closed out of it, that session generally has the largest group of students with a few hundred.</p>
<p>The Registrations usually fill up in order – local, NE kids jump on the early ones. Since kids come off the WL on a rolling basis, they take July or later. Transfers also attend later ones, since they are notified later. #7 is probably still wide-open. But, BC is somewhat flexible (at this point in life), and if you explain your travel requirements/limitations, they’ll try to accommodate.</p>
<p>If economically possible, I think its better to attend an Orientation prior to #7 so the student can meet some other Frosh (to hang with on Facebook over the summer), re-engage in the College after HS graduation, buy some t-shirts, register for courses and start to dream about college life instead of HS…some attendees also meet new friends during Orientation, bond and decide to room together. If its early enough, Res Life will honor the request.</p>
<p>Parent Orientation is NOT to be missed. </p>
<p>The student will be assigned to and sleep in their Frosh dorm room for Orientation #7. I would guess you could say your ‘goodbye’ after the last parent session (#7), if fully unpacked. However, Orientation is BUSY, so unpacking and setting up during the 3-days will be difficult. Or, you could stay and help them unpack on Sept 1-2 (just guessing on official move-in dates). </p>
<p>Don’t forget, your assigned Roomie(s) will most likely not be an Orientation 7 attendee, so s/he will be moving in on the officially-designated days. Call the FYE and inquire when those days are:</p>
<p>Office of First Year Experience at (800) 335-5853, or (617) 552-3281.</p>
<p>You don’t have to worry at all about being closed out of Orientation Session #7. BC will not require your son to make an extra trip to Boston from the West Coast!</p>
<p>Since your son will be staying into his actual dorm room, you will move him in BEFORE orientation begins. (It is true that you will have no time to do move-in during orientation because they do keep you really busy.)</p>
<p>We live in Arizona and my son attended the last orientation session a couple of years ago. We flew in on a Monday evening (as you know, it takes a full day to travel to the East Coast due to the time change) and then spent Tuesday morning/early afternoon moving him into his dorm – and making the obligatory shopping runs to BB&B and Target. The formal orientation program began later that day with an optional mass (starting at 4 PM?) and then dinner. Orientation ended on Thursday afternoon around 4 or 5 PM. We headed back to our hotel room while our son went back to his dorm, where he hung out with some of the other freshmen on his floor who were also there for orientation. On Friday, we took our son into Boston on a sightseeing tour as he had never been to the city before. We also did a “test run” on the T with him to make sure he knew how to get to Logan Airport from BC, since he would be coming home by himself for Christmas. Friday was the day that most of the other freshmen moved in (the ones who had attended earlier orientation sessions), and it was nice to be away from that chaos. We said our goodbyes late Friday afternoon when we returned to campus, since our plane left very early Saturday morning. There was already some planned activity for students on Friday night as part of the “Welcome Week” activities, but I don’t remember what it was. </p>
<p>I feel that we would have been in the way if we had stayed an extra day or two, since my son was busy meeting people and exploring the campus.(Of course, you and your husband could always take the opportunity to take a little mini-vacation in Boston that weekend!</p>
<p>detroitgrl, I don’t want to say too much about it, as it’s better that you just experience it firsthand. But BC has a very well-organized program with great speakers and fascinating topics. It is definitely worth your time. </p>
<p>My husband looked at the agenda before we arrived and had already decided that he would just sit in on the very first session to see the “big names” (like the president and such) and then would go off exploring Boston by himself. He was so impressed by the way orientation was run that he ended up attending every single session from start to finish!</p>
<p>Dear detroitgrl : This is going to sound like a cop-out, but please do not take our answers in that manner. If we told you why the parent sessions are not to be missed, we will spoil part of the experience … kinda your first collegiate Catch-22 discussion!</p>
<p>Put it this way, BC is an extremely welcoming community. Unlike other colleges where parents are encouraged to ‘drop-and-go’, BC has a special program for the parents only. It’s extremely well done and definitely worth the price of admission!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your replies. My husband and I are looking forward to the oreintation. I was asking , because a friend of mine (whose daughter is attending also) is unable to attend the parent orientation and I am going to fill her in on what she missed. Sounds like it is an enriching experience which is worthwhile to attend. Hopefully my friend is not missing too much. I will pass on this info.</p>
<p>Yes, you will register for your fall classes during orientation. You will be receiving a Planning Guide that provides info on choosing classes before you arrive for orientation. You’ll also meet with an advisor before registering. Just be sure to have several alternate classes in mind in case your first choices are already full when it comes time to register.</p>
<p>Freshmen to no Longer be Given Option to Give Preference Campus on Housing Forms</p>
<p>Students in the class of 2014 will not have the option of selecting a preference for Newton or Upper Campus on their freshman housing forms, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) announced…</p>
<p>I barely talked to my roommate at orientation. I met the other 7 girls in my suite when I was leaving to go back home. It depends on your situation, but I became better friends with the people in my group, not my room, and still talk to those people.</p>
<p>And you are placed in Vanderslice in a suite of 8 with 4 doubles.</p>
<p>thenatural, if you think you could be “stuck in a room with a bunch of jerks,” why did you decide to attend BC? You seem to think the students there are somehow beneath you.</p>
<p>Regarding classes: You should have received a course catalog listing all the courses.</p>
<p>Usually students work on their “Core Requirement” their freshmen year, taking 3 or 4 of those plus one of two classes in their prospective major. </p>
<p>I definitely recommend taking Freshmen Writing Seminar during your first semester. I found it to be incredibly helpful as a class, as well as a great way to meet other students (I think the class is capped at 15 ppl). </p>
<p>PM me or post here if you have any other specific questions.</p>