Clemson Orientation

For freshman orientation, do the students stay in the dorms for the night?

yes, if they want to @pkgny2022

And parents in a separate dorm if you choose. Orientation in the Summer is very helpful and smart way for Clemson to operate it. It makes move in and the first week easier on the students. They can already have their laptop, have met their advisors , their schedules are set . It reduces stress and sets the students up for success.

I’m having my son stay overnight before and during orientation. Figure the sooner he gets to meet people the better transition. Me staying in the dorm- not so sure. Lol

@Jonsmom14 Our daughter also staying in dorms night before and during orientation. My wife is going to brave the dorm just to save the money and avoid driving parking in a place she doesn’t know.

@burghdad @ProudSCMom Tagged a few that I thought might know the answer to this. Daughter is taking five more AP tests over next few weeks. Clemson’s AP policy looks pretty generous. Barring a serious bout of senioritis I suspect she will score 3 or above and be eligible for credit. If I remember correctly from last year, scores don’t come out until early/mid-July. She is going to Clemson orientation before then. How does a student register for classes if she does not know what AP credits will be available? Math is most pressing as she intends to take that first semester and is taking the AB exam in a few days.

@RelocatedYankee quite frankly I was wondering the same thing.

We went to the first orientation session last year and it all worked out for my son. I know he registered on some assumptions of scores that could be changed later. Math often depends on the placement tests and then whether or not the recommend you use the Calculus credit for the actual class and don’t take it, or if you use the credit for an elective and take the Math anyway so you have it at Clemson (make sense?). I feel like I have a non-answer here, except to say that it wasn’t an issue at all for us and my son brought in quite a few credits. The advisors are very used to this scenario and helping kids through it.

Also, classes will open back up after orientation sessions are over and they can change classes then if need be.

thanks @Baxter126.

@Baxter126 Thank you! Do you agree that students are not at a registration disadvantage by going to one of the later orientations? We were told that a certain number of spots were held in intro classes for each orientation session. High school does not end for us Yankees until late June.

Good to hear others wondering about this as well. Probably just go with the optimistic scenario (that he ends up getting the AP credits) knowing that he can always change his schedule when the results do come in.

@RelocatedYankee Yes. That’s how they do it. They try to make it fair for everyone. Have you students pre build schedules within Iroar and have lots of options and backups so that they can roll with registration and handle it when classes are closed. It will all work out. And lots of changes happen after they open the classes back up at the end of July. It’s good to prep your students that no freshman anywhere will get the exact schedule they want anyway :). I feel like people were overly stressed last year about their students schedules, thus making the students more stressed than they need to be.

As far as the parents staying in the dorm thing…

When my son was doing orientation at a school in PA, I decided to opt out of the dorm in favor of a local chain motel. One of the moms I ended up hanging out with that weekend chose the dorm instead.

She said there was no AC (though,again, this was PA, not Clemson.) No TV in the room-- basically nothing to do at all after dinner but get to bed.

I, on the other hand, had a nice glass of wine as I settled in for the night, watching TV in my air conditioned room.

@RelocatedYankee I’m afraid that I am not much help with the pending AP credits and registration either. I think we are going to go with the assumption that S will get at least 3s on the upcoming tests (he had one 4 Sophomore year and the rest 5s so hoping that will continue but senioritis has definitely set in). I am concerned about class availability because the earliest he was able to get in after making his final decision was the June 27th-28th Orientation. He has/will have AP credits that cover almost all of his general/Freshmen requirements so he is looking more at the upper level major classes which I’m afraid might be full already.

As far as me staying in the dorm, I thought about it for about 10 seconds and then made a hotel reservation! We are coming in the night before due to the 5 hour drive, but S decided he would rather stay in the hotel the first night rather than 2 nights in the dorm. Can’t really blame him!

If you haven’t joined already, the Facebook groups: Clemson University Class of 2022- Parents and Families and Clemson University Parents contain a lot of great information. Go Tigers!

@ProudSCMom Gett classes should be too much of an issue. I wouldn’t worry. And so many changes happen and classes open up when they reopen them in late July. Also, he will have a few gen els to do, even with Ap credits. For example, even if you maxed out all the AP English offerings, you still are required to take 1 Literature course and one Humanities (non-literature) class, among a few others. Don’t stress about the classes. Just come with lots of options and plans and questions ready for the advisor.

for housing, do they just sign up with their roommate choice and when it is their turn they pick a room or do they need to make a first and second choice dorm?

@Baxter126 Do the parents sit in on the course selection process or just the student?

@burghdad Parents do not sit in on course selection or advising sessions in most of the majors. Some majors have a large general advising session and then students meet with advisors alone. Last year for the Business college, all advising and registration was student only.

@pkgny2022 You need to go register your student for housing and pay the deposit. Once you have done that they can pair with a roommate within the system, (or not). Then they will get a timeslot. At that point, they go in and elects a room, but they need to have many, may options because things can be full. If they want a specific roommate, you must be paired before the timeslots go out. Roommate with earliest timeslot can elect the room for both. I highly suggest parents and kids going through all the information and watch the video on the Clemson housing website. It’s very helpful.

thanks @Baxter126.