<p>I am an international student from the United Kingdom applying to the following colleges, </p>
<p>Stanford
UCLA
Loyola Marymount University | LA
Pepperdine
University of San Diego</p>
<p>I am curious as to if I was to get offered a place at any of the universities above this year to attend in the fall of 2015 when would it be a good idea to head out to the States, English term time would Finnish at the end of June 2015 so then my 'Summer Holiday' would begin. </p>
<p>Would I have to head out to the States before term starts for a 'freshers' week or two, and when usually are they? I visited LMU|LA in July of this year and whilst we were there, there were a lot of new students around the campus and the tour guide mentioned something about new students induction of something. </p>
<p>If anyone could shed some light on term start dates and potential 'freshers' week dates then this would be much appreciated. </p>
<p>You can find that information on each college website. Look for the academic calendar and the student life calendar.</p>
<p>Classes usually start between late August and mid-September. Some universities have a new student orientation right before classes start. Others have (often mandatory!) orientation programs earlier in the summer - this allows them to deal with smaller groups of students.</p>
<p>There’ll probably be a seperate international student orientation for new students on student visas. At the very least the college is required to check your immigration papers and talk to you about the conditions of your student visa. Some colleges bring international students to campus a bit earlier than other students and assist them with practical matters; for example, opening a bank account, applying for a social security number and going shopping.</p>
<p>If your college has a regular new student orientation right before the start of classes, the international student orientation typically happens before the regular orientation. In any case, the international student orientation will happen within a few weeks of the start of classes and <em>not</em> in the middle of the summer. (Since the college is required to check your student visa and you wouldn’t be in the country on a student visa more than a month before school starts.)</p>
<p>Some universities have seperate pre-orientation programs for specific groups of students. Those may include summer courses for incoming students with academic deficits; diversity programs for students of color; or wilderness camping trips for anyone willing to shell out a few thousand dollars for the opportunity to make friends before the term starts. Pre-orientation programs usually have one of two purposes: either they are meant to offer extra resources to at-risk students (those programs are usually free), or they are meant to generate additional income for the university. </p>