Any advice on Comet Camp? Is it something a lot of students do? Trying to help my daughter decide if she will go.
My DD did not go to Comet Camp. As far as lots of kids going, I do think the camp fills up so there are lots of students. From what I have read on line, they have fun. The camp is a little out of the way. It is southwest of Fort Worth. I do know my DD did not have any close friends going to UTD and on her first day there she met many, many people. Her, not going to Comet Camp, was not a detriment.
The one thing that might have helped her first day was the fact that I was not there. I wanted to drive up with her and she wanted to go by herself. They did have her car unpacked and in her room in 15 minutes. Then she was free to go around and be social. It worked for her.
Oh goodness @GTAustin - I never considered my daughter not wanting us to move her in. But that is a distinct possibility. Yikes. Did you go to freshman orientation with her?
I didn’t either, I just thought that was a given until she said she wanted to do it herself. With my first DD at Pitt, you did need help moving in. At UTD, when my DD when in to register, the helpers cleaned out her car and put it in her room. When she came back, all work was done. She is a NMF, so her orientation was right before school started, so no I did not go to orientation. I would have gone if it was earlier in the summer. Also, if your DD is coming from AZ, I would go with her. Just know, don’t hang around too much. Get her moved in, go to Target for all the things she forgot and kiss her goodbye. Come back for parent’s weekend, they start missing you by then.
Not Arizona anymore- we moved to Texas middle of her 8th grade year. I’ll see how things go with orientation - hers will be in June. The drive is over 4 hours away - and the most she has driven solo is 1 1/2 hours. I do find their off loading all of their belonging fascinating. But I bet it really speeds things up for all involved.
It was very efficient. They do assign you arrival times and will ask that everything has your name and room number on it. Much different than Pitt. We were carrying boxes up fights of stairs because the wait at the elevators was long. UTD’s is a much better process. I also let her go by herself because I knew if there was any issues I could be there in 4 hours.
I gotta admit letting her drive I35 by herself is nerve racking, especially since she had not done much freeway driving. We did do a trip down to Corpus Christi that summer, with a friend of hers, and we took 2 cars so she could get some drive time in. My suggestion to you is let your DD do a lot of driving now especially on the freeways so both you and her can get comfortable with it.