Countdown to O Week

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

With preregistration completed, housing assigned, and their friends back in school, we’re getting ready for O Week!

Here’s the UChicago countdown clock to the arrival of class of 2022: (have to scroll down a bit)
https://housing.uchicago.edu/

I am excited, but also feeling bittersweet. So far, I’m:

  1. Trying to spend as much time as possible with S
  2. Still have not bought linens yet
  3. Waiting to download the UChicago orientation app, available early September

Does anyone else have any vignettes, anecdotes, advice, etc. to add?

2

My daughter is very excited about O-Week, but for different reasons. She is a rising Third Year and, and this will be her second year as an O-Aide. She cannot wait to welcome the Class of 2022. And hand out tissues to parents, as needed.

The weekend went by in a blur for us, so I would suggest to enjoy every second you have with your student. We had read and re-read the schedule, but the reality of how little time we’d have together didn’t hit home until my husband and I were in the car driving back to the hotel late afternoon the first day.

From our experience, and from what my daughter also saw last year, say your farewells before your student goes to Opening Convocation. After that is the procession , and while you might be able to grab a quick hug as they walk past you, there will be no more time with them after they pass you and head through Hull Gate. They are immediately swept up into activities, beginning with the class photo.

3

Yesterday, Housing posted move-in guides for each dorm here: https://housing.uchicago.edu/prospective-students/move-in-information/ Take a look.

There’s also an abridged schedule for O-Week posted here: https://orientation.uchicago.edu/sites/orientation.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Orientation_2018/Student_Communications/O-App%20Important%20Events%20PDF%20for%20Website_%2009.06.2016%20Updates.docx.pdf

B-J and Snitchcock don’t have elevators. Unpacking a 100-pound box and ferrying the contents upstairs item by item is no fun. Pack accordingly.

Traffic will be bad and lines will be long. Show up early.

A couple of years ago, one family tried to stay the night in their kid’s single. If you do this, we will ask you to find a hotel.

B-J people, go to the Resident Deans’ reception. The coffee is good, the donuts are excellent, and the RDs don’t bite.

Be nice to the O-Aides.

Have fun.

4

Second the advice of when to say your farewells. Parents and families won’t be allowed in Rock. due to space limitations and the large class size. They set up a big screen in the quad but last year it was so hot that I ducked into one of the many surrounding buildings - Stuart and Pick were open for this, IIRC - and watched from the air conditioned comfort of a classroom. Make sure you get to the parade route early as the crowds gather quickly.

Also, my D was wearing her UChicago class of '21 tee-shirt (given out at check-in) as were many others, but it’s not required. Students - and their parents - had on all sorts of UChicago swag or whatever they had purchased at the bookstore. Speaking of which . . . be prepared for long lines! It’s a great opportunity to chat with other parents.

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I believe move-ins are scheduled from 9am-noon on Sat the 22nd. Is it better to be there at 9am or later to avoid the morning surge?

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How organized is the system for retrieving boxes that you’ve shipped to yourself? We’re probably shipping 4-5 boxes (smallish to be easier to lug around) since we’re flying in. Will the process of getting all the boxes take a long time and is that better to do first thing or later?

Then again, if DS doesn’t get a bit more organized and start packing this may be a moot point. :stuck_out_tongue:

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^^Packing? At least your DS is already up to that point. My S hasn’t even picked out his linens yet. If you see a guy sleeping on a bare mattress, that’ll be my son.

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@Tiglathpileser

I would recommend a 9 AM arrival. Once you arrive, there’ll be a cascade of things to do. Dining halls start serving lunch at 10:30 AM, before most people are done unpacking. The lines then will be short. Once people are done moving in, the lunch lines get long and stay that way for hours. Orientation check-in (mandatory) opens at 1 PM and ends at 4, as do various activities and resource fairs around campus (optional but helpful). And Resident Deans’ receptions happen at various points in the day depending on the dorm.

If I recall correctly, most of the lines that develop early on won’t die down until the afternoon, so you’d need to arrive before 10 AM or after 1-2 PM to avoid the lines at their worst. And arriving after 1 means you’ll need to fit move-in, check-in, lunch, and any other events on campus that you want to attend into 2-3 hours. Doable, but a hassle. Plus, depending on the dorm, if you arrive in the afternoon you could miss a chance to meet the Resident Deans.

Posted this link above, but reposting it because it’s useful. Abridged O-Week schedule: https://orientation.uchicago.edu/sites/orientation.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Orientation_2018/Student_Communications/O-App%20Important%20Events%20PDF%20for%20Website_%2009.06.2016%20Updates.docx.pdf

@milee30

From the Housing website:

Not sure if you’ve posted your kid’s dorm here. Your mileage will vary by dorm.

B-J has a few storage rooms in the basement, each with belongings for different houses. Not sure if Housing will sort items shipped before move-in by house, or settle for getting B-J shipments to a room somewhere in the dorm. The answer will affect the level of chaos you can expect.

If it’s anything like move-out, there’ll be a staff member posted in each storage room, overseeing the process as families retrieve their stuff. This tends to be fairly quick. In B-J, stairways to the basement are narrow and steep, so lugging stuff upstairs is a little less fun.

Regardless, I would advise doing this first if possible. O-Aides will have a number of bins on wheels to help move heavy-ish stuff. The wait for these will mirror the move-in lines; if you retrieve your boxes before most parents, you won’t need to wait as long.

You are every O-aide’s favorite parent.

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@Tiglathpileser it might depend on specific dorm. Last year we showed up about 40 minutes before open and there was already a queue of cars at BJ and South; however, they started moving the check-in process along soon after we arrived and I was able to find parking right next to the dorm after we unloaded. Parking would have been harder later on in the day. Even with the queue, there are still many fewer people on site at first than later on.

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Very helpful, @DunBoyer and @JBStillFlying - thank you for the details.

@uocparent - my son may be joining yours as a member of the sleeping rough club. He’s King of Procrastination, so he’s pretty good at pulling things together at the last minute; maybe he’ll still pull this off. If not, we will be having a very quick move-in process since he will have little to move.

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^^ lol my son says he has ‘time.’

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Thank you @DunBoyer and @JBStillFlying. The BJ specific references are helpful because thats the dorm he will be at (Linn-Mathews).

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Wow, it’s a small campus. Congrats to your son for getting placed in objectively the best house.

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@uocparent & @milee30 - I have a feeling there are a lot of boys with the same attitude…although my son did just say we might want to go shopping for a few things;)
I on the other hand have quite the pile and list of what we will pack in the car and what we will ship with boxes ready to go and a list of what to wash next week prior to shipping/driving…

15

We are quite the project managers :wink: I also have a list and a small pile ready to go; also mentally have timeframes on when to complete all the shopping, washing, and packing, etc., then gage the shipping dates so that it arrives precisely during the window when his dorm will receive it and prior to move-in date.

16

You guys – If you are shipping it’s OK to hold off on the stuff that’s not Essential till later on. Keep in mind too that the students will want to personalize their rooms once they’ve been in them for a few days or weeks and talked to their roommates etc. Anyone hoping to switch rooms should not buy or bring too much yet. Finally, no need to haul the heavy coats and boots until second-quarter.

17

Yes and no.

Will they see heavy use during Fall Quarter? No. But this year, the quarter ends on December 15th. You need to go back to 1998-1999 to find a later start to the Winter Break (December 19th!).

We had heavy snow on the day dorms closed for the winter in 2016 - December 10th. I was in town for a few more days, with nothing warmer than a hoodie and a fleece. Luckily, the family friend I was staying with lent me an old coat. If the quarter had ended a few days later, I would’ve been frozen solid the first time I ran an errand.

We may or may not get snow in early/mid-December this year. But it’s a distinct possibility. And, this being Chicago, there will be wind. Bringing a heavy coat and not needing it is a hassle, but needing it and not having it will be downright miserable.

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^^ Possibly. My first quarter at Booth began 10/1 and got out Mid Dec. as well and it was fine w/o the heavier stuff. However, two caveats besides the one that @DunBoyer sensibly mentions. 1) People LOVE wearing the Uggs even before the snow hits because they are comfy; and 2) Some are from friendlier climates so might appreciate a coat and hood/hat before Jan. And then there was that one year when temps were well below zero (and approaching -40 with windchill!) the week before Christmas (I think in 1989?) but that was unusual. I was relieved to go visit my in-laws in Philly where it was a balmy +8 degrees! That was a cold snap affecting a LOT of states. Anyway, if you are super risk averse and worried about highly unusual cold then add it as #3 and bring out your winter gear earlier - by Thanksgiving is fine. No need to haul it all out in Sept. unless you really want to.

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Yeah, thinking he can bring his winter stuff back with him after Thanksgiving break…

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The only caveat i would throw in here is that with all the climate changes its getting harder to predict weather based on past patterns. i would submit that with the wind and proximity to a lake (lake effect snow…) prob better to be safe than sorry. Especially for those of us whose blood has thinned out living south of the Mason Dixon line.