<p>D just got back from orientation. She had a blast. I also strongly encourage that parents should attend the parent orientation on the first day. I'm an alumna, and I still learned a lot. Things have changed since 19(mumblesomething).</p>
<p>I am really looking forward to parent orientation on July 8. Except one thing... ummm... this is so embarassing... mumble, mumble, mumble... ummm
I don't like barbeque</p>
<p>GASP?!?!? You don't like Barbeque?!?!? How is that possible?</p>
<p>But don't worry, Texas' most popular food is Tex-Mex, which Austin has in infinite and excellent supply.</p>
<p>The bbq had average catered bbq. Definitely wasn't Kreutz's, Smitty's, or Salt Lick, but wasn't terrible by any means. I'm not huge on veggies but there was a vegeterian option. I think it was vegetable kabobs.</p>
<p>Honestly, my parents skipped it and my friend's parents who I went down with said it wasn't anything they hadn't heard before. Knowing the fact that you've done your research, you may be bored.</p>
<p>But you can always enjoy hanging around in Austin.</p>
<p>My advice: GO TO ORIENTATION!!!!! As soon as possible.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You want to register as early as possible. A lot of classes are already full from upperclassmen. Then the summer freshmen got next pick. Now fall freshmen have already started, and a lot of classes were filling fast. Kids who were at the back of the alphabet found classes that had been available on Thursday had filled by Friday morning. If you go to August orientation, or not at all, you won't get a great selection of courses and class times. You also may not be able to clear your bars and won't be able to register at all.</p></li>
<li><p>You want to meet people. You do not want to be that awkward kid who doesn't know anyone coming in. Orientation lets you meet people in your major, random people in your wing, and people from all over the state. I made lots of friends last week.</p></li>
<li><p>It's pretty fun. The mandatory activities usually have a lot of corny jokes and can be a bit boring (especially as they are almost entirely common-sensical), but the rest of the stuff is pretty fun. People who went to the optional activities run by the orientation staff usually had fun, and I know that those of us who went to the "optional activities" run by the Greek community had a LOT of fun as well.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Go to orientation, enjoy it, meet some people, and get ready for fall. Don't wait til later or you may find that you have terrible classes, or couldn't even register for 12 hours, or that you don't know anyone. Even if you are out of state, make the sacrifice to come down and get ready for fall.</p>
<p>is it really that hard to fill up classes? Let's say that I want to take some intro CS classes, so I'll need stuff like Calc 2 and things like that, is it really that hard to sign up for classes? I know it's important to go, but you kinda have to understand that just going to the thing will cost almost $300, plane tickets will cost money, my parents not working will cost money, me not working will cost money, so it ends up being a HUGE expense. I mean we're not talking about something little here, this could end up costing us close to $1000 here, so I was wondering just how bad is it to get the classes. Time isn't that big of a deal because I can deal with a class being at 8 (even if I sleep at 1, I usually wake up by 7:30 anyways, so an extra half hour is no big deal for me), but if I can't even get the class, then that could be a huge problem. So just how overblown if at all is this?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your parents do not need to go. Every parent I know who went said it was a waste of time. You can go by yourself and take the Airport Flyer back and forth from campus and it will cost you 50 cents roundtrip (your return trip will be free with your UT ID card).</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, classes fill. There are kids who were telling me that they're scared they won't be able to get into business now because they couldn't schedule calc or economics. They open a set number on every Friday in some courses; in others, the spots are open until they fill up, which would put you at a major disadvantage. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>At least the way I see it, you would prefer not to have class at 8. I wake up at 7:30 is usually, but I do not want to jump right into learning there, especially not in a college course where paying attention is actually essential to success.</p>
<p>Orientation is essential to get good class times and may be necessary to even get class times at all. Plus it is FUN. A lot of fun, depending on what your're willing to do, and I would definitely go.</p>
<p>hookemhorns23,</p>
<p>It is a huge expense! I'm glad we were able to afford to go! You may want to contact the advisor in your major and find out how you can register online without attending orientation. Talk to them about your situation. Tell them you just cannot afford to fly down to Austin. With high gas prices and high air fare, hopefully, they will understand.</p>