Does He Need to Do Anything BEFORE Orientation?

<p>My D has had 4 years of Latin in high school and decided to register for Spanish (Introductory Spanish I).</p>

<p>S2 is continuing with Spanish and taking it next semester.</p>

<p>My son is waiting to take language. It’s his weakest academic area, so what’s the hurry? BTW, my son loved orientation as well, and looks forward to August!</p>

<p>In order to study abroad, you must be proficient (ie achieve a certain level of mastery) in that country’s language. Obviously the exception is English speaking countries or countries where Tulane doesn’t teach that language. That is why there is some urgency about taking a foreign language. At least that is my understanding.</p>

<p>A question for all of you parents - my D can’t go to orientation since she’s out of the country. Would you recommend that I go ahead and go for the parents part of it? I know there will be a webcast of orientation available in July and my D has to skype with her advisor to get classes scheduled. I lost my helicopter parenting license about 10 months ago so I’m really ok with her figuring things out, but I’ll go if y’all think it’s really worth it for me to go by myself. If it makes any difference in your answer, we live in Louisiana, but it’s still a 5.5 hour drive. Oh, and we will probably be making a trip to NOLA sometime towards the end of July anyway for her to see the campus and feel more comfortable with it all so I’m guessing we can get any questions answered then?</p>

<p>I would just stick with the webcast and save yourself the trip. As long as there is a way to get the information you need and she handles her registration, the rest can be figured out as you go. I think orientation is more for students to meet a few people and get acclimated. Since she won’t be able to do that, I don’t see the point unless it will just make you feel better. There is a lot of information for parents, but if you can get that out of the webcast that’s what I would do.</p>

<p>They aren’t restricting them to Freshmen but they get very few single room requests and often have upset students who are assigned to a single when they wanted a roommate. He was very pleased that my son was actually requesting a single. Gave me his card and asked me to email him so that he could make sure it happened.</p>

<p>That really is quite a change in attitude by the students, and very interesting. Singles used to be so prized that only seniors got them (unless you were an RA) and were handed out by lottery. I can understand that most freshmen want the roommate experience, your son’s preference notwithstanding, but usually by senior year there is an increase in the number that want a single. Or so I thought. Of course, a lot more students live off campus now than did before as well, so maybe that has a big impact I hadn’t really thought about.</p>

<p>They did note that Monroe was mostly a Freshman dorm with very few non Freshmen, so maybe the demographic of the dorm has changed due to the larger incoming class sizes?</p>

<p>That is definitely true. Dorms always used to just be a mix of classes, I lived in Monroe all 4 years, the last in a single. Now they are more designated for freshmen, sophomore, and upperclassmen. I think that was more of a policy decision rather than because of the large classes.</p>

<p>My son was assigned a single in Monroe his sophomore year and that was kind of the “bottom of the barrel” as far as he was concerned. He had no interest in living in a freshman dorm again - even in a single. He stayed on it and got placed in Willow eventually. I think because Aron is mostly suites of singles, a lot of upperclassmen live there and in Willow. I had seen on FB when my son was a freshman that they were putting freshmen in the Monroe singles because of the overflow. It will be interesting to see where this class ends up in terms of numbers.</p>

<p>Just received confirmation from the Director of Housing that my son will be assigned a single in Monroe. I’m glad that I spoke up and asked!</p>

<p>He also has some pretty bad sinus problems that would drive a roommate crazy! Trying to get them fixed this summer with surgery but no guarantees! :-)</p>

<p>Good for you, Exeter!</p>

<p>Who knows, he might be in my old room! Glad he got what he wanted.</p>

<p>Haha that would be funny FC!!</p>

<p>OH2NOLA and westcoast11, We are looking forward to seeing you at orientation this weekend.
Can not wait to be back in my favorite city. Is it ok to be a little jealous that my daughter gets to live there?</p>

<p>Of course, I would love to be back there myself. My D is even staying there this summer.</p>

<p>Looking forward to seeing WhereAreYou, westcoast11 and all the other parents. I am have missed NOLA, too.</p>

<p>We had a great time at orientation. It was especially nice to meet OH2NOLA, her husband and daughter. Sorry we missed you westcoast11, hope all is well. In our search OH2NOLA and I introduced parents from Georgia to CC. It was great to meet so many wonderful parents. Everyone was so friendly, reinforcing the family feeling you have at Tulane.</p>

<p>My daughter had a blast making new friends and exploring the campus. She registered for the Tides class she wanted and dropped by Wall to see the canvas of her interior design ideas. </p>

<p>We had some extra time in NOLA resulting in visits to Mother’s, Camellia Grill, Dat Dog, The Creole Creamery, and a few stops at Cafe du Monde. Weather was great, hot as expected but no rain when we were out in the city. We are both looking forward to seeing everyone again when we go back in August.</p>

<p>I was at Dat Dog on Saturday! Polish kielbasa, chili, creole mustard, sauerkraut, onions. Best dog I ever had.</p>