<p>I just booked our hotel for Family Weekend and wanted to warn others to book it asap. Half of the area hotels are already full for that weekend. Of course, even with the letter I received from UVa saying, "we recommend making hotel reservations as soon as possible since local accomidations fill up quickly", I still procrastinated! I just got lucky and found something, but not as nice as I would have prefered :(. I went ahead and booked our hotel for Orientation too while I was on a roll, lol! Figured I would post incase there are other parents out there without reservations for Oct. weekend. </p>
<p>You can always come a different weekend, my parents didn’t like coming for Family weekend because it was too crowded, and they would come a week or two later which was great. Reading days are about two weekends before…</p>
<p>Family weekend for 1st years is not that important to attend. I agree with Hazel other weekends would probably be better to visit. </p>
<p>For upperclassman, such as third years it is important weekend:</p>
<p>The UVA Ring and Ring Ceremony
Held in conjunction with Family Weekend and the awarding of Intermediate Honors, the Ring Ceremony brings together Third Year students and their families for a program celebrating their time at the University. At the conclusion of the event, participating Third Year students put on their UVA class rings. Another UVA tradition involves placement of the ring. While a student, one wears the ring with Minerva facing inward; upon conclusion of Final Exercises, the ring is worn with Minerva facing outward to the world.</p>
<p>Heeeyyyy, now see this is why I love CC. Did most of the parents seem to show up for FW though? I don’t want him to feel like he has to tag along with some other family if I don’t come, lol! Will there be a lot of other students without families attending? Or, is it really a favor not to show up all year ;). Hmmmm, going to rethink this and thanks!</p>
<p>Just tried to google it --couldn’t find much on Reading Days. What is it?</p>
<p>And, Woosah, more info… I didn’t know. Thanks!</p>
<p>I agree that it can be more enjoyable to visit during a weekend other than Family Weekend. We’re big football fans, and during family weekend (last year and this year) there are no home games. We visited last year a few times during the fall, and always scheduled our trips to coincide with home games. The only thing we won’t be doing again is coming during homecoming weekend. Yikes! The traffic, restaurant crowds, etc. were pretty intense. It was an experience, though, and it was still fun. For new parents who haven’t been to a UVA football game, you should definitely go to at least one. We’re from Texas where football is HUGE, and I wasn’t expecting the energy/excitement at UVa to compare. We were pleasantly surprised; the traditions and spirit of the UVa and its fans can definitely rival most any team!</p>
<p>I concur with Jc40 go on a football weekend-but not homecoming-and enjoy UVa/Charlottesville in the fall. If you have not been to Monticello you might want to go. It is beautiful that time of year. </p>
<p>I do strongly suggest you go for the parent sessions for orientation this summer.</p>
<p>All great advice, thanks! :)</p>
<p>I am coming to orientation with him in late July. Move in day will be here sooner than we know…sniff sniff…</p>
<p>We will also visit during alternate/football weekends. We may drive down for the day on Family Weekend since we are an easy drive if our student wants us to. We’ll leave it up to him.</p>
<p>The exception is if your student is able to get a lottery for a Rotunda Dinner. That is worth going for.</p>
<p>Reading Days (the weekend one) is a mini fall break for students to study for their midterms, but since it is a state school most people just go home. It leaves the out of staters feeling a bit lonesome on the deserted campus unless they have a car… There are also one-day reading days during finals, no one goes home for those. Well, one time I only had 1 final, of course on the last day, so I went home for a week and then came back for it. (even being OOS! But I had my car by then).</p>
<p>If you can’t find a hotel in Cville, Waynesboro is not that bad of an alternative. It is quick drive on I-64.</p>
<p>Waynesboro is an alternative, however it is a 25 minute drive west of Charlottesville.</p>
<p>A great resource for local accommodations is the VA Guest Houses service. You can rent a condo, guest house, or full home in the area. It’s very popular for graduation, reunions, and weddings.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to Guesthouses](<a href=“http://www.va-guesthouses.com/]Welcome”>http://www.va-guesthouses.com/)</p>
<p>I know someone who had a guest stay in the “ACAC Condo” right on the Downtown Mall. They loved it.</p>
<p>We went last year for Family weekend and had a great time. It did not feel that crowded and I agree…we did not want another family to have to “adopt” our child. We did get a spot at the Rotunda dinner and it was quite nice-our daughter joined us. We sat with 3 families and one couple regretted their child opted not to attend. Try and get tickets for the acapella concert after the dinner-they sell out fast. We ended watching a theatre competition for the theater kids-ended up being more fun than expected! Sometimes, just BEING with your student on “grounds” is fun. Enjoy your time at UVA.</p>
<p>@ Dean J, the condo, houses and cottages are MUCH nicer than our Holiday Inn room! I am going to bookmark for future reference --very nice. thanks!</p>
<p>@peach, good ideas and making notes if we do decide we’re coming to the family weekend. I am leaning that direction right now, and am holding our hotel room until we decide. We have 4 kids, and two are very young (7 & 5 yrs.), so it’s a lot more planning in general (just logistically since we can’t bring little kids to college events like the Rotunda dinners etc.). I may just come with our older daughter to family weekend (she’s a rising junior)…and leave little ones at home with DH. Thanks for sharing your experience --sounds very nice!</p>
<p>Yes Dean J thanks for sharing! That condo on the mall looked great. From that site we actually found a C’ville real estate website and had an afternoon of fun looking for our ‘retirement home’. Our son came home to find us pondering a little $16mill place. :eek: Before he saw the home/price and realized we were ‘kicking tires’ he got this horrified look on his face and said “Dear God NO, you’re kidding right?! Can you wait four years?”. Yes son, retirement will be a LONG time from now!</p>