<p>Has anyone participated in the community service program for incoming freshmen? If so, how was your experience? Here’s the link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bu.edu/csc/programs/fysop/[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/csc/programs/fysop/</a></p>
<p>I didn't participate in FYSOP myself, but I have many friends that did, and they all LOVED it. I wish I had done it. All freshmen move in around 3 days before classes start, and FYSOP gives you the opportunity to have 5 extra days to get used to campus, meet people, help the community in Boston, and just to have fun. If you don't want to spend the extra $250 to do it, you'll make plenty of friends anyway, but if you want a head start, I'd recommend it.</p>
<p>Thanks. S thinks it sounds like fun. FlixChick, how insane is the moving-in process? I see that kids move in on either Saturday or Sunday of Labor Day weekend, depending on their last names, and classes start Tuesday. Is there no orientation week before classes start, then?</p>
<p>Kinshasa...I'll give you "move in" from the parent perspective (having done it twice with DS). I think it is VERY well organized. The check in process is well done and usually runs smoothly. During the regular move in time, there are upper class students all around to help and answer questions. Also, BU has these huge bins (like the laundry bins you see in hospitals or hotels...with wheels) that you can use to tote your things from your car to your room. There are a LOT of students moving in at the same time, but honestly, I thought it was very easy. Regarding orientation...that is held during the summer. I believe there are 7 orientation session that last a couple of days each. Students are required to attend an orientation session. It is also when they meet with an advisor and navigate registering for their fall classes. There are all day seminars for the students AND separate ones for the parents as well (parents are not required to attend, but DH and I found the information very valuable). During those summer orientation sessions, parents can stay in the dorms (for a fee). There is also an 8th not very publicized orientation session that takes place the two or three days before the move in period. Student who are not available during the summer can opt for this session (we had to do that because DS was at a Tanglewood during the summer sessions and could not be at BU at the same time!....it's that type of circumstance that would make you able to attend the 8th session which is not even listed in the orientation booklets). DS made a special trip up to BU in June to register for his classes because he didn't want to be closed out of everything and that would have been likely during that 8th orientation session if he had waited. If you go to the 8th session, your child would move directly into his dorm room. You, however, would have to stay off campus somewhere (hotel or with family/friends). There are some activities for freshmen before classes start...freshman convocation, and a big activities "fair" that is held at Nickerson Field. I'm sure the students posting here can give you a better idea of what is really happening than I can...I went to the orientation...and came home!!</p>
<p>Thumper1, thanks. I thought I'd send S off for the orientation alone and just go with him in August, but maybe I'll go to the orientation as well if there are sessions for parents.</p>
<p>when do you start signing up for FYSOP?</p>
<p>Thumper1 pretty much explained everything about the move in process, except in my opinion, even though it was organized, it was still pretty insane. Especially when it came to the elevators; it took forever to grab one. But what can you expect when 1800 people are moving into one building complex during the same weekend? haha</p>
<p>You can't sign up for FYSOP until the summer, so sit tight till then. You'll also have to fill out some short essay questions, I believe. Last year, one of them was "what is your favorite cartoon character and why" or "what cartoon character would you want to be and why" or something like that.</p>
<p>Kkk21, you were worried about your math grades---I assume you got in ED?</p>
<p>If we wanted to talk about the elevators in the dorms at BU, we would need a new thread. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. Flix is right....what would you expect with 1800 students moving in at the same time? The elevators are not the most reliable in the world....and they are SLOW with capital letters on purpose. However, we weren't in a rush, and it seemed no one else was either. Folks were very patient, and not at all pushy. The move in days we have done were really quite painless. Free advice....put everything you "think" you need in one place before you take it....than take about 1/2 of it. DS took it ALL his freshman year. Every time he came home, he brought back something else he didn't need or want or use. His soph year he pared down very considerably. That also made the move in much easier the second time!! There are also early move in days once the dorms are open. You CAN come earlier (a couple of days) but you need to notify the housing folks...It's actually all VERY clear on the paperwork they send you. I have been impressed with the clarity of all the information we receive from BU.</p>
<p>Yeah as for packing, definitely make two piles of stuff. (1) The stuff you definitely need, and (2) the stuff you would like to bring with you. I ended up being able to squish most of it in the car, but I had to leave behind my fuzzy "husband pillow," which made me sad, but my parents brought it up on parent's weekend. And when I got to BU, I had to fill up 3 of those huge blue bins to get all my stuff upstairs. All in all, like Thumper said, people are very patient, and I was all moved in within a couple hours.</p>
<p>Flix...DS needed three bins the first year. ONE bin the second year (with us just carrying the rest in our hands). He commented that his room seemed so much larger (same size room...). Well...two less bins of "stuff". Really all we put in the blue bin the second year was the fridge, rug, computer, and some of the clothes. The rest we carried (linens, etc).</p>
<p>Thumper: Where was he dormed each year? And aaaah I can't imagine it ever being any less than 3 bins for me, I'm such a pack-rat. Much of what I brought with me I haven't even touched, but you never know when you'll need some random item!</p>
<p>West campus.</p>