We visited the campus and our S has pretty much decided to go here. We are OOS. So travel is a big concern to us especially traveling as a family. Does anyone know if the student can go alone to the freshman orientation or should be accompanied by the parents. Not sure if the U has shuttle services from/to the airport to pick and drop off the students.
Yes, attendance at orientation by the parents is optional. AND, we have a great mass transit system in MSP. Your son can take the light rail’s blue line right from the airport up to US Bank Stadium, where he’ll get off and transfer to the green line, which will take him right to the U of M campus. My daughter has been commuting to the U from our house for the past two years, and it’s a super easy ride.
I can also confirm from our recent visit that it is easy to get from the airport to campus by light rail. My kid is also OOS.
DS is completing his junior year. Unless Orientation has changed, they split the students from the parents from the beginning. There may have been one or two activities that parents do together with their students, but for the most part you’re separate. I can also vouch that the light rail is very easy to use, and very convenient for the airport and many other attractions!
We are also OOS. It was optional for the parents. Like ohmomof2boys said there were joint sessions in the beginning. Then the students left to join a group of their college of xyz. According to my dd they gave them a tour of some of the buildings they might be in. I think we rejoined for lunch. Then after that we didn’t see her until next morning. The students stay overnight in a dorm. It might not be the dorm they will be in the fall but they get to meet others from their college and room overnight with one of them.
The university provided food (well, it’s part of orientation fee) & dorm. I think the dorm included some bedding. You might want to double check. I don’t remember if towels were included.
As a parent, It was very informative attending some of the sessions. We already had another child go through college but we got specifics on how this university ran things. They also handed out a VERY nice spiral book to parents that was a great resource later.
I would suggest the student have extra money for food snacks. After early supper nothing until breakfast. Some of them pooled their money and ordered late night pizza.
As a family we walked around campus and rode the circulator bus so she could see how it worked and where it went. Plus it was more sight-seeing for us. 
We were not the only OOS family. Next to me was a family from Texas who flew in.