<p>Hi,
I am going to be studying abroad in a program that is 4 weeks long. The problem is that it completely clashes with all of the July orientations. I can either leave the program early to go to the last orientation in July or finish the program and go to the one in August.</p>
<p>The advisors at Binghamton strongly recommended that I go to the ones in July. </p>
<p>For anyone who has gone to the orientations, how important is it that I go in July? What are the drawbacks of going in August?</p>
<p>I mean going in August is better than not going at all. The only difference between July and August is availability of courses. Many of the courses will be taken by then. I mean, its not THAT important you go in July, you will just have an easier time getting classes. That’s pretty much the only difference.</p>
<p>Yay, I’m glad you picked Binghamton :)</p>
<p>I went to the August orientation. I didn’t have any conflicts in July, I just figured I’d save my parents from having to make two four-hour trips. I can definitely see why they recommend the July ones. There, you stay overnight in a suite with random roommates. I know a lot of people who are still good friends with those people. In August, you just move in to your own room, so I was alone except for an orientation adviser who had also moved in early… This was especially lonely because I was in a totally new place and my first experience of college was going to sleep in a new bed without knowing anyone. However, soon everybody else moves in and everything gets better! It’s also nice to already be all moved in as everyone else in the hall is trying to unpack the same day. Now, as a sophomore, it literally doesn’t matter at all that everyone else got, like, a head-start on making friends. I have my own group and it’s fine.</p>
<p>As far as registration, they save a certain # of classes for each orientation so it shouldn’t be a huge problem. My schedule was very normal compared to everyone else’s, I got three 100-level gen eds and a 200-level I really enjoyed. </p>
<p>Anyway you’ll be fine. Just keep in mind that your first two days or so might kind of suck, but it’s not representative of the college experience at ALL. Also, maybe your floor will be different and other people will have moved in. Definitely don’t change your study abroad for this. Plenty of people go in August and it’s absolutely fine.</p>
<p>rebeccar, I was wondering if going in July would put you in priority for class schedules? Would you be able to choose how your schedule might be besides the courses you take? Like for example, if I don’t want classes on Friday or Monday, would I be able to request that and get it on a first come first serve basis?</p>
<p>Well, you register for a class for a particular time slot. So there’s no difference between “choosing how your schedule might be” and “the courses you take.” A lot of courses only have one time option. For the ones that have multiple options (like labs), you’d sign up for that particular class slot you want. There’s no requesting to anyone, you just sign up for the classes you want.</p>
<p>They hold an equal amount of spots for each orientation. Obviously not every class has spots held-- most of them are already filled up, actually-- but mostly lower level intro classes (Psych 111, History 103, etc) have spots saved for orientation.</p>
<p>Hope that answered your question.</p>
<p>Thanks rebeccar!
Do you know which Gen eds typically fill up first? Which ones remain open for August? I also want to take chinese and japanese classes - I’m guessing those will be safe?</p>
<p>Well there’s a ton of different classes that go towards each gen ed, so you have options. Do you mean Chinese and Japanese language classes? I just checked, those are fine. Plenty of spots left.</p>
<p>Sorry yeah I meant the language classes. That’s good to hear!
One final question; How fast do the small freshman courses held in each community fill up? Will I have no chance getting into one in August? How helpful are they anyway?</p>
<p>I have absolutely no clue, sorry. I didn’t do any of those.</p>
<p>Hi! My name is Rob and I’m a Binghamton University Student Ambassador.</p>
<p>The classes held within each community are typically taken by freshmen, and as such, most of them have spots held open for each Orientation session. This means that, even if you go to the last Orientation, there will still be spots open in most of them (not necessarily all).</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>
<p>~Rob</p>
<p>That’s good to know thanks Rob!</p>