<p>Daughter #2 is now officially a Seminole! :^)</p>
<p>Orientation was very busy and productive...especially for the Freshmen. A couple of very long days.</p>
<p>Campus was looking super. They are doing a great job with it. It has to be the most beautiful university campus in Florida.</p>
<p>The crepe myrtles were in bloom all over the place and Landis Green is now whole after Landis was refurbished. Lots of new building going on - FSU is expanding at a tremendous rate, with new dorms, classrooms and labs going up.</p>
<p>SEICLAN:
Two new residence halls are set to debut for 2007 -- Wildwood Hall and the new DeGraff Hall. Landis Hall was just completed for August 2006. </p>
<p>PARENT2NOLES:
My freshmen son has orientation next week and I am anxious to see FSU for the first time myself. My husband and son really loved the campus when they visited in December. What dorm do the students stay in during the orientation? Was your student able to get all of the classes scheduled at the times she wanted without too much difficulty? Did they have any social activities set up for the students who stayed in the dorms overnight? I guess we will get the dorm and
roommate assignments the first week in June.</p>
<p>The students stay in Salley Hall on the west side of campus, across from the under-construction Psychology Building and near the College of Medicine. </p>
<p>The freshmen check into Salley the evening (5-7 PM) before the first day of Orientation and have planned activities to attend sans parents. Be sure to bring bedding (pillow, sheets, blanket) and personal toiletries (including soap, towel, shampoo) for them. This check-in at Salley Hall is where kids and parents recieve materials and a briefing for the next two days.</p>
<p>Day 1 starts at 9:00 AM in the Union Ballroom and pretty much goes to 9:00 PM that night. Lots of information sessions and walking. Kids are quickly directed into student-specific activities, and eat in separate dining facilities on campus. Very busy days, but interesting. As we are alumni, we knew most of the information, but it always helps to catch up. Kids have social activities on campus after hours.</p>
<p>Day 2 starts with breakfast on campus at 7:00 AM (got to get the kids up early to check out of Salley and store belongings before 7:00!). Kids then meet with their advisor and develop workable schedules (start working on this the day/night before). They then receive computer access to registration and register online. </p>
<p>My daughter had no problem getting the classes she wanted. Schedules can be further tweaked at home via Internet for some weeks. Honors kids have some separate social activities.</p>
<p>Yep - dorms are assigned next week. You receive a card in the mail giving you your dorm/room assignment and the name and contact info for your roommate.</p>
<p>We liked the presentation the Dean of Undergraduate Studies gave and also the one given by the Thagard Health Center Director the best. They were both funny and smart, and really know how to run things in a large university. (Be careful to pay attention during the small group presentations as they may call on you - I started to doze a bit after lunch and quickly was 'volunteered' to participate! Good natured, though)</p>
<p>parent2noles, thanks for the information. I'm very excited to be heading up to Tallahassee for orientation later this week. Being the oldest child, my parents have been asking many questions about what to expect, and your post certainly helped them out.</p>
<p>I just had a quick question... you mentioned that Salley opened for check in from 5-7 on the first night. The orientation confirmation that i recieved in the mail seemed to indicate that check in runs from 7-9. Do you happen to know what the case is? </p>
<p>Also, do you recommend that anything be brought, beyond the items listed online (sheets, pillow, toiletries, any AP scores, etc)? Thanks for any help you can provide.</p>
<p>It appears that the time was changed - probably to make check-in easier.</p>
<p>My daughter's advisor wanted hs transcripts to review - which we brought. AP credits would help too, if you have them in hand. If you have any financial aid questions to ask I suggest you start writing them down, along with any other questions.</p>
<p>I would suggest an alarm clock for your stay at Salley Hall, and maybe an electric fan. While Salley has AC, my daughter missed having an electric fan as we use ceiling fans at home. </p>
<p>Also, start looking through the coursework your major requires and generate a course map to get you thinking of requirements needed for the major. Once you figure out the milestones the map specifies and how your AP work and other courses figure in, you're well on the way to setting up your first semester schedule and probably then some.</p>
<p>One thing I didn't mention before - the first video displayed is about the history of FSU. It was excellent and we really enjoyed it as alumni.</p>
<p>The simple answer is that building housing facilities by state universities always seems to lag demand for such housing - especially in Florida. It's not a bad as it seems, though, because after the freshman year many students want apartments, not dorm rooms - maybe.</p>
<p>More demand for dorms occur, however, when the university dorms begin to be as nice or nicer than private apartments, and this is where FSU is now. For example, all FSU dorms have AC, high-speed Internet (absolutely essential at Florida State), solid security (card-key access), no parking problems (you don't need a car to get around campus), emergency generators (parents like this during hurricane season), extremely well-built, hurricane-resistant buildings (again - a parent thing) and so on. Not to mention proximity to food and classrooms / labs. </p>
<p>A dorm is also managed to fit the university schedule. You move in and move out according to the academic schedule which adds an element of convenience. No annual lease, no security deposits, no first month or last months rent and so on. </p>
<p>Plus, any individual weirdness by occupants is reduced because it's a state facility and the University Police are close by and patrol the dorms. Further, the FSU Police are a fully-accredited law enforcement agency in their own right, and this is a good thing.</p>
<p>are you required to stay on campus for freshman year? and i saw that you were talking about new dorms being built, after those are finished are they planning to build more is that all for the meanwhile. And also i was reading about how the university is having some land problems, in terms of acquiring land, do you know anything about this parentof2noles? Thanks</p>
<p>No - freshmen are not required to stay in dorms on campus. I've not heard anything that would make this even a remote possibility for the foreseeable future. With the constant expansion of Florida State, there just are not enough dorms.</p>
<p>FSU is landlocked and has to buy or otherwise (e.g. gifts, donations, left through wills, etc) acquire land for expansion. Remember that FSU has been in the same location since the 1850s, and no one ever thought back then that there would be such a large university developing in the same spot.</p>
<p>If you happen to attend or visit Florida State, remember that thousands upon thousands of souls have trod the same paths up and down the hills and thought similar thoughts as you. From cadets going off to fight the Union Army at Natural Bridge to the most accomplished scientists thinking about bucky balls, they have all been in the same place. </p>
<p>Orientation was absolutely great! We loved the campus and everyone was very friendly. The program was very informative and we found that there are so many services provided for the students. Registering for classes was easy. They did say the dorms are 101% full so some people who would like a dorm but are far down on the list will be waitlisted or possibly have to live off-campus in a private dorm or apartment. We should receive the room assignment by this Friday. My son made friends right away and he is very comfortable with his decision to attend FSU.</p>
<p>My daughter and I just returned from Freshman orientation as well. I am very impressed. FSU was not my daughter's first choice (although it was mine based on cost and location and the diversity of the programs they offer) and she arrived being her grouchy, resistant self (she is not a 'rah-rah' kind of girl, has no interest in 'greek life'...as I didn't at her age) but by the time she left with her schedule she was happy and actually excited. She stayed on campus and the second night stayed up until 4 AM talking with two new friends in majors similar to hers. She is waitlisted for campus housing but is in the group that was told they would be offered housing (applications before April 30th for females, before April 20th for males) once the first batch of cancellations come in. Every step of the way throughout orientation, FSU just felt right.</p>
<p>I attended the 6/12 and 6/13 orientation (as an incoming freshman). I'll just echo what many have said here; it was a very enjoyable process. I'm going to be starting out as a pre-business student. The business department heads did a very good job of explaining the general "in's and out's" of registering for school, adjusting as a freshman, etc.</p>
<p>I stayed in Salley Hall...maybe the psychology department could use this facility for studying environments and sleep habits...lol. Losing track of time was very easy because of the small windows in the dorm rooms. I found myself staying up pretty late during both nights.</p>
<p>I headed to the orientation on July 31st (I am a transfer student). Can anyone transfers here who have already attended an orientation, please give me some info on what to expect? Thanks.</p>