<p>I'm seriously considering going to Mercer University which is 1000 miles from home. It's mostly instate students and it starts about 2 weeks before Labor Day. I'm kind of worried about that. I probably won't have that many friends yet and I'm kind of scared about spending a 3 day weekend just sitting in my room lonely. Are my fears justified or do colleges try to plan stuff over Labor Day and do lots of people stay on campus?</p>
<p>tolandowski--Most schools have orientation events prior to the beginning of classes, which include social opportunities. I looked on Mercer's website and here is some info about their Fall orientation:</p>
<p>Bear Beginnings (Fall Orientation)
Fall Orientation, known as Bear Beginnings, is designed to help students make the transition to university life at Mercer. Bear Beginnings starts the Saturday before classes begins, and allows students opportunities to meet classmates, get to know their academic advisors, learn about academic expectations, attend social events and explore all of the possibilities that Mercer has to offer! </p>
<p>Bear Beginnings 2006 will be held Saturday, August 19 through Monday, August 21.</p>
<p>So by Labor Day maybe you will have made some new friends! BTW, my son spent a good part of the summer in Macon at Ocmulgee National Monument doing volunteer work. We drove him down there and passed by the Mercer campus, which looked very nice. Have you visited the school? If you feel it is the right school for you, I wouldn't worry too much about Labor Day weekend in particular. But, it would be a good idea to get information on the week-end life at the school generally, to make sure that your concerns about the campus being deserted aren't justified. A weekend overnight visit might be the best way to scope it out.</p>
<p>I visited Mercer about 2 weeks ago, right before everyone moved in. I will likely be visiting again in November to go to a scholarship competition. The campus was beautiful, everyone was friendly, and it was small enough for me. I guess when I visit in November, I'll be there Thursday-Saturday so I'll get to see the difference between the weekdays and weekends.</p>