<p>That doesn't seem fair. If you live on the other side of the country and cannot do orientation until the week before classes start (due to the cost of plane fare), and thus, cannot register for classes until then, does that mean they are all filled? Or do they leave some spots open for those who do late orientation?</p>
<p>We are having the same issue w/D. She is going to one of the very last orientation sessions at her big state school due to the distance and cost of flying. Not only is she going to be one of the last kids to register, but she hasn't been able to take the required placement exams beforehand. They don't offer them online, and make no arrangements for kids coming great distances. So D's not expecting a great schedule come fall. They say they reserve 'blocks' of req'd frosh classes for each orientation session, hopefully that's true. Thank God for AP credits, maybe the quarter won't be a total waste!</p>
<p>You'll get stuck with some horrible class times, but you should be able to at least get force-added into your required classes.</p>
<p>You'll also find that a week into school lots of space have opened up because people have dropped classes. Get on waitlists early and you may end up with a better schedule than you think.</p>
<p>When I went to my orientation this summer, they opened a specific number of spots for my orientation. My guess is that your school will follow the same sort of plan to assure everyone gets their required classes. I don't think your school with throw you under the bus with required classes.</p>
<p>Yeah - my dad works at a large state university, and one of his responsibilities is arranging course registration for the various orientation sessions. They do indeed reserve a block of seats for each orientation session so later registrants aren't at a disadvantage. This is pretty standard practice, so your school ought to do something similar.</p>
<p>Oh, what a relief! Thanks for all the input.</p>
<p>Yes - At my kids' schools they both told us that the class spots are divvied out among the various orientation times. (Son #1 got shut out of all freshman seminars and he was in the very first orientation. Ha.)</p>