So, I understand that there is a Family Orientation Day for freshmen families they day after they move in. And then, almost exactly a month later is the Family Weekend. We can probably attend both, but it seems silly to have the events so close together. What goes on at the Family Weekend? Is it worth making the trip? My other sons went to USC and the schools make a huge production of both events. What are your thoughts on the UChcago family weekend? Is it carbon copy of the orientation, or is it different? Are there events for young siblings? His brother is 10.
Sorry for the typos – don’t know what happened to the “edit” option.
Have not been to the family weekend, but the orientation won’t be of interst to a 10 year old. It is mostly filled with college oriented topics.
Presentations, sample lectures (good stuff if you pick the right ones), tours. UChicago shows off pretty well that time of year. Mostly just wanted to spend some time with son especially first year. Also you get a pretty cool long sleeved shirt.
If you can only do one, though, I’d pick move-in. Pres. Zimmer and Dean Boyer give short talks at opening convocation that were comforting to us as parents. The drop off at Cobb Gate is as emotional as advertised.
Now that son is rising 3rd year, we may not go this year to the parents weekend.
@kaukauna Is the convocation on the same day as family orientation – the Monday after move-in day?
@kaukauna – Oh, and what do you mean by “drop off”? We get to help them literally move in, right?
Yes, you get to help them literally move in.
Yes, they seem to have moved convocation to Monday after the move-in, which to my mind was a big mistake (better to cut the cord faster, makes it tougher for out of town families to attend the convocation).
Yes, convocation is really moving. If you can’t make it, you will survive, but if you can make it you will remember it.
I really liked parents’ weekend, but it’s certainly not a must-do. The sample lectures/classes were great. My second child’s academic career was actually influenced by one of them – we went to a seminar led by a famous anthropology professor, with whom my son stayed in touch until he got poached by Harvard. I enjoyed the chance to take a child and friends out for a nice dinner someplace in Chicago they might not otherwise go.
There’s really not much for anyone to do during move-in, whether they are 10 years old or 50 years old. They provide food, and if the weather’s nice it’s really pleasant. The point of the parent events is to get the parents’ out of the hair of the new first years for a bit, and to try to deflect some of the helicoptering. At that point, parents have become irrelevant to everyone other than the bursar, but the parents don’t know that yet, and the university humors them a bit to ease the transition. A smart 10 year-old might like the Oriental Institute, and certainly would like a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, but could probably entertain himself running around the quads and looking for gargoyles and other cool things. (When I brought a 16 year-old boy he had a blast being mistaken for an 18 year-old boy by the 18 year-old girls.)
LegacyMom: JHS has answered your questions and them some. Be happy to try and answer any others you might have.
@JHS @ kaukauna Thanks for all the information. We invested in a family membership to the Museum of Science and Industry last September when we took our son to visit UChicago for the first time. (We live in Southern Illinois, approximately a 5 hour drive from Chicago and had a feeling there would be many visits to Chicago in our future. 
) We’ve already been to the Museum twice and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind going again, but I was wondering if there would be anything on campus for kids. He hasn’t seen the Oriental Institute, so maybe we’ll try that. It so happens that USC’s weekender with Notre Dame takes place in Chicago the week before UChicago’s Family weekend. We were already planning on attending that event to meet up with our eldest 2 sons, who will be flying in from LA. It seems crazy to come back the following weekend for UChicago. I’m wondering if we should just stay for a week, which seems ridiculously expensive, go home and come back or just not go at all. If the point of the weekend is simply to see my son, we will do that the previous weekend when the whole family gets together. But if there is something particularly special about the Family weekend, I would hate to miss it. It sounds like we won’t be missing much if we don’t attend?Is there a link to past itineraries?
LegacyMom:
Here’s the link for this year’s parents weekend: http://familyweekend.uchicago.edu/
If I were you, and “only” a 5 hour drive away, I wouldn’t sweat missing the parents weekend this year. Unless you’ve got time and money to burn, I wouldn’t stay the whole week for sure. I would come visit my son some other weekend, keeping in mind that after about week 3 (you will get used to the convention of counting down, or up, the weeks) your son will be pretty darn busy. Your plan to go meet up with your eldest 2 sons the previous week, maybe have a Hyde Park dinner with your UChicago son if you can fit it in, then come back some other weekend where you can spend more time with him sounds like a good plan, in my opinion. You will not miss that much at parents weekend, though the lectures are kind of cool because the faculty who speak are world experts and you can fantasize about being back in college yourself, haha. Also, it is a very pleasant time in Hyde Park weather-wise. I like the parents shirt and wear it pretty often but you can just order one or two of those and have them shipped to you if you are so inclined.
As far as anything on campus for kids, that depends a lot on the age of kids and interests. If your younger son is say > 13 and intellectual, with an interest in architecture, I think he could be fascinated by it. For example, take him up to, I think, the eighth floor of the Logan Arts center and look back out of the Midway Plaisance towards Lake Michigan through the clear wall up there and he (and you) will get an unforgettable view. There are many such places around the campus if you look. If he looks older, he may even sneak into a class or two. Maybe visit admissions to start getting an idea about that. If your younger son is, say 7, then I’m struggling to give advice.
Good luck to you at this exciting time. I hope your UChicago son really thrives at the school.
One thing I will suggest on the moving day. You could bring some hand tools with you such as screw drivers, hammers and pliers, they will become handy. True, the school is providing a furnished dorm, but when we got there, it is livable but still require some living necessities, items such as a mirror, coat hanger and lamp. There are Walmart and Target around the area, if you are prepared, you do not need to buy those hand tools.
Yes, basically, you will be acting as a mover on the moving day.
What is the expected dress of family members at the convocation?
@LegacyMom, three years ago it was casual to business casual. Everything from nice shorts, skirts, slacks, even some jeans-but mostly students wore jeans. Good luck, and welcome!
Agree with Marylandfour. Very good description of the dress. However Pres.Zimmer and Dean Boyer will wear conservative suits at the opening convocation. The bag pipers will wear kilts.