New Student/Family Orientation

<p>I would like to hear from an experienced student or parent about the advisability of attending the family orientation. I totally understand necessity for student; how vital is it that parents attend? It looks like a $150 fee if both parents attend, and I'm not into nickel and diming from the get-go. But if it's well worth it, we will consider attending. Thanks in advance for the feedback.</p>

<p>are you talking about the welcome reception? because i don’t think theres a cost for that</p>

<p>No, I believe there’s a family orientation for two days/nights concurrent with the first two days of the students’ orientation (August 25 - 27th?). The cost for the students are covered in tuition, but the fees for the parents vary, depending on whether it’s for 1 or 2 days.</p>

<p>If you are talking about attending the parent orientation attached to move in, I thought it was well worth it…last year, we helped move our son into his dorm room on the Tuesday move in day…then we each picked up our registration packets over at Argyros Forum…our son had info sessions to attend that were for just students and we had a different schedule of events for just parents…On Tuesday night after dinner there were 2 or 3 info sessions, one of which was a meeting at his dorm to meet the head of the dorm, the RA’s and to learn about dorm policies, etc which was very informative…On Wed. the various info sessions for parents included topics of money/aid, health issues, letting go, etc…we enjoyed them all…the students had other topics…basically the money goes for meals…Tuesday dinner, Wed. lunch and dinner…all meals were served outside buffet style and the food was pretty good…maybe a bit pricey but all the tables,.chairs, linens, etc. had to be rented for at least 2000 people so that is part of the cost…Wed. night ended with a very nice closing ceremony which included some speeches, the history of Chapman, etc…we said goodbye after the ceremony and flew home the next day…I wouldn’t have missed it for anything…if you are helping your child move in, you want to stick around and attend the family orientation sessions…</p>

<p>Corky: your info was very informative, I appreciate it. Thanks.</p>

<p>Our whole family went for the first day, but only I went for the second day of the orientation. I liked the orientation for the most part. Son wouldn’t partake of the candlelight ceremony, though. He thought it was bordering on lame. </p>

<p>I had been warned by another friend who has a child there that most of the sessions were separate from student and family. Most of them were good. One was a little hokey. I loved the keynote speaker in the auditorium the first day and while there received one of the best text messages from my son thanking me for sticking by him and helping him get to college!</p>

<p>I will warn you that if you do live in the dorm, to get there early, so you can all decide who gets what bed and how to move the room around. Otherwise, you may get the leftovers in the room! (It’s better if you can all figure it out, together, I think.)</p>

<p>It is a long couple of days and the idea is to bond the kids together, and provide a gradual separation from the parents. I would have liked a little more down time throughout the day. Not much down time, truth be told, unless you skip the designated activities, which is not a great plan. We had to jam in a quick session to get his books between one activity and another. </p>

<p>I think if I had stayed for the whole second day, it would have been very overwhelming, but of course, different strokes. I had just checked in an older son to another college the previous year, so there seemed to be a bunch of crossover in the types of seminars and activities offered to the families.</p>

<p>I wish it had been held over a weekend, by the way. Midweek was kind of tough…</p>

<p>LGM: thanks also to you, for your information. We’ll fly in the day before so my son attends his housing contract/key receipt appt. on time and gets to his room.</p>

<p>Long Beach Airport and John Wayne are the closest airports, but LAX is only about 40 minutes away. :)</p>

<p>Your comments remind me that I spent time with Parents Orientation emails about the way that the kids go to and from the airport. They gave me a link to the shuttle services, and the metrolink/amtrak info.</p>

<p>We either have easy, inexpensive flights and long shuttle rides (LAX), or expensive connection flights and quick shuttles (John Wayne & Long Beach). We’ll figure it out…</p>

<p>It would be cool if any of the kids have a reasonable shuttle business taking their fellow students back and forth to the various airports! I think that would be a good business opportunity. Entrepreneurial Argyos students?</p>

<p>Haha, that’s a great idea, and my mom does have a minivan…
I wouldn’t think of charging my collegeconfidential friends though!</p>

<p>Investorscooter…you are right…cheap flights usually non stop to LAX from here but then the 45+ min drive to Orange (and going home after parents weekend, it took us 90 minutes to get to LAX with morning traffic and we almost missed our flight)…we have given up on LAX and use John Wayne, even tho the flights might cost a bit more and we have to connect somewhere on the way to CA…but it is only about a 20 minute drive to campus… my son found all sorts of friends with cars willing to give him a ride to the airport and pick him up for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring break…I gave him all the info on Prime Time Shuttle but he never had to use it…since there are so many CA kids with cars, it was so easy for him to find a ride to John Wayne…</p>

<p>As for movein…we were given a specific time slot to be able to park close to the dorms and unload and check in…just hope you get an early time slot because it is a hectic day and you need the time to unload, move stuff in, get the room organized, run out and buy stuff no one thought of for the room and bathroom (toilet paper, bath mat, bathroom rug,) etc. before the activities start that night…</p>

<p>corky: you bring up an excellent point about the move-in. Is there time in the kids’ schedule to eyeball the room, THEN go out and buy stuff? Since we’re travelling from Miami, we thought we’d do all the shopping out there at Bed Bath Beyond, Target, etc. Since you went from far away, too, is that what you did?</p>

<p>I totally understand what you said about LAX. Now I will be checking all the flight info into Orange and Long Beach more seriously to see what makes better sense. He’ll just have to manage connections! I DID see one flight that went from Miami to Seattle before it went to Orange! Craziness.</p>

<p>Also, I neglected to comment about how kind the students are to take their friends to the airport and pick them up, etc. The same friendliness happens for my daughter, who is at Occidental (up the road), but I didn’t know if it applied at Chapman, too. Should have known better. ;-)</p>

<p>That was one of the reasons she found Oxy so appealing. She thought the students were “chill”.</p>

<p>edthegirl,</p>

<p>With gas prices going up, you may reconsider your offer. My son asked his buddies for gas money every now and then, and they usually would give him a few bucks for a ride to the airport or Target or wherever they wanted to go. Believe me, his friends saw his car as an easy means to travel beyond Orange, and took advantage of it!. Cheaper than a taxi or shuttle, and I am not an unlimited visa, if you know what I mean.</p>

<p>You will get taken advantage of if you don’t ask. They won’t usually offer to help pay for gas, but would certainly be paying for it if THEY wee driving, right?</p>

<p>investor,</p>

<p>I would buy a set of sheets before flying in, and then buy all the bedding, the essentials once you got to the room. There will be some time to do this, and that way you can see what your kid might need. This way, he can tag his bed when he goes out to breakfast and shop with you! You can also meet up later to do some of the shopping - or even the next day.</p>

<p>Is your student thinking about renting a fridge? Once your kid figures out roomies, make sure they contact each other about if someone is bringing or buying a fridge, or renting one through campus. </p>

<p>Some roomies do a good job of sharing when it comes to things like laundry detergent and milk, but others not so much. Because there was a small pantry area in my son’s room, it is good to make sure he isn’t duplicating the same purchases. </p>

<p>Little things that your kid won’t need right away, but make it nice: laundry bag/basket, a small set of utensils and a few cups/plates/bowls. (You would be surprised at the amount of cereal consumption that goes on!), a Britta water pitcher to save on bottled water costs.</p>

<p>We packed a small turbo fan, which he never took out of the box. </p>

<p>By the way, does Jet Blue fly from Miami to Long Beach? It is not that far, and Jet Blue is great to fly! I love Long Beach airport. I actually drove a student to John Wayne from Chapman when I was visiting my son one day (we live pretty close). Both are good options. It is true about the traffic. On a good day it isn’t far - 40 minutes. That can change with an accident, or just general stop and go. I have only made that drive early to Chapman or later in the day, so I never saw the true rush hour traffic situation. I live near LAX, but have flown into Long Beach just because it is easier and no stress!</p>

<p>That’s true. And it’s not my car so I’d be exploiting my mom anyway. Well, I would make the first time free xD I’ve made a lot of film production friends on facebook and I would be excited to see them in person. But after that, I won’t be chauffeuring them around so much.</p>

<p>Agreed - kindness is one thing, but the best arrangements always seem to equal out in the end. My daughter bakes treats and does other kitchen favors for those who help her out with transportation. I’m sure there’s an informal barter system of sorts going around. If not, gas money is always a good idea!</p>

<p>Investorscooter…since we were flying in from WI this is what we did…only brought clothes, computer, etc. on the plane…we bought everything else out in CA…It cost more this way versus using extra stuff from home but we just couldn’t bring it all…I was worried about the selection of bedding stuff when we arrived in Aug., that it would be all picked over or not in stock at all…so we used the Bed Bath and Beyond service (can’t remember what they call it) that allowed us to choose items at the store here and set a pick up date in Aug. to go to the BBB store in Tustin (about 8 miles from campus) to buy everything…my son picked out a comforter, mattress pad, blankets, towels, sheets, foam pad for the bed,pillows, etc…all too bulky to take with us plus we needed the XL twin size in sheets and mattress pad…and it was all there when we arrived…they let you look through your boxes of stuff and change your mind on anything and you just pay for it when you pick it up…start saving the BBB coupons that come in the mail…they take them even if they are expired…we flew out early and built in an extra day and a half for shopping and time to wash the sheets and towels using the laundry rooms at our hotel (Ayres Orange)…we also hit the local Walmart and Target for toilet articles, bathroom supplies, desk lamp, hangers, etc. I was really happy we did it this way because I thought that Target and Walmart looked picked over as far as bedding supplies and my son was excited to have exactly what he wanted available versus taking our chances on stuff just being on various store shelves when we arrived. It depends on how picky your kid is…but it just saved the worry about not finding stuff we wanted…</p>

<p>The dorms were not open for inspection the day before move in…we did go over to campus and peeked in a window to see the set up of a room…but we had a 7AM time slot for move in and wanted to have all of our major stuff with us to move in then…you get to park close for an hour but then you have to move your car for the next slot of kids so it was good to have alot of the stuff ready to move in…maybe it will be easier this year with more parking available under the new residence hall…</p>

<p>Corky- fabulous information, will follow your advice completely. Did Chapman provide a list of recommended items, perchance?</p>