<p>Wait what? I don't get to explore VA tech with my family on the first day of orientation? What do we do together on the first day then? </p>
<p>Also I have decided not to stay in a dorm during the orientation. After all, I have 1 whole year to stay in there. I will be staying with my parents in a A/C hotel room. </p>
<p>They keep you AND your parents VERY busy at orientation… But this is when you learn it’s time to start separating. Most everything you attend will be students only, while they are at parents only events… And stay in the dorm, it’s only one night and it’s a great way to start meeting some new people. Much more important than one night of A/C!</p>
<p>@granipc I am signed up for the galileo learning community. So, that won’t be a problem. I will definitely have a good community. I have one whole year to stay in dorms like I said. I want to spend time with my parents. I saw several posts in previous years about this and there were people that are saying thing.</p>
<p>Plus, one night is not gonna have any significant effort considering I am staying in Galileo</p>
<p>@granipc - As it turns out I found a nice floor fan at a yard sale the other day, thinking specifically of the first days of school in August. I imagine that such a thing would work well for my daughter and her temporary roommate. This will give a chance to see if it fits well in the small dorm rooms.</p>
<p>I mean, orientation night is a lot of fun, but yeah you’re not going to be hurting yourself by not staying in the dorm. I’d still suggest you do it because again, it’s fun, but it’s not like most people stay friends with people they meet at orientation (although I’m sure some do.)</p>
<p>DS is staying in the dorm during orientation next week, if for no other reason than to get a feel for the size and layout of it for more than just the few minutes you see it during the tour. </p>
<p>Now, my question is, are the parents included in the advising session where they choose their classes/make their schedule? I know it is his schedule, but it’d be nice to at least have a parent in the room to hear what is being discussed and perhaps ask questions that DS, as a naïve freshman, perhaps doesn’t know to ask at this point. 30 years ago orientation was 1 day and I’m pretty sure my parents were with me for the advising session, but that detail is fuzzy… </p>
<p>No parents are not allowed in the room with the students and advisor when the schedule is being tweaked. VT and other universities stress that this is the beginning of the students taking responsibility for themselves.</p>
<p>I think it is important to look on Hokie Spa for what transfer and AP credits they are getting before orientation. </p>
<p>Thanks for that info, bboop42. I thought as much. That just means he needs to do some homework before he goes so he has a clue what he’s doing before he gets in with an advisor who wants him to be prepared to choose classes/tweak his schedule and ask all his questions in what I imagine is like a 15 minute time slot.</p>
<p>jhoelsher, he’ll get his AP scores from this year the day before he leaves for orientation – I imagine it will show up on college board before it shows up on HokieSpa. The biggest decision he’ll have to make is what to do about Calculus (4 on AB test last year; TBD on BC test this year) – whether to accept the AP, or retake at the college level. Pros and cons to both approaches. We’ll talk through it with him and then he’ll have to decide what he wants to do based on what his advisor says.</p>
<p>His May AP scores are already on Hokie Spa actually. and we are fortunate because the governor’s school he went to offered calculus and physics for dual enrollment credits so he will not have to take either!</p>
<p>@ailinsh1…it was tough a few years ago letting him go in without us. I would recommend looking at class options within Hokiespa with him before orientation to help him determine is various choices, etc. My son’s “advisor” was working with a group of 15 kids and really didn’t advise much. He muddled through and will be a senior next year, so I guess he figured it out. (I admit, I have stayed invovled when asked given the advising has not been very good) He has is not a fan of the “support” his advisor has provided over the years. Hopefully, you son will have better luck.</p>
<p>@allinsh1 - are you an alumni too? I was class of '89 (Acctg) and my husband as class of '88 (CEE)</p>
<p>Are we allowed to tour dorm rooms (namely Lee Hall for Galileo) during orientation?</p>
<p>Depends. If Lee is the dorm that will be housing students for orientation then yes. If your Orientation includes a separate time section for Galileo then yes. But, many dorms will be locked for the summer so students getting housing in specific dorms won’t be able to see what they look like. Note: when there are no students in the dorms the rooms look Spartan. </p>
<p>@jhoelscher thanks for the tip on the AP scores – he was glad to know that info now, before orientation. @bboop42 - I’ve suggested he look at the timetable to get a feel for what sorts of classes he might like to take, and we’ve talked about different things to consider (e.g., not just what sounds interesting, but how big is the class, when is it, etc.). And yes DH and I are both alumni. I’m '90 (EE), DH is '88 (AOE), but then he stuck around in AE grad school for 2 years while I finished ;-). Exciting to be sending S off to VT, and hope his experience is as great as ours were. </p>
<p>My oldest is now a Senior ME at VT and my youngest just picked JMU over VT (little rebel!) I can say my son loves VT environment, campus, people. He doesn’t care much for many of the ME professors, advisors and the way you sign up for classes. I still love it, but is has changed quite a bit from when we were there. Hope your son has a great 4 years.</p>
<p>Orientation lodging was in WAJ. They didn’t let us see the other dorms because there was camps going on all over the place. </p>