My son is a summer admit so his NSO is May 20-21 – not too far away. MyPennState, under NSO, provides ‘homework’ for the student to do in advance of NSO (telling a HS Senior homework elicits a laugh and a ‘yeah, right’). Those who’ve been there before, or have tips from those that have, any other ideas to maximize the NSO? And ideas for parents who, I gather, will have plenty of free time (I reserved a hotel room as soon as we learned of his NSO dates)? Thanks!
They’ve changed it a lot in past years, so others will have more recent experience (my students are a rising PSU senior and a grad) but generally speaking, it’s a really great idea to be somewhat familiar with the Gen Eds – what are they, why do you care, what are the areas — and also familiar with the usual course sequence for your potential major. Every major has a grid of suggested course sequences you can find on the registrar’s page , and it gives you an idea of what you might start out taking. Don’t worry too much about actually choosing anything – there’s no way to tell what will still be open.
Parents should go to the Arboretum, to Cozy Thai, Green Bowl or Fiddlehead downtown to eat (or the Corner Room, or Irvings or Spats). Wear comfy shoes and dress for the weather, there will be lots of walking around to do. There’s a nice garden behind the Alumni center. You can go to the Creamery, but it will be crowded, and I myself am not an ice cream fan but it’s still iconic. There’s a neat sports museum at the stadium, or you can walk through Pattee Library (so you’ll have a frame of reference when your student mentions it.) Or go admire the new improved HUB, or visit the murals inside Old Main.
Brucemag, will have to post here how your NSO goes. My daughter is summer session and her NSO is 5/27… Major senioritis in our house too but hope to have her glance at a few things before we head up. Greenbutton… Thanks for the ideas for parental hangouts. Hope to meet some CC parents at NSO. Anyone going 5/27? Its crazy to think how fanatically we checked this site dec -jan… miss seeing all the posts… this was a huge support for us.
@judyvegas OK, I will post what I learn. You’ll probably learn a lot from my mistakes! I still come to CC out of habit and to find out last minute decisions from some. Plus other options besides PSU Summer have intrigued my son, who is still not quite 100% sure about heading off to college 3 days after his HS graduation. Then again, I wasn’t 100% about my college until midway though my senior year. Of college!
Dont worry about the ‘homework’ very much, virtually no adviser referenced it during class scheduling. As mentioned, look at potential majors and their recommended academic plans to see a general idea for the courses they need to schedule. At NSO, they’ll get full access to eLion and the ability to run a degree audit, which is a fantastic tool to plan future schedules - but until then recommended academic plans are the thing to look at. ‘Maximizing’ NSO isn’t really a thing…I was the first class they used the new NSO on and in my opinion it was unnecessary to have over the course of 2 days - for a parent it will likely be fairly boring if you’ve been to campus before. Also, dont be concerned if your son mentions not really making a friend or anything at NSO - thats the “reason” its an overnight thing. 2 years into PSU I’ve yet to meet someone whos made friends with someone they met at orientation.
@brucemag My son is also going for summer and is also not happy about leaving so soon after graduation. In some ways he’s really warming to the idea of being there for the summer. He went to campus a few weeks ago and stayed with some friends and any kid who had been there for summer said it was amazing and the ones who hadn’t said they wished they had. They said the campus is beautiful in the summer and the whole thing was very laid back. I’d heard people say that but until my son heard it directly from these students I don’t think he believed it.
@ncny215 Thanks for the input and for sharing your son’s experience. I’m sure my son will love it…he just doesn’t want to hear me tell him he will! I’m bet he’s already getting similar input from other kids and wouldn’t want to give me the satisfaction of ‘being right.’ 
My daughter has NSO on 5/31 so I look forward to hearing all of your experiences before we go! She’s all set with a summer and fall roommate, but we haven’t shopped or prepared otherwise! June 28 will be here before we know it!