College Orientation starts tomorrow on September 22nd. Booth School classes actually start on September 24th. Law School classes start on September 26th. Most of the university classes start on October 1st.
So parents, incoming College freshman, returning College students, graduate students of all the professional schools and Graduate Divisions and alumni, please feel free to report here what is noteworthy for this year orientation week or beginning of Autumn Quarter week.
Hyde Park is bustling with activity! Students and their families are all over the place. Met really great people and we’re so excited for each other!
The grand rumpus begins! Reports from the front lines much appreciated.
And we’re off…
And the weather is perfect for moving and outdoor activities.
You guys are so lucky. Just a couple of days ago it was 92 degree with high humidity but now it is crisp fall weather with sunny blue sky. Cant’ ask for better fall weather in Chicago.
Note to UChicago: Move O-Week to the last week of September EVERY year . . .
Good luck to everyone! The first year goes by so fast! The beginning of the second year is definitely more enjoyable as our kids already know what to expect and are incredibly excited about seeing their friends and attending their amazing classes on that stunning campus…
They are so privileged… 
What a great move in experience! Waiting for a cart was a pain, but once we moved everything in the day flew by! Everyone was extremely helpful - although never met the RA or found out when the Dean’s Reception was…so he missed that - just signs that they were throughout the day. Oh well, I’m sure he’ll meet everyone in time.
After spending some time with the roommate and parents I think we all feel much more comfortable with the whole double room “thing”. We actually met last night at the parent reception in Chicago - nice event hosted by Dean Boyer and the Parent Philanthropy department.
Looking forward to seeing our son and his friends at lunch tomorrow before we say our goodbyes. I think I’ll be skipping the convocation since I have a long drive - hoping to make it at least five hours before stopping for the night and I hate driving at night…
The weather was perfect! My husband and I walked around campus early this evening and really enjoyed ourselves. Very excited for our son and his classmates – what a fantastic four years they have ahead!
Reporting from the front line lol. It was the most gorgeous day. The kids were gorgeous too and, yes, as @carino said, the campus is stunning; I just cannot believe how beautiful it is. The campus was also buzzing and alive with all the activities going on.
Move-in day was smooth, nothing unexpected for a move-in day. Anyway, we Ubered to campus, so we didn’t have to park. The Uber guy mistakenly drove into North, and holy moly, that car line was long. Anyway, we found Max P and got out of the car. Then we got on a couple of wrong lines, (but luckily, we asked around before waiting.) The first wrong line was the wrong building in Max P, then the 2nd time we got on line, it seemed like it was mostly for people who were waiting for carts, but since we didn’t need one, we went directly to his room. Picked up his boxes from the mailroom (the bedding we ordered from BBB) without incident and he unpacked and set up his room.
The OAides were great and really helpful. There was even a cart bringing around coffee and bagels for people on the lines. Thank you OAides! The hallways were decorated sooo adorably. My S’s house was adorned with a Happy Hatching Day! sign and on the sign were eggs of each student’s name and birthday written on it. The resident deans and resident heads also opened their apartments to us. We met his resident heads, but didn’t get to meet the resident deans because that gathering was very large.
Then enjoyed the food at Bartlett under his house flag. After lunch, S checked in at the Reynolds Club and got a swag bag. We also snagged some pens at the nearby Family Carnival, lol, then checked out the Family Resources Fair at the Bartlett quad (nachos and popcorn available!) Also checked out the bookstore, but the cashier line was way long, so maybe another day.
Finally, we met his roommate and suitemates and they are such wonderful kids. Couldn’t have asked for better suitemates. They seemed really mature, fun, and easy to get along with.
The families that we met along the way were great too. Everyone seemed happy and excited.
I believe tonight, they have a house bbq with their respective houses, and then a mandatory house meeting, and after that, a glow fest (not sure what that is, but I hear it’s the first one.)
Anyway, tomorrow will be another day on campus for us and we’re looking forward to the convocation.
We are so happy that he is attending UChicago and cannot wait to hear more as the year progress. I just cannot say enough great things about the school.
@caymusjordan Don’t skip the convocation…It is a very exciting and unique event.
Loving the beauriful weather and picture perfect campus. I-House is gorgeous and DD’s single looks great. I wish we could post pics on CC, but of course you all are seeing the same sights yourselves! She and 7 of her neighbors all were excitedly chatting last night,. She also ran nto someone on the quad that she recognized from the group chat. Little sister liked the balloon artist, glitter tattoos and caricature artist in the family tent. I’m now anxious to meet up with DD later to find out how her first night went.
@“Cariño” - aren’t parents outside during the convocation?
@caymusjordan While the students are in the Rockefeller Chapel and are welcomed by the president, the college dean, and Jim Nondorf, parents see the event on a screen located in the quad.
Then they leave the chapel and march together through Hull Gate to the sound of bagpipes and are received by current college students on the other side with a fanfare. Say goodbye to your kid before all of this, you will see him again on your next visit to Chicago. Don’t miss it.
Parent/families line the parade route and cheer on their first years. You won’t want to miss that! And your student will be looking for you . . .
Also, the class size will be announced at Convo. Can someone please post the number when you hear it!!! First years and transfers will be broken out separately.
Highlights from last year’s official welcoming for the Class of 2021. This is what those of you cheering on your own children will see! :D/
The weather cooperated - could not have been a nicer weekend.
Random notes:
My son’s RA is like a character from Pitch Perfect. And I mean that as a compliment. She’s fun and it’s easy to picture getting into adventures with her while singing cheesy '80s hits.
The Convocation was interesting. Nondorf simply said it was the best class ever; no speech. Zimmer’s speech was very interesting and covered how important diverse views are to the college’s culture of advancing knowledge; I found myself listening closely to his every word and inspired by the vision. Boyer covered the history of the college; could have been the subject matter or the fact that people were tired after a long weekend, but the back of the parent viewing area started emptying out like a pricked balloon before his talk was halfway complete.
The OAides were friendly and helpful. We also met the daughter of one of the helpful posters here and had fun hearing her inside scoop about the dorms. If she’s representative of the students here, it’s an impressive group.
After the Saturday move in, the parents were excused around 4 so the students could start with house meetings and student activities. I spent the late afternoon and early evening wandering around exploring Hyde Park. It’s an attractive neighborhood and the majority of people out and about were young families with small children and college students. The next morning, the students were again in meetings until lunch, so I spent that morning wandering and exploring the 3-4 blocks south of BJ and South in the Woodlawn neighborhood. It appeared to be working class but with a fair amount of brand new construction. If I were a value investor in real estate, this would be a very tempting area. Once the Obama library goes in and some coffee shops, restaurants and other yuppie amenities pop up it looks like it will be a reasonable, less expensive alternate to HP. I didn’t feel unsafe in my 2 hours there, but it was a morning walk so maybe things look different at different hours.
I did bring homemade cookies to share, but the times we were helped by OAides, the cookies were still packed. The cookies were left with my son and it will be interesting to see if he shares or eats them all…
Did anyone hear #'s?
No. But I wasn’t exactly hanging on every word, either. Again, I don’t think Nondorf even spoke 5 sentences, he was that brief. Boyer could have mentioned the #s 58 times and most of us would have missed it because we were bored or had wandered off, so hopefully it wasn’t embedded in his portion or it will be harder to find that nugget.
I love Dean Boyer. He’s the perfect UChicago Dean. I yelled his name as he was processing into my son’s graduation. He somewhat sheepishly acknowledged my shout. I loved that.
I frequently see Dean Boyer biking to work in his signature baseball cap, suit and black sneakers. He is a quite a figure to behold. Somehow he reminds me of Abraham Lincoln 