<p>So who will be there, other than my son with his "clan of the cave bear" traveling with him on vacation?</p>
<p>i'll be there with my dad. hope to see you there!</p>
<p>I'll be there! I haven't heard of many people going to this one..</p>
<p>I hope to see you both!</p>
<p>My son & I just returned from Orientation Session 2. It was wonderful: really well organized, interesting, fun. But I thought I'd pass on a few tips:</p>
<p>1)Although you and your DD or DS may feel overwhelmed with information and "things to do," many of your questions will be answered in the materials you receive. For instance, you get both a "Parents' Handbook" and a "Student Handbook," AND your student will get a freshman "Q&A" book with lots of suggestions. Students also get a HUGE Coursebook, AND another [large] info book about the university, policies, the area, organizations, etc.</p>
<p>In addition, there are two "information fairs" at which many organizations [housing, financial aid, Greeks, band, etc.] have tables, and you can ask specific questions at them.</p>
<p>BTW: for $8.10, you can stuff a US Postal Service "flat rate box" with all this [HEAVY] stuff and send it home.</p>
<p>2) For out-of-state families, I recommend talking to both the transportation people AND the "Trojan Parents" folks. They can give you transport maps and tell you about various non-automobile ways to get to downtown LA and to LAX. For instance, students can ride a FREE USC tram to Union Station in downtown LA (not too far) and then pay $3 for a ride to LAX. A taxi from USC would be $45 or so.</p>
<p>3) The "metro" system [such as it is] and the "metrolink" trains can take kids out to Pomona (my son has friends attending schools there) and around the area. It's not extensive, but for those of us without cars, it's a good alternative to know about.</p>
<p>4) On the first day, they divide kids up by schools and explain registration requirements and procedures. Then, on the next day, they return to their school (there's one for undecideds too), they register. The process is easy with lots of help.</p>
<p>5) there are two sets of placement tests. If your DS or DD is taking a math or science placement test, he/she will take that first, and then take the Spanish test. If he/she is ONLY taking Spanish, he/she will take it at the same time as the math/science tests. I.e., his/her next two hours will be free.</p>
<p>6) There's an extended period of time for visiting dorm rooms. However, this time conflicts with the placement tests AND with information sessions about "Paying for College" and "Budgeting." So if you want to do the dorm visit with your child, agree to do it late.</p>
<p>7) The one thing I would criticize is that there are a couple of presentations (Campus Services and Health Services) during which they open it up for questions and you "get" to sit through interminable petty, individual queries on parking permits and "would my kid be covered if . . " Bring your knitting or a magazine.</p>
<p>8) On Day Two there's a "sample class" for parents, while students are doing their registering. Ours was by Professor Anderson in the Geology Dept, and it was sensational. All parents immediately wanted to sign up to return to school.</p>
<p>9) It's helpful if you & your student have cell phones, since plans change (e.g., they want to go to dinner with new friends, not you).</p>
<p>10) We stayed one extra day and went back to campus Thursday morning to get his OneCard, sign up with credit union for checking account, see where his various classes were, visit bookstore, etc.</p>
<p>It really was a well-organized, welcoming and generally great experience. Hope you think so too.</p>
<p>Great tips, thank you!</p>
<p>Parents: on Day One there's a "parents only" get-together at which they provide yellow "index cards" on which you can write your name, e-mail, kid's e-mail, major, etc. They then encourage you to exchange the cards so you can communicate with other parents.</p>
<p>So when you sit down at the table, write up a bunch of the cards, and take some with you after the get-together is over. You'll meet other parents -- from your geographic area, from around USC, from your kid's major -- and it's an easy way to ensure you can be in touch.</p>
<p>Mauimom,
sorry this might be a dumb question but are you from Maui? If so, what school did your son grad from? I'm from Maui too! =)</p>
<p>I have another question about orientation. This might be a dumb question but is it a dressy thing? Will jeans and comfy shoes work (as I heard that there is a lot of walking)? Or should you dress up a little bit more? I just don't want to look under-dressed.</p>
<p>It's california. Swimwear woudn't be considered underdressed :)</p>
<p>At the HI Orientation, folks wore jeans, slacks, dresses, whatever they felt comfortable in (students & parents). Some folks were very casual while others were a bit more dressed. Most of the boys wore cargo shorts & t-shirts, tho some wore slacks or jeans & dress shirts. The USC Student Orientation leaders wore polo-style shirts that said USC Orientation Team (or similar) & shorts or slacks. Since it may get a bit chilly with the A/C and/or in the evening, a light windbreaker, sweater, jacket or sweatshirt could be useful.</p>
<p>Everyone wears jeans and a t-shirt. It's all very casual. =D</p>
<p>And you MUST have comfy shoes. USC might not be the biggest college campus, but there's still a lot of walking involved.</p>
<p>you could even take it down a notch, specifically for the girls...the weather was nice, i noticed a lot in skirts.</p>
<p>uhh, not that i would notice such a thing...</p>
<p>You later orientation people are lucky-it was actually kind of cold (for summer) when I was down there for the first orientation session. I pretty much kept my new USC sweatshirt (a grad present courtesy of my godparents) on the entire time :P To be honest, though, it was not nice being fried in the sun.</p>
<p>We are back from orientation number three. It was a great event! For those who might need it, bring suncreen; it's bright and hot in LA.</p>
<p>The only disappointing note was that the food was a bit "ordinary," but other than that, the seminars were well organized and effective.</p>
<p>Orientation question: Are the students expected to bring a sleeping bag for the overnight stay in the dorms?</p>
<p>During Explore USC, back in January and February, for the scholarship interview overnight stays, there were existing students in the rooms, so the new prospective students were requested to bring a sleeping bag (because they slept on the floor). </p>
<p>During Orientation, there are no existing students living currently in the dorms, so the incoming freshman will have a bed to sleep on (as opposed to the floor). So, does USC provide temporary linens (sheets, blanket)? Or should the students bring a sleeping bag?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>For orientation USC provides sheets (one fitted, one unfitted), a pillow, a pillowcase and a blanket for every student. I was wondering the same thing, lovetocamp, as I really didn't want to haul my sleeping bag down again but luckily you don't have to do so.</p>
<p>thanks, appreciate the answer. </p>
<p>Can I assume that you brought something (duffle bag, overnight bag, etc.) to hold your change of clothes, toiletries, etc. And then some small shouder pack or small book bag for all the pamphlets, catalogue, handbook, etc. (all the misc. handouts)?</p>
<p>My apologies for the double post. With the orientation only 2 days from now i wanted to make sure that we received an answer before leaving.</p>
<p>lovetocamp: yep, that's what I did!</p>
<p>Upon arrival, they give you the key to your room so you can store your luggage and the ultraheavy course catalog (which you won't need during the day). Yes, you will need a book bag/backpack. And comfy shoes!!!</p>
<p>Don't worry, I packed very, very lightly...and I'm a girl who usually feels the need to pack everything in one tiny suitcase. The linens aren't that bad...they're not exactly 500 thread count Egyptian cotton, but they'll do for one night. And remember, they give you a pillow cover! My orientation advisor said she had the plastic pillow stuck to her face when she woke up because she didn't discover the pillowcase. :o</p>
<p>I was an idiot who brought along just one smallish tote bag to carry all of my clothing, toiletries and such as well as all of the papers and folders that they give you. A regular backpack could easily fit everything that you need to bring to orientation including a chance of clothes. To be honest, my parents were staying across the street at the Radisson, so I had a suitcase there because I was travelling some more in Southern California after orientation.</p>