<p>My daughter and I are going up to UCF this Sunday for the Monday/Tuesday orientation session. Anyone have any advice or helpful hints to make things run smoothly? Should I bring a book (is there a lot of down time for the parents)? Will she be able to register through spring or just for summer B and Fall? Where is the most edible place on campus to eat?</p>
<p>Seiclan,</p>
<p>My daughter and I went up for Orientation last week. I did not have any down time at all. I had newspapers with me and had no time to read them. </p>
<p>As for helpful hints, I printed out the degree requirements for my daughter's major before we went, so that she would know what classes were important for her to register for. The Orientation staff and advisors on hand were very helpful. She put together a pretty good schedule. If I remember correctly she will be taking Statistics, English II, Speech, Honors Symposium, and American Government.</p>
<p>I ate at the Marketplace twice and Knightros once. Both places were great and offered a large selection. There was definitely something for everyone. On the second day my daughter had lunch with me at the Marketplace. She also liked it. We will be getting her a meal plan, because with her academics and hopefully active campus life, I don't think she will be having much time for cooking.</p>
<p>Hope this information helps. </p>
<p>Florida mom</p>
<p>One other thing:</p>
<p>Students are able to register through Spring, but they suggested they wait to register for Spring after they meet with their advisor in the Fall.</p>
<p>Can the kids use their bank debit cards to pay for meals at Marketplace and Knightros? How much does a meal cost? Do they have an a la carte system or is it only "by the meal"? I was thinking of just having my daughter use her debit card instead of buying the meal plan (which expires at the end of each week). Do you know if they can use debit cards for the laundry machines or if you have to put money on a purse on the UCF card? How much is reasonable to put on the cards?
Any idea if they can register for just the classes for spring that they are absolutely sure that they will need and wait to add the electives later? Like for instance, my daughter will definitely need Chemistry (the second part of what she is taking in the Fall) and Biology.</p>
<p>Seiclan,</p>
<p>They can use debit cards and credit cards to pay for meals. The advantage to the meal plan or Flexbucks is that the price is lower. Without a meal plan the price is currently $6 breakfast, $7 lunch and $8 dinner. There are meal block plans for commuters and students living in apartments with kitchens which do not expire at the end of each week. Also, if you purchase Flexbucks you get 10%bonus dollars each time you reload. I hope this information helps. There is additional information on the website.</p>
<p>I am not sure how the laundry machines work. I will have to find out.</p>
<p>Florida mom</p>
<p>seiclan,</p>
<p>laundry is by quarters or money on purse 1 of the ucf smart card.</p>
<p>She will be able to register for classes in the spring at orientation, as are all students who have a GPA above 3.5... also, do NOT let your daughter enroll in the two part chem 1 (i believe the course titles are chm 2040 and 2041) tell her to enroll in chm 2045C and in the spring enroll in chm 2046 and chm 2046L. More chm 2046L sections will open as it gets closer to spring.</p>
<p>also, if your daughter plans to use knightros/marketplace for her meals, get a meal plan. its worth the money, bc she will use it.</p>
<p>cheers!</p>
<p>I hope that I "get" the whole purses thing on the UCF card during orientation because right now it doesn't make sense to me. I will do the purse 1 thing for the laundry for sure (thanks for the heads up Jagman). </p>
<p>Her chem placement test recommended her for CHM 2045C so that should not be an issue. </p>
<p>We will go look online at the available mealplans for commuters/apartment dwellers again to reevaluate this. She will prob eat at marketplace most of the summer B, since she is living in Nike, but when she moves to Towers for Fall I am not sure how often she plans on using Knightros (though it looks very convenient for her). She loves to cook but, who knows how much time an 18 year old will really have for that!</p>
<p>Just finished orientation! DD was very happy...she got all the classes that she wanted. Decided against the meal plan. She would rather just pay per meal (on the UCF card).</p>
<p>Purse 1 is for vending/laundry. Purse 2 is just an all-around debit card for other things on and sometimes off campus. They've gotten rid of Purse 3 and combined it with Purse 2, so no more confusion perhaps?</p>
<p>Advice for future orientation kids:
Find friends in your group fast. They will entertain you, as the majority of the orientation process is long, boring, and unnecessary.</p>
<p>Purse 1 will be the only purse used. Purse 2 is for parents who are a) afraid to give their kids cash/credit cards (worried they will buy other things) b) want to control how much money they spend (i.e. for textbooks, etc) or c) want to give them an allowance.</p>
<p>Just get your son/daughter a debit card, if he/she doesn't already have one. Part of college is managing your finances anyways.</p>
<p>Not answering any particular question, just saying...</p>
<p>Jagman, I am with you. With decided to keep loading up purse 1 for vending and laundry and even marketplace dining but NOT to do purse 2. For everything else she has a bank debit/check card and a VISA card. We got her the VISA to use for gas and emergencies when she got her Driver license. Now we told her to also use it for textbooks and any other larger expenses.</p>
<p>BTW, if there is a particular class time/professor/section that you/your child want to register for at orientation, it is very useful to write down the class number of it in advance (from the myUCF, search for classes section online). This will save you much time and aggravation at registration. My daughter sat planning her schedule on her laptop the night before the registration and walked into the registration lab armed with a list of class numbers that she hoped to register for. She completed the entire registration in about 20 minutes and got into every one of the classes! Food for thought.</p>
<p>Purse 2 isn't necessarily for frightened parents. It works exactly like a debit card... the student is still in charge of it.</p>
<p>Yeah, but it obligates you to SunTrust Bank. It works exactly like a debit card, but it is not the same.</p>
<p>True. I was just commenting on the fact that purses aren't necessarily mommy and daddy loading up the student. Some students are completely responsible for their college finances, whether they use the Purse or not.</p>
<p>Probably better to use a bank that's a little more... well known, shall we say? SunTrust isn't everywhere in the U.S.</p>
<p>Yeah, but generally the smaller banks have better customer service. Suntrust seems to have a fine geographic range for me. On a recent trip to Washington D.C. and Maryland, Suntrust seemed to be everywhere too.</p>
<p>Ah, I guess the Midwest and West are missing them, then.</p>
<p>I stick my loyalties to Wachovia.</p>
<p>The idea of a debit card that will only work on campus things and UCF related places holds very little appeal for me. That means budgeting two cards.</p>
<p>That was already our bank. Our son's checking is linked to our checking. So we have an automatic transfer every week of a set amount. Also, if he needs $$ to pay something else, we can transfer online in a matter of seconds. He's not on a food plan (he's in the Towers) and we just never messed with the purses and all that.</p>
<p>Good info here for the new class of 2013. Thanks to all who contributed. I learned alot about mean plans, flex bucks, and bank accounts available on campus.</p>