Hi all…just curious if anyone in this forum has any experience with orientation? Is it something that parents really should go to and for both days? How is the student overnight stay? Evening activities for the students? Did you have meals with the group or on your own? Any input would be appreciated. 
I am a parent and attended two orientations last year. The events were well organized, fun and informative.
Parents and the students are separated fairly soon in the orientation, so parents go one way, the students another.
Which is as it should be.
My D had a ball, loved it. She spent the night in the dorm with other students. There were fun evening events for the students. Parents were given a gourmet lunch in one of the dining halls. And we were given buck eye dollars to eat in the food court as well. Some meals were on our own.
We attended a number of informative sessions given by high level school officials. My daughter also
received information about her scholar’s program, her specific scholarship obligations, dorms, major,
as well as social and extracurricular activities.
Yaaa…someone answered!! LOL My son hasn’t decided if he’s going to do the overnight in dorm or back at our hotel (I’m pushing for the dorm). Do they sleep in beds or does he need to bring sleeping bag for the floor?
The orientation information that we received mentions that beds and linens will be provided. However they advised the student to bring a blanket.
I would encourage your son to sleep in the dorm. There are late night events that evening for the students, and he will not get to bed until late. They are horsing around with planned events, having a good time, way past parent bedtimes. 
My D just brought a light weight fleece blanket in her duffle bag. (When you check in on the morning of orientation, the students’s bags are brought up to the dorm room where they will spend the night.)
She slept in a dorm bed. It was a good introduction to college life.
My S incoming freshman this fall, still need to schedule Orientation. He’s in engineering college and Honors program, probably will be in Taylor Tower (tbd). Do they try to group students by major/other, and do they stay in one building or will they split them up based on where they expect to be living in the fall?
Also, S has a younger sibling (D - high school freshman). Would it make sense to have her tag along, knowing that she will be hanging out with her parents, maybe boring? On flip side, might be some residual benefit for her to see campus, start thinking about college. Thanks.
As I recall last year the available orientation dates were based upon major.
In terms of dorm room assignment, it appeared random and not based upon where students will be living in the fall, or major. (My D stayed in one of the Towers for the orientation night, but she was to live on north campus in the fall.)
In terms of the sessions during the day, there were many break out sessions to chose from, and they were held all over campus, so wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
I think your D might like the orientation, there are vendors with freebies. Various sessions that might interest her.
Lots of tOSU school spirt, as only OSU can do. They will teach you how to do O-H-I-O, and sing Carmen.
Faculty gives some good social and academic tips. We had a session with Dr. Drake the OSU president that was amazing. She will get a chance to walk around the campus and see the Union, the Library, the Horsehoe, etc.
You can take her to the book stores on High Street and she can get some OSU memorabilia/tee shirts, etc.
Yes she will get a big dose of college life, which might help her stay focused on her grades in high school.
@Mentorite, I think your tagalong child would become very bored and cranky. The info sessions for parents are targeted to parents. We took our younger son with us to Parents Weekend, though, which was much more fun for all involved!
It’s been a few years, but I felt like attendance was worthwhile. If this is your first child going away to school, I think it will be especially helpful.
Orientation was great for my son. He met some people he is still friends with today. It also gave me a chance to hang out on campus and really get a feeling of what his life was going to be like. Sleeping in the dorms is important.
Do current students/parents have tips on registering while at orientation? My older son had to bring his laptop to his university to register, but that wasn’t on the OSU packing list. And, my son hasn’t looked at all on the course grading sites, course catalog to see what options to even consider for first semester courses. He registers before AP scores come out, so will likely focus on gen eds. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Talk to him about the difference between freshman courses and upper level courses!! Since parents don’t go with them when they meet with counselors to select classes, we have to trust that they’ll be given good advice and guidance. My eyes about fell out of my head when I saw that my son had signed up for a jr/sr Russian film something or other class as an elective (on top of his engineering course load)! Trying not to freak out, I pointed out that the glass was NOT a freshman elective. He waived off my concern, saying it was on the list he’d been given of good options. Needless to say, he later commented that, although he enjoyed it, it was a lot harder than he’d expected. I was more than a little disappointed in the advising he’d received! Oh and DS registered before the scores, too. He registered with an assumption of scores, which worked out ok for him. Have fun! Ds is on his way home now. That first year flew by!!
They register at orientation, and they do not need their own computer. They will meet with their adviser. They base their classes on their anticipated AP scores. The kids usually have a good sense of whether they did well or not. If they end up not doing as well as they thought (or better than they thought), they can always contact their adviser and change classes. My daughter actually rearranged her schedule a couple times unrelated to AP (she had signed up for photography but ended up switching to something else), and her adviser was accommodating. As an incoming freshman you can’t adjust your schedule yourself.
They get a list of “common” courses for their major (ie: what other students took their first year) and then they also get to sit at the computer and pick through courses as well. Prior research isn’t necessary. It’s handy, if they have a particular direction they want to go in, but not necessary.
It’s amazing to me that my daughter’s first year is over. As Pbrain said, it really does fly by.
Tell me about the years flying by! Seems like yesterday my oldest just started her freshman year at OSU. This fall, she starts her senior year!! I can’t believe she will graduate from college one year from now! Not only that, but my youngest graduates high school in a few weeks and will be a freshman at OSU in the fall!! My God, I suddenly feel old!
That said, I remember when my oldest had orientation. She elected not to stay in the dorms and instead the 2 of us stayed at the Blackwell. The kids stayed in Morrill Tower for the night. I do remember that (actually ended up being my oldest’s residence hall her junior year). I went by what they wanted to do. My youngest also elected to stay with me in a hotel for her orientation (end of June, engineering major in honors). From what we experienced with the oldest is that orientation was well worth it with lots of informative information.
I also agree to wear comfortable walking shoes. The campus is huge!! There is a lot of walking during orientation not only for the students, but for the parents as well.
Where do parents normally stay during orientation?
I am at the Blackwell – super convenient and on campus. They offer free airport shuttles, which we will use to fly in for orientation.
We are at the Blackwell also. Awesome location.
I will be driving from Illinois and will stay at the Hampton Inn about 2 miles from the campus. Being a long-time Hilton Honors member, that made the most sense to me. Son will be staying at the residence hall during orientation.