<p>I am wondering how important it is for parents to attend orientation. I don't want to spend the money if it is unnecessary. My husband and I do plan to go to campus with our son, but aren't sure if we should spend the $90 to attend the meetings and be part of the orientation. Are there any parents out there who have gone to these meetings and if so, were they beneficial, or were you presented with information you could have found on your own? Any information, insights, or suggestions would be very much appreciated.</p>
<p>my parents did say that they found the meetings boring and unimportant. my dad ended up exploring campus for the majority of his time there during my summer orientation.</p>
<p>My third and last DS is at UC. I have attended 2 other orientations-one at a state u. and one big city private. The orientation at UC is definitely worth skipping. It is important for the kids, but my only takeaway was familiarizing myself with the campus. I did not learn anything that was not readily seen online. My biggest concern and reason that I did attend was how the conversion to semesters would affect class standing and expected graduation. The answer to that one was “the conversion will not affect class standing or intended graduation plans” - without much more elaboration. The orientation was not memorable or particularly engaging.</p>
<p>My husband and I both attended UC family orientation last year. Orientation staff was very honest in saying that they started the parents program because parents were coming to the kids program anyway ! There were a few good sessions - international co-ops, dealing with the payment process, and learning how to use ONESTOP. It could have been covered very effectively in 2 hours, followed with a social meet & greet. Not sure I would have skipped the whole thing, though. If you are going – select the sessions that meet YOUR requirements versus general info, and spend the rest of the time checking out dorms, setting up local bank account, getting a feel for the local neighborhood, etc.</p>
<p>I just wanted to report back and let you know that my husband and I did go to orientation. I am not sure it was necessary, but I am glad I went to all the meetings. I did learn a couple things, such as where to find the form on line to fill out and send in with a scholarship check. The biggest reason we went to orientation was to help make decisions about scheduling. I was disappointed that there were no counselors available to discuss scheduling with parents even though there was a need for this. As a matter of fact, the parents and students are separated during scheduling. Many kids in my group who had AP credit or PSEO credit came back from their scheduling session with only 12-13 hours scheduled. Students were not given suggestions for scheduling more classes from the counselors that were with them. With my other son at another university, we had all the options of classes he could take to discuss before he went to schedule. One parent walked back to the location of the scheduling with her son and was able to talk to a counselor and schedule appropriate classes. I wish I had thought to do that since the popular classes seemed to be grabbed up fast. </p>
<p>Lunch was not very good and also disappointing. Our tour guide held up my group of parents since the cafeteria line was so long. I am not sure if they ran out of “the good stuff”, but the choices were not very appealing and I basically had to rush eating a turkey cold cut sandwich on cheap bread with a lemonade. I was not able to find a location with fresh fruit or vegetables. The cafeteria did not seem to have any logical order to it. Before I had finished my lunch, my group was leaving so I had to rush to get my tray back to the clean up area. It was not a pleasant experience!</p>
<p>The student leaders/tour guides were very friendly and knowledgeable. They made the visit very enjoyable. We were given a ticket to cover parking in the garage. I was reluctant to attend orientation, but I am glad I did. I got a much better feeling about my son attending school there by the end of orientation.</p>
<p>i dont know how counselors in other colleges deal with scheduling, and it might be different for students who don’t have a rigid course schedule, but during my architecture orientation last year i was told exactly what i had to sign up for and had people helping us and recommending good gen-eds to start out with. I went in with 73 AP credit hours and left with 19 credit hours scheduled for my first quarter. Again, im sure its very different depending on majors.</p>
<p>we don’t plan on attending the parent orientation. we figure any questions we have we can call the offices. we plan on walking around the campus and driving around the area. </p>
<p>welp since i have so many questions floating in my head i did opt to sign up for the parent orientation. </p>
<p>We went to parent orientation last year and found it helpful!</p>