orientation for parents

Colleges and Universities A-Z North Carolina State University
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<p>Based on some older threads, it seems pretty common for students to attend without parents. However, is there any benefit for parents to attend? Quite honestly, with all the trips to open house, admitted student visitation, talking to other parents, and generally reading everything on the website, I cannot think of anything new the school could tell me. I will be driving up for orientation, and have a place to stay (free), but am perfectly content to sit in the library with a book. Besides, I would rather put the $100 fee toward something extra for the dorm room.</p>

<p>So am I being shortsighted or not? I would really appreciate hearing from parents that have attended.</p>

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<p>My mom came to orientation but did not end up attending all of the events. I was very knowledgeable about the school and program, but she did enjoy meeting the professors in my program. I’m not sure if every major gets that personal.</p>

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<p>DH and I did not attend orientation. We didn’t even drive S to Raleigh. He rode w/ a h.s. friend (her parents didn’t go either). S was more than fine with it. He wanted to “do his own thing”. DH is an NCSU alum. He really felt he knew all he needed to know about NCSU.</p>

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<p>Decidesomehow:</p>

<p>I too had the same thought… of course this occurs to me after I paid, but none the less it does seem odd that by orientation nearly every aspect of the process would have long since been explored and completed. In fact, by then I would have already paid thousands in tuition via the 10 month payment plan.</p>

<p>But all that said and considered, my wife and I are planning to attend because: We live in Raleigh; She’s off during the summer; I want to try to food at the cafeteria; and as a dad I need to become familiar with parking lots so that I can overplan and unnecessarily complicate the logistic of the move-in. </p>

<p>I’ve too have heard a good number of parents don’t attend. My only advice would be if you do choose to read that book do so at the Hunt Library on Centennial Campus.</p>

<p>ncstatefreshman- FYI my son did fine on the Chemistry placement exam. Thanks again.</p>

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<p>I must be the odd parent who enjoyed going to orientation. Orientation is separated by schools. I was there with my son for engineering. There was a non engineering orientation going on at the same time, with some events overlapping, but there were specific engineering only events. I enjoyed meeting professors, talking to other parents, and hearing about the school. Many of the engineering professors and deans were at the first morning reception and eager to talk to students and parents. It made the large school of NC State feel a little smaller. I’ll confess that I did not go to all the events, especially at the end of the second day. </p>

<p>The engineering meeting they had with all the parents and students was great. It was helpful to learn more detail about the engineering program and how CODA works. I also really liked hearing the Campus Police speak. The Officer who spoke was wonderful and I feel more comfortable knowing how campus security works.</p>

<p>Decidesomehow - I think it’s okay to pick and choose which talks look interesting to you and then spend the rest of the time in the library with your book.</p>

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<p>My two cents…sometimes it depends on the College. Orientation for the College of Design was very informative and well worth it, both for student and parents. Yes, there were some presentations that got tiresome, but overall, it was of great value. COD is smaller, and their freshman orientation is done entirely in one session. It has a great family feel to it, including a catered BBQ meal at Leazer Hall for students and parents. Since COD gets a bit short-changed on most general campus tours and visitor center sessions, the summer Orientation for freshman was well worth it for us.</p>

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<p>Thanks for everyone’s feedback. One of my primary concerns was that this would be like the engineering admitted students day where the parents and students were separated and brought back together at the end of the day for a tour. Based on klinger’s and BUandBC82’s experience, this should not be be case. I contacted the orientation office and got he same feedback. </p>

<p>I’ll probably go ahead and register. Its worth noting that the registration fee includes the $80 membership in the “Parent and Families Association”, which I will do anyway. I get a couple meals in the dining hall as well, so there is no real “cost” to the orientation.</p>

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<p>If any parents attended and would like to share what they learned while there I would love to hear what I missed. thanks</p>

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<p>Despite my earlier posts, I was at orientation but did not register to attend any of the sessions. So I don’t have a copy of the handout materials. I spent most of both days in the library working - there is a very good guest wifi network on campus if anyone needs it like I did.</p>

<p>I did attend (crash?) the joint parent/student session with the the college of engineering to have a chance to touch base and see how the day has been. It was a lecture format in the theater in witherspoon, rather then a meet and greet type session that some other colleges may have. They did a good job of switching out of an open house “sales mode” and focused more on what they are here to do/learn/experience. </p>

<p>The entire schedule is available on a app, check it out for some good detail on all the orientation sessions for parents and students. [New</a> Student Orientation | General Info](<a href=“http://ncsu.edu/orientation/general/guidebook.php]New”>http://ncsu.edu/orientation/general/guidebook.php)</p>

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<p>VeryProudMom:</p>

<p>Hello: We attended and here’s some of what I thought was most interesting. </p>

<p>-Bring a rubber mallet to move-in to assist in lofting beds
-The campus police will engrave your student’s name on laptop Phones, Tablets for free
-Dorm rooms have internet, but are not wifi - so if that’s desired you must set-up a router for yourself - otherwise just “patch” in with a cord to the wall (not supplied)

  • AllCampus Debit. This the the student ID card, In addition to the information for meal plan and the Dinning Dollars, you can put some funds on there for use around campus (like for printing)
    -more and more assignments are completed electronically so printing or the need to have a printer is less essential
    -Print a Parking Pass for move-in day (online at the housing website)
    -If your student is in a village you “may” have an earlier move-in option
    -You student (if in the dorms) gets 5 loads of laundry per week “free” via their student ID
    -You must use High Efficiency detergent
    -You student may sign a HIPAA agreement to release Medical Information to you, otherwise you are not privy to it
    -Even if your student is covered under your insurance, he/she still goes to the Health Center for common illness/conditions. Only will bill your insurance for labs or medical devices
    -the cafeteria food is “ok”
    -Sign-up for a “go pass” if you’d like you child to be able to ride city buses for free throughout Raleigh (transportation site on NCSU website)
    -You may want to bring a lock for your student’s PC and a back-up drive/storage device and a surge protector
    -IT support and “help desk” for student IT issues seems very good!
    -You can pre-order a bunch of stuff from the book store and they will hold it until the “tax Free” weekend here in NC. This saves you about 6.75%.</p>

<p>…If you have a particular question or questions about a certain topic I’d be happy to explain more. I totally understand what it’s like to have questions you can’t find the answer to, so will certainly do my best to respond or point you to the source documents on line.</p>

<p>-</p>

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<p>Mudgedatch, you did a wonderful job summarizing information given orientation. I just wanted to give a student’s perspective on some things!</p>

<p>-Rubber mallets are available to sign out during move-in, and if you aren’t planning on lofting/unlofting your beds, you probably won’t need one. Bringing a dolly was helpful for some families, but for most dorms there are mini-flights of stairs you will have to bounce up and down.</p>

<p>I lived on the 9th floor of Lee and I just took 4 or 5 trips up and down the stairs with small loads, but my parents waited in the long line for the elevator with my really heavy stuff. Move in is always the hottest weekend in August, and there will be a lot of people. Bring water bottles. </p>

<p>-Campus police will also engrave your bike! I had my Driver’s License # engraved on mine. They also have an escort service, but I’m not sure the times that it runs. I’ve never used it, but I know friends have when coming home late from the library. I’m pretty sure you can request a male or female officer, too. </p>

<p>-I don’t know anyone who uses their card as a debit card, but the option is available. I had 250 dollars in my AllCampus account that I used for printing, buying things from the Bookstore, and going to see movies (some are free, but some cost like 2 bucks). I’m pretty sure by the end of two semesters I used it all, but some people use way less or way more than me.</p>

<p>-I had some friends that brought locks for their laptops, but I usually just asked someone to keep an eye on mine if I had to get up to buy coffee or ice cream. The surge protector is a MUST, because there are probably 4 or 6 outlets in each dorm room. Extension cords are not allowed, and my roommate got a warning when the Fire Marshall came to inspect our room. You definitely want to back up your computer, whether on a physical External HD or with a program like Dropbox.</p>

<p>And remember, if you have a specific question about picking classes, move-in, dorm life, whatever, you can ask me on my “Ask a Current Student…” thread! Or here, I’ll respond here of course. :D</p>

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<p>mudgedatch
Thanks so much…you are a wealth of good information. My son just filled out the go pass form which takes 10 days to receive so thank you for the heads up on that. Also did not know about the AllCampus account for printing. I really appreciate you reply.</p>

<p>ncfrshman Doesn’t state have dollies on hand for move in?</p>

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<p>I’m sure they have a few, but I doubt they have enough supply to meet demand. If you don’t have one, I wouldn’t buy one for move-in. But if you have one, I would bring it.</p>

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<p>Vryproudmom:</p>

<p>You’re very welcome! Also, I want you know that many parents don’t attend the orientation. We went because we live in Raleigh -so it was super convenient. Overall a good experience, but no information you couldn’t find elsewhere. </p>

<p>As I’ve said before in other post, we are very lucky to have ncstatefreshman here. She consistently provides insightful and useful information. </p>

<p>Here’s a few things I forgot to mention…</p>

<p>All freshman (under age 21) MUST complete a Alcohol Education module online. I’ve not had good luck in posting urls here so I’ll tell you where to find it. Go to: healthcenter ncsu edu look for health promotion education and then alcohol first year. I hope this is enough to guide you there! I omitted the backslashes and “dots”. THIS IS DUE BY AUGUST 15! Then there’s a second module they have to complete some time in October (I think)</p>

<p>This then bring me to another “big idea” or theme of the orientation. You have to “let go”. If you’re like me (and based on the fact you’re on this site I suspect you are) then you were very involved in your students preparation for NC State. Now is the time to transition out of that role and trust your student to handle his/her own affairs from this point forward. The whole system is set-up for the students to take responsibility and ownership over class schedules, their health records, the financial aid… after all they are adults now. So we’ve helped to get them to this point, now we have to allow them them the autonomy to make decisions. They may struggle for a few weeks, but they’ll be fine! </p>

<p>Move-in: There are typically student group available to assist you during move-in. I also think fellow parent will help as well! Our son’s moving into Turlington and I plan on helping other families if I see anyone struggle with a big item and/or lend them my hand truck. Your family is now a part of a community and I would imagine lots of folks would step-in and help each other. </p>

<p>Dorm: Each room comes equiped with a microwave and frig. No Halogen lamps. You need XL Twin sheets.</p>

<p>There’s a number of items / things we are just going to “wait and see” on. In other words, instead of buying every item anyone mentioned they “may” need, we are just going to wait and see what our son’s actually tells us he does need. </p>

<p>After all, he’s a college student, I trust his judgement and, although he will always be our son, he is an adult.</p>

<p>Good luck with everything and I wish your son or daughter well during this first year at an awesome college!</p>