My daughter has been accepted into the honor’s college of UAH and is strongly leaning toward going there (95% sure). When we looked at the honor’s orientation date, it’s on the same day as her prom. She obviously doesn’t want to miss her prom but would also really like to go to the honor’s orientation.
A couple of options we talked about are:
- Go to a regular orientation session (not sure how different this would be from the honor’s orientation)
- Go to the honor’s one, but leaving early to try to get back before prom starts (7:00)
- Skip prom (definitely not an option she wants)
One big factor is that we live in NH, so she would be flying into Huntsville. There aren’t very many direct flights, so she’d be looking at a significant amount of travel time. If she flew into Nashville, she could get a direct flight, but have to drive to Nashville.
Does anyone know about what time the orientation would be done on Saturday? The schedule isn’t posted yet, but I would think it’s similar each year.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
I would do worry if your daughter misses the honors orientation. She will still be able to register for classes, including ones in the honors college, at a different session. My son got into the Honors College, too, but he graduated in early June in Virginia. So he could not attend orientation until mid-July. At that time, he had all of his AP scores, and that was a big help as he navigated the class schedule. We turned orientation in a trip … after scheduling classes, we drove north and spent three days in Nashville.
So it sounds like if she went to a different orientation she would be fine. I hope so because we looked at various flights and non would get her back in time without leaving at 8 am.
One thing I would recommend doing is have your daughter look at the Fall 2017 class schedule. She may want to map out some options so she can have an idea of what is available as well as what she is interested in taking. My son did that before orientation, and it seemed to help. His biggest issue was AP/DE credit. He entered with 56 hours, and the advisers in one college had never seen anyone with so much credit. So, at first, he came back with just six hours of classes. I told him that was unacceptable, and we needed to see someone about this. Another adviser was much more familiar with the AP/DE credit, and she got him into the classes he wanted to take.
He just recently registered for fall classes for his final year.
@4Hurley , everything @momreads has offered is correct! Each Freshman Orientation offered will have the Honors College present! She will still have every resource and opportunity available to her at any Orientation session she chooses to attend. She is also more than welcome to stay in contact with her advisors before Orientation to get settled on a class schedule. We encourage it! She will still be able to connect with other Honors College students at the other Orientation sessions, and she will also have many opportunities during the Fall 2017 Week of Welcome! During the WoW, new (and current!) students have the opportunity to explore new things and get involved. Your daughter will lose no time in getting connected!
Thank you both so much! It sounds like a different orientation date will be just fine! So grateful for that!!
Does anyone know if it is possible to have an online meeting with the academic advisor to schedule classes? My daughter is seriously considering UAH, but we are in Pennsylvania and the $1300 flight for the two of us for orientation is troubling when we will have to take a multiple day car trip to bring her in the fall and bring her home in the spring, and also pay for her flight home at Christmas. I hate to have her choose a college sight unseen, but she does have a friend there. So my question is - is orientation absolutely mandatory?
I know of someone who is attending an orientation right before move-in. Also, I’m pretty sure you can talk with an advisor to get classes scheduled before orientation.
PAclgmom: You may want to reconsider bringing your daughter home for fall break. It is only a few days, and most of the students stay local. There are plenty things that one can do a for only a couple of days. My son catches up on sleep and laundry! BTW, we are out of state, too.
As for orientation, it is mandatory, as students learn how to navigate the registration system as well as gain all kinds of information about the campus, campus life and meet other students. My suggestion is, if you can combine orientation with a vacation, it is great. When my son was entering his freshman year (he will be a senior this year), we decided to drive from our VA home to HSV. We went to orientation, and on the way back, we went to Nashville for a couple of days. Neither of us had been there, and we had a blast!
I’m sure you’ve resolved the issue by now, but you can register for classes from a distance and then do orientation on August 11th. That’s how my daughter’s roommate, who is from California, is doing it.