<p>Just returned from orientation last night... So impressed with everyone we met, such a warm, helpful, humorous staff and the Student Orientation Leaders were wonderful. We are from out of state and it kind of made me want to move to Blacksburg with my son... ha! Go Hokies!</p>
<p>granipc, glad to hear you had a great time! I was there for this orientation session, also, and even though this is my second child to become a Hokie, I agree with your assessment that the enthusiam and friendliness of the orientation staff and student leaders hasn’t waned any since we last went through.</p>
<p>I got to see a totally different presentation this go round in the way of how a different college (CLAHS) handled their admitted students as compared to the architecture school. That was kind of neat. I was impressed with the fact that their advisors had gone through each of their AP/IB scores by hand and had come up with what the students could do with their schedules in the event that they had placed out of 1000 level courses. That had to have taken some time with all of these kids. They left them on their own to actually schedule, but had several staffers help them if they needed to switch things around or answer questions. </p>
<p>Even though I didn’t attend all of the parent meetings again–kind of felt like a kid playing “hooky” 
I did learn a lot of new stuff. Did you get a chance to take a tour of Newman Library? I never had done that and my son never really utilized that building bc he was in CAUS. It is amazing and the offerings that are there for the students are incredible. For ex. they have a room for students who are planning on going abroad (or not) where they can use any of the Rosetta Stone software to brush up on a language. I think the guide said they have over 57 languages! Or, if a student wanted to learn just some of the basics of a language, they could log into the library system, from anywhere- home, dorm, etc. and they can utilize Mango, which isn’t quite as extensive as Rosetta Stone. How cool is that?
They also have a writing center where students can make an appt and have their papers reviewed by staffers and given feedback. I saw this offered at W&M as well, but didn’t know VT had it. </p>
<p>The assoc dean at her college talked extensively about the fact that because VT is a land grant school whose mission is to research and present knowledge for others to use, there are tremendous opportunities for these liberal arts undergrads to tap into. They have the Undergraduate Research Institute where students can apply for awards, grants, and pursue a mentor/prof in the college to further guide them in their research interests and help them to present their findings. My daughter’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree upon hearing this! </p>
<p>She told me on the way home that after hearing all of these programs/options she felt even better about her decision to go to Tech. Even though it is a big state school, she feels that she is going to be able to make her education very personalized and will be afforded opportunities that she thought were mainly offered at smaller schools. </p>
<p>Hope move in goes well for you and your family! Go Hokies!</p>
<p>KK, congrats on your D going to Tech. My D (English 11) loved it do much she wants to have her wedding( someday) in Blacksburg. Happy 4 years to your D!</p>
<p>guillaume, great to hear from you! Thanks for the kind words. She is so happy about starting college there. It has been a real treat for us to see her getting excited about this next step. So different with a girl, too! :)</p>
<p>Hello! Glad to see this thread. We are from out of state and a long line of UVA alum (gasp!) and our son is absolutely looking forward to Va Tech. (There are several thousand colleges in this country and he had to choose the family “archrival”!!). As much as I hate to say it, I am impressed with the school, the enthusiasm, the programs, the sense of community. I can see what the draw is for him.</p>
<p>So…as we prepare for orientation, I could use some feedback. This is our second child going to college though our first going to Va Tech. We know the drill and just need to know what will be unique to the VT orientation that we might not get if we did not attend a session. Is there much programming for the parents throughout the two days of orientation? Is there much to keep the students involved? We are going through a lot of hoops to be there and I am trying to get a sense of what will be valuable uses of time and where there will be gaps. Is my son going to want to just hang out rather than go to sessions? How long does the program go on Day 2? Son is going in to engineering. We will have a 6-7 hour drive home after orientation. Any idea how much there is on Day 2 of the schedule for students and for parents?</p>
<p>I’d appreciate any info you can share. The tentative schedule on the VT website is totally in draft form and really tells little. Thanks!</p>
<p>Good morning grandscheme! Welcome to the Hokie family! We just returned from our d’s orientation last week and it is our second one going through as well. I dug out my orientation folder they gave us upon check-in, so I will refer to it and see if I can answer some of your questions. She is going into History, not Engineering, but I can see some of the Engineering sessions on here, so I will share those. </p>
<p>Day 1 , From 8:00-10 am You will drive to Lane Stadium parking lot, leave your car, he leaves his luggage (if he is staying in the dorm) and you will take a bus to Squires. He will check in with his major, get PID verification, and a name tag that will have his orientation group and what bldg he will get scheduled in on Day 2. (Engineering is split into two it looks like) You will be together with him after that and can browse around Squires looking at some of the different booths that show different aspects of campus. They have a very informative session (30 min) on Computer Security requirements during this time. There is also a computer vendor fair if you haven’t bought his computer yet. We got there way too early (at 8) and had a lot of time to kill, though, so don’t rush. </p>
<p>If he is in Honors at 9:30-10:15 there is a mandatory session</p>
<p>10:30-11:30 Opening Session. You will all go into the ballroom at Squires and hear from some academic speakers (get ready for some serious Hokie propaganda…and Wahoo ribbing…but don’t worry, it is all in good taste! :)) and then the orientation counselors charge in. What an enthusiastic bunch of kids! Your son will meet who he is assigned to for his group and then you will leave him. He goes to lunch and gets a tour/info until 3:30 with his group. </p>
<p>At 12:45- 3:20 there are Family sessions at Squires. Now these are the ones I skipped bc we had done it at VT with first child, but being a first timer at Tech…well, they are informative., it is up to you of course. Here are the topics: Families as Partners, Housing and Residence Life, Dining, Health, Safety, Student Conduct, Dean of Students Office, and Office of the Provost (academics)</p>
<p>At 3:30 you all get back together and can attend more interest sessions. Cadets, Career Services, Fin Aid, Support for Veterans and Military Students, Students with Disabilities, Teacher and Counselor Ed. preparation and Virginia tech Police. </p>
<p>4:30-5:30 for Students and Families Preliminary Sessions for the following colleges incl Engineering </p>
<p>5:30-7:30 Dinner Students and Families. At D2. You can pay for box lunch and dinner when you first get to Squires. If as parents you pay at the door of D2 it is $12.50 pp. Your son’s is covered. I opted to eat on Main Street for lunch, but did dinner at D2. So good! I swear if I was a student at that school I would need to work out…a lot!</p>
<p>Then at 7 your son will go with his orientation leader and be gone till morning if he is in the dorms. </p>
<p>On Day 2 Breakfast is at D2 for the students. </p>
<p>8:30-noon The engineering families have advising at 8:30 and 10:30 am. Depending on which one he is in, you will go to Torgersen where he get advised on/select his classes.
We were upstairs in Torg, and at this time heard an overview from her Dean at (together) and then she went to get her classes. The engineering parents were downstairs. They had a nice little reception (food, drinks, etc.) </p>
<p>After he gets his classes selected and joins back up with you all, there isn’t much else in terms of sessions, unless he is in Honors, Cadets, Highty Tighties. He will need to go to get his Hokie Passport and Pick up his Computer bundle on Day 2. My D finished her advising session by 11 am and we headed over to get her passport/bundle in the Student services center. (I am not sure if your son will get his bundle there or in Torg…) We were done with everything by 11:45 or so and were ready to head home. </p>
<p>Be ready for a lot of walking! But enjoy yourselves. The campus is beautiful this time of year. I went to the Newman Library tour and really learned a lot. The new engineering building is coming along and is awesome to see. Hope this helps with your planning!</p>
<p>You are so awesome! Thank you for that. Exactly what I needed to know. I like to go to sessions if they are valuable and aren’t blah blah blah or another version of something I have heard before. My son is not much of a joiner and we will be leaving a family reunion and driving 850 miles to get there so if it was something that gave him a lot of latitude to opt out of, he would, and I would end up annoyed. It helps to know where I should “guide” him to stay tuned in. He suffers from too much confidence about what he knows…even if he doesn’t!</p>
<p>Anyhow, thank you again for taking the time to share. I am very grateful!</p>
<p>And to add to that awesome summary, that 3 hour parent session on Day 1 was worth every minute. I was dreading it, but the speakers were all quite entertaining, none were long winded, and they had some great info. They also givea couple of short breaks during that session… And if your son is in Honors, their sessions are mandatory.</p>