<p>I went to the honor’s orientation on June 3-4. I am an engineering major but I didn’t really have any advising. I know that other majors had advising but none of the engineers did. So I would recommend if you are an engineering major looking around online to see what classes you think you should take. I was lucky because, at least for computer engineering, there are a lot of resources and some suggested schedules online.</p>
<p>My son had his Honors Engineering orientation on June 6 & 7. He was very frustrated with the registration process. When he had called in earlier to ask if he should postpone his orientation until after his AP results were known, they said no and that the advisers would factor his expectations for AP scores and help him make course selections. </p>
<p>However, exactly the opposite happened. The adviser told him that he cannot skip any courses which he expects to place out of based on his expected AP scores . They also told him that he cannot take any Physics courses in the first semester. Now, the courses that he would like to take should he place of out of courses that he was to forced to register for are all full (which I cannot believe). I guess they release a few seats for each course for each orientation day.</p>
<p>Also, as a parent, i was disappointed that there was no one from RES LIFE to explain how the process of dorm allotment is done and what should one expect for future years.</p>
<p>The HONORS introduction by Dr. Dorland and Dr.Hebert was very good though.</p>
<p>The FIN AID presentation was awful. They do the insider talk and were not very articulate. I had to go one on one with them to get some of my questions answered.</p>
<p>Dining plans are a rip off. You pay roughly $2000 for about 1275 points. Each point should therefore be worth more than a dollar but translates to just a dollar. No one was able to explain to me why. Was also told that if kids eat 2 “Value meals” every day they should be able to manage with the points on the Dining plan. Then, how about “Breakfast”, the most importatne meal of the day?? There was no answer.</p>
<p>@ AKABANROSH:</p>
<p>Are you sure about the meal plan? Overall, you get 1440 possible “pooints/bucks” (resident points + Terp Bucks). That means each point is worth ~73% of a dollar per point. It might not be the best deal, but its reasonable, considering the price of a University education. The University Dining department also supposedly recommends that students buy Terrapin Express “points/bucks” to supplement their dining plan. Maybe it is a money-making tool…?</p>
<p>Though, your insight into the value meals is interesting: will definitely ask about that in my upcoming orientation!</p>
<p>RE: Meal plans…Regardless of their previous routine in high school, and especially freshman year, living in a dorm with all freshman, students usually find that they are staying up until 2:00+ every night and roll out of bed just in time (if they are lucky) to get to their first class. I agree that breakfast is the most important meal, but I’d bet that it’s the least visited one on campus. You can go back and find previous posts, but most girls will NOT use all their dining points up by each focus date, so any guys that “run out” can almost always find someone on their floor who is preparing to buy whole pies and cakes who’d be happy to feed them. My advice has always been to get the cheapest plan available. Both of my D’s had (or will have) kitchen facilities starting sophomore year, so it’s with relief that we were able to dump the dorm plan after only one year.</p>
<p>See my previous comments about being able to drop/add courses at the beginning of the semester. Hopefully if your son can’t get the courses he wants/needs for his major 1st semester, he can get some of the CORE courses taken care of…especially ones that require a lot of reading. As the course levels get more difficult in the science classes, free time seems to vanish before their eyes.</p>
<p>AKABANROSH: That is disappointing about ResLife, they did a presentation during the parents portion of Orientation last year which I found very valuable. Basically for future years, as I understand it…sophomores will get dorm housing if they want it (your son has the advantage of being in the year that will be the first to use the new sophomore dorm in the Denton community). On campus housing is not available for juniors or seniors (I think there are some limited exceptions…can someone please clarify this?)</p>
<p>As for breakfast, one of my son’s biggest disappointments with the food plan is that they don’t serve breakfast until 11 a.m., at least on the weekends…he never had time on weekdays. He’s always been an early riser and would like to start his weekend mornings with breakfast on campus. He’s the least picky eater I know but hated Diner food and didn’t use all his points either semester. Luckily, he got to go out some first semester with his NROTC buddies who had cars and he took his car back second semester so he could go eat breakfast off-campus whereever he wanted. He started the year at 6 ft and 181 lbs and by Christmas he was at 165 lbs…if that gives you any indication of how little he liked the food.</p>
<p>^ As a B/K Scholar, I’m guaranteed 4 years of on campus housing. </p>
<p>[Banneker/Key</a> Scholars - Honors College - University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.bannekerkey.umd.edu/newscholars.php#3]Banneker/Key”>http://www.bannekerkey.umd.edu/newscholars.php#3)</p>
<p>The late open (11am) on weekends is strange, but you can buy fresh fruit, pies, etc. to keep in your room for early morning weekends. A friend of mine had the opposite problem that your son had … she gained 15lbs 
… also, there are several places off campus (including my favorite, Silver Diner) that accept the Maryland meal plan. I look forward to using them to supplement my meals …</p>
<p>On the dining plan: No, it’s not fair, but there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re all worried about breakfast, but if a student has time for breakfast, chances are, they don’t eat either lunch or dinner.
It’s far too many points for most girls, and far to few for most boys. My roommate and I last semester basically adopted four guys who after running out of dining points had their parents put money on Terrapin Express (about 200-300 each) and then used all that before the end of April. For them to eat at all the last month, they had to call one of us. </p>
<p>And for breakfast on the weekends, the majority of people (ROTC is one of the few exceptions) don’t even think about waking up until at least 11, so it is reasonable for the majority of campus, and that’s what they have to account for.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of any off-campus places taking the meal plan. And I’m guessing if they do, they take Terrapin Express, not Terp Bucks or Dining Points, as not even the incon takes dining points, and the food court won’t take Terp Bucks. Terrapin Express is not included in the dining plan cost.</p>
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<p>You could always join a living-learning program like the Language House or Hinman CEOs, or become an RA. I also thought that upperclassmen fill up the apartments on South Campus.</p>
<p>The housing availibility for all years above freshman varies by year. You find out during Spring Semester if you have housing for next year, basically. This year all sophomores were guarenteed housing.</p>
<p>And new leases for Commons and Courtyards go predominantly to juniors.</p>
<p>Joining a living learning program or applying to be an RA is in no way a smart thing to hinge all your plans on.</p>
<p>yeah, breakfast/brunch doesn’t start until 11 on the weekends, but it starts at 7am on weekdays. I don’t think the hours are so weird, except I don’t like that the south campus diner closes at 7pm (without taking late night into consideration). Oh and the south campus commons shop has the weirdest hours ever lol</p>
<p>Plus, the incon was named for its weird hours.</p>
<p>Any more Orientation stories or advice from people who’ve recently gone??</p>
<p>Advice - Don’t freak out now (or at orientation!) about scheduling classes. Pretty much everyone in my section was losing it on the first day because we were all extremely confused about what to register for, how to register, how CORE works, etc. The second day pretty much clears everything up about registering because you meet in small groups with an advisor from your department.</p>
<p>Also, bring or wear closed toe shoes so you can participate in activities at the Rec Center at night!</p>
<p>Two questions!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How much walking do the parents have to do? I had foot surgery a couple of months ago and I’m still hobbling around. Will I be miserable? </p></li>
<li><p>Is it a good idea to have some electives in mind before you get there so that it’s easier to schedule? Do you schedule on the computer, using Testudo? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>Can’t answer your first question (my parents weren’t at orientation), but while it wouldn’t hurt to look up classes before orientation to get a feel for it, I wouldn’t bother. I had no clue what I wanted to take walking into it (I don’t think anyone else did either) and the difficulty level wasn’t too high. The advisers are good about helping you pick. And yes, first you map it out on a sheet of paper and then you use computers in the computer lab and schedule through Testudo.</p>
<p>There was very little walking for the parents. We started in the parking area and had to walk a short distance to one of the dorms. From there we were bussed to another location and stayed there most of the day (although my H and I snuck out of some of the boring parts to walk around the campus). We did walk to lunch and back as a group, though.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips on what to bring to orientation, especially since it is essentially an overnight event. Have you all brought everything in a suitcase, backpack, a smaller duffel bag? Are there items that you all forgot to brought and really needed @ orientation?</p>
<p>armaryland17 - I brought a backpack, you won’t need to pack much in way of clothing - just something comfy to sleep in and a change of clothing for the second day. You’ll need sheets and a blanket or a sleeping bag, plus a pillow too, because they don’t provide bedding for you. I didn’t bring close toed shoes (which wasn’t a big deal, but it would’ve been nice to go to the rec center) or my immunization forms (oops, but it’s not a big deal, just send it in later).</p>
<p>Bring a pen/pencil though. In fact, bring extras so you can give one to the kid sitting next to you that forgot.</p>
<p>^^ Also, besides the backpack/luggage (which you’ll check into your room in the morning) bring a small bag (one of those drawstring things you put on your back is fine, or a purse). They handed them out at orientation, but it’s good to have your own just in case. They give out a LOT of material that you’ll need to carry around.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the info.! But i’ll pass on the purse suggestion 
.</p>
<p>It seems that bringing a sleeping bag is overkill, since it’ll only be used for one night and is unwieldy.</p>