If this is your first kiddo going to college…you might want to go.
My main take aways from both orientations…
- If your kid is caught with alcohol or drugs, they WILL be asked to leave.
- Don't expect your kids to get all A's. Some do...and some don't.
What grabbed my attention was two sentences spoken by someone to parents in an auditorium: “Most of your children were A students in high school. Most of your children will be B students at Hamilton.” I never recal reading that on the website or in the literature. 
Funniest comment at orientation…made by the Jesuit VP of DD’s school.
"Research shows that better than 50% of students live at home after college for at least some time.
So…enjoy the next four years."
D’s school (NYU) didn’t have a parent orientation. Five years later, we skipped the one at S’s school.
I’d say go if you’ve never been to one before-what do you have to lose other than some time, and you might learn something.
Having said that, we skip the “mandatory parent orientation” for the kids’ summer camps now because it’s not our first rodeo, and other than having a chuckle about the parent anxiously asking where her kid can get a hamburger at midnight so he “doesn’t starve”, we aren’t hearing anything we haven’t heard before.
D is our eldest and we cherry picked the parent Orientation. There was an entire morning of stuff while the freshmen moved in. D, DH and I bailed on all of it (she already moved in and did an early orientation) and went sightseeing instead. We came back for the orientation specific to D’s major and met her adviser. That was informative. Then we went to the final, farewell dear child, event. But this is a small Midwest LAC in the middle of nowhere. where the students got to know their professors very well I would probably behave differently if my child chose Temple.
Oh, good Lord, wonderful…
UF’s orientation (Preview) is mandatory for students but optional for parents. H and I registered, and found the first day especially useful. The 2nd day was fine but you didn’t have to hit every break-out session. During both days they had segments where parents and students came back together, so we mostly focused on those times.
I was very impressed by the whole thing . . . for such a big school they did a great job helping the parents to feel that they could ‘navigate’ the bursar system, stay plugged in, etc. Son loved it too.
You can always take your gadget and sit with a coffee somewhere. I did that a couple sessions.
My son is able to move into his dorm on Monday 8/15 and there is a parent orientation for THREE DAYS from 8/16 to 8/18, which seems to us like total overkill. I suspect the parent’s orientation is a bit of a money spinner for the school as well as a sop to the helicopter parents who just can’t let go yet. As we are coming back for parent’s weekend in early October, I just took the executive decision to fly home on the evening of 8/15.
How is the parent orientation a moneymaker? Did you all incur extra charges? If anything, based on the ones I went to, it cost the school money to put on receptions and feed us. (Ditto with graduation.)
^^3 days seems like too much.
The Uni charges extra per person for the parents’ orientation.
Re #20 At ours we were in a gymnasium with probably a thousand people. They had everyone stand up and asked you to remain standing if you never changed your major in college, then asked the remainder to stand if you made straight As in college. There were less than 50 people standing at the end.
Our son goes to college 1,800 miles away. As an entering freshmen we fly out with him. After move-in he had a one-week orientation and there was a two-day parent orientation. We decided which sessions/events to attend. We both felt it was worthwhile, especially since we were leaving our son so far away (3-4-hour plane flight). Once we left to fly home we felt very comfortable leaving him at the school.
I wouldn’t miss those things for the world since I eat up all that pomp and circumstance like it’s pudding, but truth be told there really isn’t much that parents need to be oriented to. I was fretting that I didn’t know my way around D’s campus and I had to stop and think - well, my parents didn’t know their way around my campus and it sure didn’t hurt me any.
Now I want pudding.
We went to the Carnegie Melon orientation events because DH hadn’t seen the college. After he heard the (very charismatic and brilliant) Dean of the School of Computer Science he was completely sold on the place, which he really hadn’t quite been before. I don’t think we learned anything earthshaking, but it’s nice to get a better sense of a place. Tufts had a less extensive program, but the welcome was definitely geared towards the parents - as the President said, it was probably the last time we would hear from him until graduation.
I’m not a parent, but I went to my older brothers parent orientation with my parents. It was pretty much against my will because my mom didn’t want me sitting in the hotel room all day. Anyway I think it depends. If you, or your kid, are the type that will read through every pamphlet, email and handout I don’t think you need to go. My brother and I, and my dad for that matter, are like this so it wasn’t really necessary as they basically just went over all that stuff. Also your kid is a freshman in college and almost 19-20 years old. I think it is a good time to let them figure stuff out and fight their own fight. Again if your just interested and want information feel free to go, but if you really don’t want to I don’t think your son cares and he can probably take care of himself. Also the important stuff they discuss will be mailed/emailed either before or after so as long as you read that info you will be good:)
One of mine will be 17 when she heads off to college.
Although I do agree with you (and hope) that the schools will communicate the important stuff via email and snail mail, as well.
DS school had a parent orientation also. Didn’t expect to stay for it, but did anyway.
Move-in weekend coincides with a nearby baby shower the next day. I fully intended to move him in and move on to staying closer to the baby shower location. While briefly running down our post move-in plans, S said “But aren’t you going to the move-in BBQ?” He isn’t sure when it is happening but he remembers reading about it. Ugh.
So. You are being warned. Find out what the move-in weekend activities are…