@PrimeMeridian Many things, like this iPhone I’m on, didn’t exist when we were young. Yes we survived. But sometimes new ideas can be nice, for those interested in trying them.
Of course no one has to go to a parent orientation if they don’t want to. However, some of us shared on here that these orientations can be fun & beneficial, especially with the first child in college. With so much $$ spent on college, I’m always interested to learn more about my investment and enjoy the campus if time permits.
We did the parent orientation with both of our kids. I can’t say either was helpful to us. (Oberlin’s parent orientation lasted a day and a half, but it did include a fantastic concert!) We went because it just seemed to be the right thing to do. Every kid we met had his or her parents there, so I think my kids would have felt weird if we hadn’t gone.
USC also had an entertaining band performance. And a 5-7pm cocktail party for the engineering parents after we moved the kids into the dorms. Both were fun!
I only went to my oldest kid’s orientation since I had to drive her to orientation anyway, missed it for my younger kids. I think they did a really good job addressing what parents should do if they know or suspect a serious problem with their kid freshman year like drugs or mental illness and the resources the kid has on/near campus. But that information could also be found online. I don’t think it’s necessary, just might be fun to be with other freshman parents.
Our D’s college is over 4800 miles from where we live, so we all had to fly there. I took our daughter there for a college visit in October of her high school senior year and she, my wife, and I flew there together when the freshmen dorms opened up to help her get settled in and help her get dorm room set-up.
Her college had an optional specialized freshman orientation program earlier than the main freshman orientation program, and we took advantage of that since the campus was less crowded and less frenetic then. As others had mentioned, our D had her own orientation program and we had our own one as parents. We thought they were going to wear the students out with all of the organized activities so we never saw our D at all during the programs.
The parents’ program had plenary speeches from the university president and the various deans of the colleges. Then they offered a menu of smaller sessions based on topics of interest. My wife and I thought they were informative and worthwhile. They also had a parents’ reception where we got to meet other parents and talk about our experiences.
We got to meet our D’s roommate’s parents, which was mutually reassuring. We even had lunch with them at the campus dining hall
As investors in our D’s college education, we thought it was well worth our time to be there for the parents orientation. It was also my wife’s first opportunity to visit the campus. If you’re in easy driving range, maybe it’s not so important, but if you live far away from the campus your student attends, it is probably worthwhile to be there, especially if your student doesn’t have their own car. In addition to the organized activities, my wife and I used the opportunity to have a mini-vacation, too in the area.
Yes, our cat. That cat was a Bombay, a breed known for essentially thinking of itself as a dog. She was completely black and was named Snowflake by our then 7 year old. She walked on leash and traveled very comfortably in a carrier. She was not a typical cat. I miss her to this day. We had an RV at the time and so it was possible to take everyone and D’s stuff. The dogs went up in their crates as well, for safety.
I will say even if parent orientation feels like a bore- be thankful it’s there. I was talking to an old classmate/ neighbor today and her college doesn’t have parent orientation on move in day. Parents aren’t even allowed to go up to the rooms or visit for 6 weeks
We went. S12’s was in summer and not far away so I did that with him, learned a fair bit, enjoyed spending some time where S would be living. Move in was later and I also did that, and there were some parent activities then too. I left a little before they ended, when I saw that he was talking to people and settling in well.
D15’s school is pretty far away, and orientation began on move-in day, so we did that too. Also made a mini-vacation out of it. Moved her in, then she did her activities and we did one or two of the parent ones (certainly not all, there were a lot including very specialized ones). We also went to the store to pick up some things for her, checked out the town on our own and took her out to eat before we left.
At both move ins I enjoyed meeting the roommate parents and other kids on the floor and just getting a sense that they were settled and feeling good. At both parent orientation activities I listened to what the speakers had to say, met some other parents, got a sense of how things worked.
@techmom99 Hilarious envisioning the cat on the leash! So cute! And funny that she was all black but named after white snowflakes. And, kind of an ironic story on this CC website, where lots of parents seem to refer to other people’s kids by the generic name of “Snowflake.”
We’re pretty savvy about college (I went to three schools and started my career as a professor) but we found it useful to attend orientations. In particular, the then President of ShawSon’s school was a stiff speaker and we walked out to the building set aside for parents’ receptions and met a couple who are now friends – and their son became a roommate of ShawSon’s for two or three years. At ShawD’s first school, we learned useful things about disabilities services and dorm life. She transferred and didn’t have an orientation at her next school.