<p>Hi all - My D just graduated from HS which makes her departure for Smith in August seem much more imminent.I noticed on the orientation page that there are a number of things geared toward parents on the first day when we drop her off ending with a dinner in the late afternoon.
I was wondering if most families stay for these events and if there are any particular seminars/ speeches worth hanging out for. After years of camp drop off I know she usually wants us gone on the early side so she can settle in but if most parents stay we would want to as well.
Students feel free to let me know of it was horribly awkward if your parents stuck around :)</p>
<p>I know a lot of parents seemed to stay for that first day or so, but mine stayed a few days past that which was a little awkward. Since we had a 20 hour drive, though, I understood that they just wanted to have a little bit of rest before taking off again, but I definitely felt sort of pressured to be with them when I really just wanted to start figuring things out around the campus and making friends! But I’d say you should feel fine about staying for the scheduled activities-- they’re meant to help the parents as much as the students, after all. :)</p>
<p>We got there a couple of days early because we had a <em>lot</em> of shopping to do, D being limited to her two suitcases on the flight, plus what could fit in one of mine. TheMom is a good planner and had done triage on a spreadsheet over the course of the summer: what D would bring with her, what was cost-effective to ship, what we needed pick up upon arrival, the latter including such things as a mini-fridge for her room (roommate picked up some other comparable item). [Note: there’s a flyer in your pre-reg packet sent to you in the summer that offers refrigerators for rent. Very convenient but they’re crappy refrigerators and it’s cheaper over the four years to buy…the cost is about 2-1/2 years of rental. A slight PITA dragging the refrigerator down to the trunk room before the summer and D loaned hers out junior year when she was off campus. At the end of four years, I think she gifted it to a underclass friend in her House.]</p>
<p>Anyway, contrarians that we are, we skipped most of the official stuff and spent the better part of three days making runs to drug store, Walmart (I think the only time in my life), bookstore, office supply store, Target, etc. plus opening bank account and stuff like that. </p>
<p>One error we made, corrected a year or two later, was getting a local cell phone. Made more sense to have her have a cell on a family plan with our “home” area code…a lot of students had non-413 area codes.</p>
<p>I was there through the final day of Orientation. There was the event out in the Quad (Chapin Quad, by the Campus Center, not “the Quad”) where students could talk to professors from various departments…I would stay 40 paces away and then D would check in and ask me what I thought and then go off to talk to another department. Due to some input she got, she got a little upset and wound up ripping her whole intended schedule apart and putting it back together again. Actually…using her input and a copy of the master schedule borrowed from a prof, I was able to put together her new schedule according to her change of mind. </p>
<p>Suddenly the Quad was empty and it was time for her to go to her first House meeting and time for me to walk to my rental car, drive to a book store and pick up a Mary Renault novel (THE LAST OF THE WINE? THE PERSIAN BOY?) and went to Wiggins’ Tavern for a steak dinner and a couple of glasses of good red wine to ease the pain. One of the tougher moments I ever had, major lump in the throat and couldn’t really speak but I knew it was all for the best and so it was. Called TheMom on the West Coast and let her know, “Terminus est” (the drop-off). </p>
<p>The first week, D called home about five times. Rate dropped off rapidly and TheMom and I laughed about it. Settled into once a week phone calls, usually Sunday evenings, a protocol carried forth to this day, though there are still occasional off-schedule calls like “Did my new ATM card come?”</p>
<p>I must say, OWM, late in that afternoon I had looked for roving staff armed with crowbars to pry parents away from daughters but none were in evidence. I think it was around 5pm or so when I finally departed and I was probably among the last of the parents to leave.</p>
<p>We skipped virtually all of the scheduled events except for the actual check-in. (And D was one of the ones that did not do pre-Orientation…nothing she was particularly interested in and we were able to use those extra few days for other things. You have an advantage being more or less local.)</p>
<p>We dropped off our D for preorientation and did not return for regular orientation. D was fine with this. She said some new friends had parents there, and others didn’t. Does Smith still do both, pre- and regular-orientation?</p>
<p>Preorientation had one session where parents and children gathered. The students were whisked away halfway through, leaving the parents to sit there for the rest of the presentation. Goodbyes were sudden and quick – and I could tell that it bothered some of the parents.</p>
<p>The only reason my daughter would have liked us to return was to haul her stuff out of storage. Her assigned house was being used for international students, so she had to spend pre-orientation in another house. In retrospect, even that was for the better. The friends she had met at preorientation helped her move in, and it solidified their budding friendship.</p>
<p>Momwaitingfornew, I’m actually pretty confused about preorientation (I’m an incoming first year). I heard snippets about it from various people at Open Campus, but when I went to look it up on the Smith website, for whatever reason I couldn’t find it. Perhaps I tried to find it too late and they had already taken the link down. Of course, it’s not entirely a bad thing, since I’m a twin and have to help move my brother off to school right before Smith orientation, which complicates this whole dropping-off procedure no end. </p>
<p>So, that said…are there any do’s and don’ts as far as what to bring, what to buy, how/where/when to buy it?</p>
<p>Pre-Orientation doesn’t exist anymore. Or, it does exist, but it is mandatory for all students and is part of the week-long orientation (so it’s no longer before orientation, but during). I looked at this part of the Smith web site this morning, but it’s the activities that are divided by (non-academic) interest and not by house - I’d assume that more specific info was or will be mailed to you.</p>
<p>Hi all - Thanks for the input (and the tip about the fridge). We do have the advantage of being pretty local so we would be there the one day at most and can always come back if shopping is needed, so it looks like we’ll play it by ear that day. One last question - do many kids bring TV’s - my D mentioned it although ironically due to the intensity of her high school she hardly watched over the last 4 years during the shcool year. I’m opposed but se claims it’s pretty common.</p>
<p>All Houses except Hubbard have a TV in their living room. Hubbard could have one but the house appears in resolute in maintaining their unique position. Some students have TV’s in their rooms; I’ve heard of a few being absolutely addicted to some shows but I suspect that most find that time for TV watching is one of the first casualties to schedule stress. The daily schedules I’ve heard from many students can make me feel tired just listening to them.</p>
<p>Pretty much all of the network TV shows are available online now if there’s a show a student <em>must</em> watch - but the internet in the houses is too slow (or it was a year ago) so you need the faster connections in the campus center or computer labs to watch them.</p>
<p>I think she’ll know enough people with TVs that she won’t need one herself if she does happen to want to watch something. Not to mention that most houses have a TV in a common space, and to watch DVDs there’s always the handy laptop.</p>
<p>You know, I wonder if those parent activities are to keep the parents away from the first-years as they’re trying to get settled in.</p>
<p>House internet connections are fast enough to watch movies, and if yours suddenly isn’t, go find out who in your house is trying to use a router. 
</p>
<p>overwhelmedma, if your D wants to bring a TV, I’d say go for it. I know plenty of people who have TV, but few are truly “addicted.” I use mine for background noise (computer is a no go due to the temptation of the Internet).</p>