Parents at Orientation?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Vermont
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<p>So, we received the booklet about Orientation and it seems that parents are invited to this. I was a little surprised but as I read about it all, I decided I was interested in attending. However, my daughter firmly said "No Mom." This is the same kid that gave me the guilt trip about not going to the admitted student day with her. </p>

<p>What are other parents planning on doing? Also, have any parents of current students attended in previous years? Was it worth it? Would you recommend my going?</p>

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<p>My D may end up at UVM but I would not go to orientation. You need to let them be free and adjust and make friends. Due to travel I would stay in town but stay away and give her space.</p>

<p>Tharpt said, if there were parent activities that were separate from the student ones, I would attend those.</p>

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<p>There are separate parent activities.</p>

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<p>I was planning on attending - I thought we were suppose to? </p>

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<p>Not only did I go, but so did my husband and two of our other (younger) children! The incoming students stay in one set of dorms and they have a family housing option available in one of the other dorms (for our visit, it was University Heights). We opted to stay in the dorm for convenience, and it was kind of fun - University Heights is so nice the boys thought we were staying in a normal hotel! We didn’t see our UVMer all that much, but we did meet up with him here and there throughout the event. Note that my son is particularly independent, but there was no issue at all with our being there. Most other parents were there as well. Honestly, I can’t really imagine why at least one parent wouldn’t go (unless, of course, it was impossible for some reason or it’s the third or fourth child in the family to go to UVM and you all know it like the back of your hand). The place will be filled with other parents, and many of the sessions they offer and the tables set up during the picnic are geared towards parents (setting up a bank account in town, understanding how Cat$cratch works and how to put money in the account, helping your child with the transition, etc.). </p>

<p>As an aside, at some point, there should be information available about their TREK program. DS participated in it and absolutely loved it. He went hiking in the Green Mountains, but there are lots of options, and it really made the going-to-college transition particularly smooth for him.</p>

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<p>@onlyonemom - yes, UVM seems to be encouraging parental attendance. My daughter seems to want space though. This was her concern about attending UVM. Since we live within an easy drive to campus, she thinks we will hover. I’ve tried stressing to her that the parents won’t even intersect with the students at the orientation unless they want to, but she’s not believing me. I wonder if i could go to a different session?</p>

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<p>Most colleges have started offering parent activities at orientation, and many of them are separate for the kids and parents. Assuming orientation is right before dropoff, they usually have a very specific “event” after which they make it clear parents are supposed to leave. Ignore your D’s issue, tell her after you drop her off you will see her at Thanksgiving. If you are paying, she should just deal with it. There will be a lot of other parents there.</p>

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<p>@intparent That’s the thing… Orientation is throughout June, with several two day session throughout the month. It would be much easier if it was just before school started, like when I went to college.</p>

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<p>Just tell her that you would like to attend the parent orientation and that you’ll keep to the parent activities. You’d like to meet other parents, get to know the school better, and have more information about how everything works at this particular school. She won’t see you, unless she wants to. And then follow through with it. She may moan about it now, but she’ll get over it. If you’re funding her education, then you should be able to go to orientation if you want to.</p>

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<p>Momb2k - I paid the deposit today do it is official! I would show your daughter the itinerary and I just say that you really want come and meet onlyonemom! </p>

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<p>BTW - students and parents are not allowed to go to separate sessions at UVM </p>

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<p>^ That’s interesting. Last year, there was nothing preventing students and parents from going to separate sessions, and we did split up at times. I remember our texting each other “where are you now?”, “at which session do you want to meet up?”, etc. I wonder if they changed it for this year or if we inadvertently didn’t follow the rules last year! </p>

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<p>I think onlyonemom means that parents have to attend the same dates as their student.</p>

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<ul>
<li>Oops…I am sorry I wasn’t clear - MathMomVt is right - I meant you have to attend orientation on the same dates as your child- Momb2k asked if she could go to a different session. </li>
</ul>

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<p>@Momb2k - here is some good information regarding orientation - I think you should attend orientation.
<a href=“Orientation | Orientation | The University of Vermont”>Orientation | Orientation | The University of Vermont;

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<p>@cottagespirit - I am encouraging my son to sign up for a TREK - actually I told him he was required to pick one. :smiley: …but how does it work? Do I drop him off for the TREK adventure and say good bye? Or do we hang out and get him settled when he returns from the TREK? It is getting so real! </p>

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<p>Ok, I have convinced my daughter that I will not cramp her style if I go to the Parent sessions. Now I just need her to pick the session…</p>

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<p>"@cottagespirit - I am encouraging my son to sign up for a TREK - actually I told him he was required to pick one. :smiley: …but how does it work? Do I drop him off for the TREK adventure and say good bye? Or do we hang out and get him settled when he returns from the TREK? It is getting so real!"</p>

<p>There’s a drop-off day that’s a little crazy. The day is designed to just get the kids’ stuff dropped off into their rooms relatively quickly and to get them set off on their adventures. We went up the night before, stayed at the Sheraton, and headed to campus as soon as we were allowed to the next morning. My husband and I both went, and we were able to get his room set up enough so that when he returned from TREK, he would at least have towels and toiletries unpacked and a bed made up to fall into. (We figured he’d be dirty and tired! :smiley: ) For regular (non-TREK) drop-off, they have returning students there to help families unload and carry things to the rooms. The TREKers are essentially on their own.</p>

<p>We started off by going over to the student center to check in and get his room key. DS did hiking and the line was long (because they have lots of hiking groups); even with getting there early, we had a very healthy wait. They are very serious about making sure everyone has come prepared, and for the hikers at least, all of the carefully packed backpacks had to be totally unpacked so inspectors-of-sorts could make sure all of the required items were there. Then everyone packed their gear back up.</p>

<p>After carting his stuff into his room and unpacking us much as we could as quickly as we could, we went back over to the student center for a very fun (with lots of whooping and hollering) meeting with the leaders, TREKers, and parents. My husband and I were saying “only at UVM would all of these hundreds of new students be so excited about setting off for a week in the wilderness with no showers with people they’ve never met before”. :slight_smile: They told the parents to hug their kids good-bye, and then they went off to join their group leaders. And that was it. </p>

<p>One of the nice things about it was that it was so organized, relatively quick, and filled with so much positive energy that the good-bye was very exciting rather than sad.</p>

<p>The TREKers get back to campus before the other new students arrive, so they get a little quiet time on their own before the craziness of general move-in day kicks in.</p>

<p>There was a family barbecue the evening the TREKers got back too. We did go back up for that, mainly because DS is a musician and we were bringing up his instruments and equipment. I guess that’s when we brought up his computer and printer too. DS stayed mostly with his TREK group, though, so we didn’t see him much. </p>

<p>Fun!!</p>

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<p>We just paid the deposit, so my DS is also officially an incoming UVM freshman! Thanks so much for the detailed and helpful description of TREK drop-off! It sounds like, if needed, you could do more unpacking and room setting up the evening of the barbecue once the kids disperse back to their rooms?</p>

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<p>Yes, they really intend for the bulk of the unpacking to be done when the kids get back. My maternal instincts just wanted my boy to have a nice comfy bed to fall into after that long of a backpacking trip. :slight_smile: He took care of all of his clothes and personal items after he got back though.</p>

<p>Congrats to your DS for making it official!!!</p>