<p>D will be attending AU this fall and has been looking over the information to schedule her orientation session. A packet came to the parents as well and I was surprised to see a parent component to orientation. Is this commonplace now? Back when I attended college (and had a summer job working orientation) this was a totally student focused event.<br>
I have attended the AU Freshman Day (admitted students day) and was wondering if my presence will be needed or very enlightening. D does not feel the need to have me go! </p>
<p>Also related to the orientation, is there an advantage for D to go earlier in the summer? I was encouraging her to attend earlier (perhaps more availability of course selection) but she want to bump it a bit later to meet her prospective roommate that she has been corresponding with! </p>
<p>We certainly did NOT go to orientation. And neither did our d. She flew across the country by herself, set up her room, went to the two days or so of stuff they had before classes (not particularly helpful nor exciting, she thought), and things went just fine. Neither did her roommate (who flew by herself from Japan.)</p>
<p>D will be attending the last session – the one during Welcome Week. I am flying out with her to shop for stuff so will attend the parent orientation and then leave after that. </p>
<p>There was parent orientation back in the dark ages when I went to college but I don’t think my parents went. I was first generation and I think they were pretty intimidated by the whole thing.</p>
<p>If your daughter does not feel the need for you to go, it is really up to you at this point. Due to the Eagle Summit being a 2 day program, and all of them being during the week, I think you should save whatever money that you would be spending coming to AU and save it to come with them during welcome week and help them move in. There really is not much time to spend with parents – if you have taken a look at the sample schedule from last year. That being said, a lot of parents will be there. Discuss with your daughter whether this will make her feel uncomfortable or temporarily homesick. My parents didn’t come with me to my orientation, but I was quickly accepted at meals by families who were there. So I didn’t feel it was an issue. </p>
<p>As far as class scheduling goes: There is an advantage to going earlier in the summer in the sense that, advisors register you for your classes before you get to orientation. So if she has a specific academic plan (ie. double majoring in something that leaves her few electives) I would urge her to go to the first session offered. However if that isn’t the case, I wouldn’t press her too hard to go early in the summer. If she is concerned about a particular class, have her email her advisor to see if he/she can work with her to get into that class before actual registration. You’d be amazed how helpful they can be.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. If you have any more questions let me know and I can’t wait to see your daughter at AU in the fall. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. She is pretty comfortable after spending 2 differnt overnights in the dorms and having to get home herself from one (she highly recommends the bolt bus!). She is pretty independent with mass transit.
She also has a cousin in DC so someone is there “just in case!”</p>
<p>Does anyone know what percentage of freshmen attend the Eagle Summit program? If one cannot attend, when can they take the placement exams for math and language?</p>
<p>We will be attending the first session with our son. It is about a 6 hour drive from us. As a member of the parent council at the university my daughter attends, I recommend going if you can. That’s where you can learn how to find out what’s happening on campus, how registration works, dining plans, etc. Things that might interest you or even save you a few bucks. We also set up an appointment with the Assoc Dean from the school where my son was accepted to discuss how he can individualize his major to meet his interests and setting up internships for the freshman year. </p>
<p>As a parent, we are spending so much for our son to attend, that we want to get as much out of the expereince as we can! Plus, it is time together (even though it is enforced in a car for 6 hours) for us to chat. We may even turn it into a mini holiday since it ends on a Friday and stop and see Antitem or Gettysburg.</p>
<p>We will be attending with D, as we did for our S at another school. I really don’t feel there is all that much more that they will tell the parents, but going anyway. Just feel the amount that is being charged per parent is way to much,and for what, 4 meals on campus. Most parents would rather go out to eat after orientation. By the way at Sons school there was no charge for parents</p>
<p>My husband went last year and found out some stuff that was useful / important. I saw these type of trips as as some of the last times to spend time with our son.</p>
<p>We didn’t attend orientation with D last year, and didn’t miss a thing. Between the website, the mailings and the invaluable people here at CC, we found out everything we needed to know and were happy to save the money. My recollection is that to keep things fair, class slots are held open for later attendees, so your daughter should just choose the most convenient session. (I also felt that Parents Weekend could have easily been skipped–next year I’ll be visiting on my own schedule, when nearby hotel rooms are easier and cheaper to come by. The weekend’s on-campus activities were okay, but not compelling.)</p>
and has been looking over the information to schedule her orientation session. A packet came to the parents as well and I was surprised to see a parent component to orientation. Is this commonplace now? Back when I attended college (and had a summer job working orientation) this was a totally student focused event.<br>