<p>Hey, are these programs important or helpful in any way? And which one, in your opinion, is the best? Is anyone here joining one?</p>
<p>I'll be doing one - Habitat.</p>
<p>check out this website:</p>
<p>Pre-Orientation</a> | Orientation at Washington University in St. Louis</p>
<p>All of Wash U's pre-orientation programs are listed on the left-hand column. Hope this helps. I did the "Hatchet" program but if I were to do it over again I would have probably chosen "The Wilderness Project", "Habitat" or "LAUNCH". Overall I recommend any incoming freshman to sign up. They are a great way to meet people and get comfortable. And move in early!</p>
<p>In the application form, there are three program choice.</p>
<p>Will I be doing all the three programs or just the one they put me in (for me the one is "Hot Laser and Fast Atoms")</p>
<p>I am sure you can only do one, as they are all going on at the same time. Giving them 3 options will increase your chances to get into one, I'd guess.</p>
<p>good choice, by the way, WashU Pathfinder: "Hot Lasers and Fast Atoms" is the one i'm going to :)
you'll probably get into it, I don't think it's a crowded as some others - I got a confirmation email within a few hours...</p>
<p>Two questions here: -- Do you miss out if you don't go to pre-orientation? For example, does everybody make friends early then you kind of miss out when school starts? Also, is the medical pre-orientation course mainly for pre-med students or can anyone take it?</p>
<p>^Over at the facebook group there's a huge discussion about pre-o's. </p>
<p>While a lot of upperclassmen say that you should really consider doing one, they also say that it is by no means necessary - orientation in itself is enough to make friends.</p>
<p>S did Launch last year before the start of his freshman year. He felt that the best part about it was that he had the opportunity to meet and get to know more kids than he would have had he just showed up for orientation. Also, when you do a pre-o program, you get to move into your dorm room earlier that if you don't. It's not necessary, but, in hindsight, our S is glad that he did it.</p>
<p>Is anyone applying to medicine and research connections pre o? It seems like all you really do is go to minimed school.</p>
<p>What I liked about doing a pre-o is that you get to meet kids who you might not otherwise meet. A lot, I think even most, freshmen spend all their time with kids from their freshman floor; doing a pre-o lets you make friends in other dorms and other areas of study. I think it's a good idea to do a pre-o, but it's definitely not necessary and you won't be at a disadvantage if you don't. Also, I don't think it matters which pre-o you do. They're all great for different reasons and no matter the experience you have, it'll be worth it.</p>
<p>I'm going in for a business major. So would attending the IDEA program be essential in making new connections? I wanted to do more of the service ones..</p>
<p>The pre-orientation gets you in the college mood no matter which program you are in; they won't put you ahead in academics but certainly has the advantage to know your peers before everybody else arrives (and moving in before the crowd is very convenient ;) )</p>
<p>In the summer of '06 my daughter did the LAUNCH pre-o. It really did not fit her, was more of the partier-types. She didn't enjoy it much, but met a friend she is still close with. It was nice, though, for her to be able to go out to St. Louis on her own for a few days before we arrived with all her stuff. I really don't think she would say a pre-o is necessary, except to start feeling like you're a part of the school before the craziness of Orientation.</p>