Pre-Orientation Trips and Programs

Parents Forum
21

<p>Williams has an outdoor program and Wake Forest offers an outdoor program, an international program, and an inner-city service program.</p>

22

<p>MIT offers many, most (though not all) of which are sponsored by departments. I did the geology/paleontology one that involved a week of camping in Colorado and New Mexico.</p>

23

<p>I believe some schools this year cut back on their pre-orientation trips due to financial issues. They either cut them completely or revamped them to better reflect budget constraints.</p>

24

<p>Johns Hopkins has a great Pre-O program. [Pre-Orientation</a> Program](<a href=“Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center | Student Affairs”>Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center | Student Affairs)</p>

25

<p>Colby’s “COOT” program is amazing–small (like 12 kids) per group, outdoor, super fun choices.</p>

26

<p>Kalamazoo College’s program is awesome. My D has a friend who did it. Loved it.

</p>

27

<p>i’m not positive but i believe bowdoin is trying to fund it’s pre-orientation to make it available to all incoming freshman in the future–to make it free for all. at least they’ve been working on a special fundraiser for this purpose and i hope they succeed b/c it was an important bonding experience for S1 and introduced him to the remarkable outdoor program opportunities of the college.</p>

28

<p>UW- Madison recently added some summer trips for incoming freshmen. Only a very small percentage take part. There is also the mandatory summer orientation that takes place long before students arrive on campus with everyone else before classes start. Many public schools will not offer these experiences as they are an added cost to students, many of whom are already bound by their budgets. Some colleges treat the incoming students as a class and try to forge bonds among them as a group. Others have too large a student body to use the HS model of class awareness, but instead offer dorm activities as a way of forming groups for the needs of incoming students. I offer this as a reminder that having summer trips should not determine the choice of college although I am aware that different types of students choose different colleges for those social aspects.</p>

29

<p>Harvey Mudd has a 2-week diversity thing called Summer Institute (by application), and its delta-h club hosts a pre-orientation hike (first come, first served).</p>

30

<p>As noted above, Williams has an outdoor program and other alternatives</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.williams.edu/dean/pdffile/FY09%20docs/EphVenturesBrochure2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.williams.edu/dean/pdffile/FY09%20docs/EphVenturesBrochure2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

31

<p>Juniata has Inbound Retreats. [Juniata</a> College - Inbound Retreats](<a href=“http://services.juniata.edu/osa/inbound/retreat_opportunities.html]Juniata”>http://services.juniata.edu/osa/inbound/retreat_opportunities.html)</p>

32

<p>Grinnell has GOOP (outdoor ) and GSP ( a science/math program)</p>

33

<p>LEHIGH has a few great programs beginning 3 days before regular orientation.</p>

34

<p>Kalamazoo has a two and a half week backpacking and canoeing trip in Canada, including a one day solo.</p>

35

<p>Stanford has a bunch, ranging from volunteering to backpacking. </p>

<p>iirc, Caltech has a required camp before orientation that lasts a few days.</p>

36

<p>Tufts has several.
<a href=“http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation/preorientation/[/url]”>http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation/preorientation/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

37

<p>cornell has one</p>

38

<p>Dartmouth has the largest in the country. 85% of students go on a 5 day trip. Groups then meet up for a fantastic group experience at a large lodge owned by the college. What a great way to start the 4 years!!!</p>

39

<p>

100% of incoming Colby freshmen participate in COOT – it’s required.</p>

40

<p>That’s great! But my stat stands. Dartmouth has a much larger class :)</p>