<p>What can anyone tell me about the preorientation activities that happen in late August? I listed them below:</p>
<p>Bridge
Cultural Connections
First Link
Intellectual Inquiry<br>
Inward Bound
Leadership
Outdoor Adventure</p>
<p>They seem like a good opportunity to get to meet new Smithies, but I was curious as to your experiences if you took one (or your D did, if you're a parent) before entering your first year.</p>
<p>I worked as a first link leader for two years. I didn't do one as an entering firstyear because my parents could only bring me to Smith on a weekend (they couldn't take time off work) and preorientation programs start on a weekday. </p>
<p>First link is fun--you do a day of community service and there's time for reflection and fun, too. It's also a good way to get to know the chaplains, who help organize the program (though there's nothing implicitly or explicitly religious about it) and the staff and board of Service Organizations of Smith, the campus community service org.</p>
<p>I don't know much more about the other programs beyond what the description on the website will tell you--I believe that Bridge is only for underrepresented ethic minorities. Intellectual Inquiry is the newest one--I was a TA for an experimental Jterm class of the same name that predated it, and if they'd offered it when I was an entering firstyear I think I would have loved it. </p>
<p>Many of my friends have led and participated in the Outdoor Adventure one, which sounds great too--it's the one I really wanted to do as an incoming student, and it fills up fast. Apparently, in years past the participants have been joined at a certain point by Tori McClure, a Smith alum, trustee, and quite an amazing outdoor adventurer: <a href="http://www.nols.edu/about/profiles/board/tori_murden_mcclure.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.nols.edu/about/profiles/board/tori_murden_mcclure.shtml</a></p>
<p>Stacy: huh...I'm pretty sure my D was in the class you TA'd. In fact, I thought so at the time, come to think of it.</p>
<p>BJM, it was all moot for us because of the time between the pre-orientation and the normal move-in, what with us coming from so far away and all with limited time off for me. D wasn't interested in leadership or outdoorsy stuff, isn't a URM, and overall was pretty confident about hitting the beach with the first of the regular wave.
Sorry to be of absolutely no help whatsoever.</p>
<p>My D did First Link and found it worthwhile. Small-group bonding through shared work on a service activity is an excellent idea, IMO. My H just dropped her off and vacationed in the area with my son for a couple of days, before returning for the large-scale orientation. Work commitments kept me from participation. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think the Outdoor Adventure is a particularly neat option, assuming the student is up for it. I suspect that if my D were to choose today, that's what she'd do. But I think as a first-year she liked the idea of a bed and showers her initial days. </p>
<p>I believe the First-Linkers stayed together in a temporary house and moved into their permanent houses at "real" orientation. That was four years ago, so things may have changed.</p>
<p>I believe the First-Linkers stayed together in a temporary house and moved into their permanent houses at "real" orientation}}}</p>
<p>They do; however, students can move everything into their rooms before pre-orientation starts. They take the essentials with them to their temp house. Moving into their assigned house early is a plus<em>no crowds</em> The time after per-orientation and before orientation is a great time for parents and their daughters to shop for whatever additional items are needed for their room Many students come from long distances and cant drive (Ive seen U-Halls)-- consequently they buy many of the essentials (bedding, puter printer, etc) locally and store everything in the house basement for the summer. Ive never heard of anything being stolen from a house basement storage area.</p>
<p>My daughter, being a veteran hiker and lover of nature, did the outdoor adventure and I think she was very happy she did it. It gave her a few familiar faces to latch onto at meal times and such until she got more established at Smith. She had to miss some team practices, however, to do the preorientation, which wasn't a problem, but if one is into sports, that might be a consideration. As it was, she simply segued immediately from preorientation to team practices, and then real Orientation happened. Overall, I would say she enjoyed the hiking experience, but felt she would have managed fine without it, so if your D has other commitments, she shouldn't feel as though she'll be totally missing out by not doing a preorientation program. (I guess you won't have the travel issue to deal with if you're coming from RI.) But if she CAN do it, then by all means take advantage of it. (The hiking, by the way, would be a piece of cake for anyone who has done any peak-bagging in the Whites.)</p>
<p>{(The hiking, by the way, would be a piece of cake for anyone who has done any peak-bagging in the Whites.)}</p>
<p>My D has never hiked a day in her life. Ironic, though, that I love the outdoors and hiking, and my wife and D would rather shop for shoes. Oh well, opposites attract!</p>
<p>She seems to be into the intellectual theory piece. Now, there's something I wouldn't have even talked about, never mind wanted to attend.</p>
<p>She is looking forward to attending the preorientation for many reasons; she is anxious (in a good way) about getting there and getting started, and would like to get to know some Smithies before the real fun begins. She would also get the opportunity to get to now the lay of the land, as it were.</p>
<p>Our D did the hiking pre-orientation and I think it did help that she knew a few people at the beginning. Actually, I am not sure it made any difference since I have not heard anything about those folks since. What was nice about doing pre-orientation is she got to do central checkin a day early and we had extra time to shop for stuff she didn't bring with her. She and I flew out the day before preorientation. We got her room key the next morning and had time to move her stuff in and make her bed. I took off to visit an old friend for 2 days and she went hiking. We meet up the day after she got back and did way too much shopping for either of our taste. It made the whole thing a little less hectic.
Ellen</p>
<p>Concerning the period between pre-orientation and orientation for those who live nearer to Smith:</p>
<p>We were all ready to come back to Smith, after our D got done hiking, to help with moving in, but she phoned us to say that it wasn't necessary. Being a rather ascetic minimalist, she didn't need to get any more stuff (or was able to get little things she had forgotten at the CVS in NoHo) and she managed all the rest -- setting up her computer, setting up her bank account, setting up her prescriptions at the pharmacy, setting up her room -- just fine without us. She also spent the time doing all the pre-season workouts with her team, getting to know her room-mate (who was on the same team), and helping other first-years move in, so she wasn't in danger of being lonely. And because we live relatively nearby, it wasn't as though the post-pre-orientation period was our last chance to see her before Thanksgiving or the December break.</p>
<p>So that's another option to keep in mind if you're not coming from the other coast. It may be a play-it-by-ear thing whether you need to be there again after dropping your D off.</p>
<p>My parents dropped me off for preorientation, and I didn't see them again before Parents Weekend (despite the fact that my birthday was in the middle of orientation :P). We put all my stuff in my permanent room, put the stuff I needed for Inward Bound in my temporary room, ran to Target for laundry detergent and other necessities, and then went to the send off at 3:00. Immediately after, my parents and sister went home (it may have been my sister's first day of high school the next day, and my parents had to go to work). Orientation is perfectly manageable without parents, and yours wouldn't be the only parentless student there. </p>
<p>If I recall correctly, the college provided a bus to the mall on the gap day between preorientation and orientation. During orientation I spent most of my time with people I met in preorientation, but as time went by I made friends in my house and now of my two closest friends, one lives in my house and the other is from preorientation, and I have two different groups of good friends stemming from each one.</p>
<p>On another very unrelated note: How about computers? D wants a laptop for Smith. Should we purchase from ITS at Smith? Seems like about $500 higher than normal, but comes with a four year service deal.</p>
<p>We LIKED the service deal, and my d. has made very good use of it (well more than $500 worth). (and the service deal extends to study abroad as well.)</p>
<p>My husband points out that it was also simply convenient to get the computer through Smith because they are configured to work on their system.</p>
<p>My D has been very happy with the Mac laptop she got from Smith. I don't remember the spread between their price and what we could do locally being as high as $500 though. The "buy it here, get it serviced here" aspect was compelling and has worked out very very very well.</p>
<p>The complexity of move-in is largely dictated by the cost/time/distance ratio of bringing stuff with you versus buying locally. I came armed with a three-page spreadsheet of items and tasks, segregated by type...everything from bedding to cell phone and bank account and refrigerator. (The refrigerators that you can lease from the company that has a flyer in the info packet suck dead fish with a straw, or so I'm told. And they're relatively expensive to lease. D's cost about what leasing for two years would run and was a better refrigerator. Though after all that she doesn't actually use it <em>that</em> much, I don't think.)</p>
<p>For the image of me going through the checklist over three days, cue Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove."</p>
<p>Mini, I got your PM's. I'm holding tight until things become definitive. In the words of the fortune cookie that appeared once upon a time unto Duke in "Doonesbury," there is great disorder under the heavens and the situation is excellent.</p>
<p>I got the 500 dollar amount after going to the Dell website and building the same computer from them. I agree, however, that even if it is $500 more, we would make that up in service over four years anyway. It's comforting to know that her laptop could get tweaked when needed without having to pay extra for it.</p>
<p>Murphy strikes: my D's system software or something has become corrupted. Off to IT for diagnostic and free repair (before finals).</p>
<p>i bought a refurbished dell laptop (not from the school--though at the time that i started here, smith would fix all dells). it's been pretty good--knock on wood--with the only major problems coming during the warranty period. If I'd bought a computer through Smith it would have been about $800 more, since mine was pretty bottom of the line. Definitely not worth it to me--there are computer repair places in downtown Northampton that do just as good a job as ITS, and my low-end laptop's served my needs very well (anyone who does hardcore math/design/programming ends up going to the computer labs anyway).</p>
<p>Another point on the Bridge programs. Register early, because the good ones tend to fill up very quickly.</p>
<p>I hear what you're saying Stacy; but to me, there's nothing more aggravating than a computer going bonkers when you need it while writing an important paper, etc. That's why we're thinking of just starting with a brand new laptop, and see where it goes from there. Murphy does strike, and we would like to avoid that. Also, IT will come to your room and fix it immediately for you, rather than having to disconnect it and carry it to NoHo. Sounds like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but I've heard stories of IT coming in after hours because a computer was down for a particular student who has a paper due the next mroning, and saved it for her.</p>
<p>BJM, I've heard similar stories about how responsive IT is. Now...if only they could keep the campus-wide stuff like Bannerweb from crashing periodically. Of course what had D fuming the other day was that there were problems with AIM, her biggest channel to the outside world. Apparently, one student consumed 11 percent of the Smith's entire bandwidth by downloading several videos and this caused a ripple effect.</p>