Review New Student Orientation

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
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<p>First, my review then I will post the schedule.</p>

<p>I give this orientation a diversity score of 2 out of 10. Around 92% Caucasian, 5% Asian, 1% African American, 2%(hispanic+ unknowns). There were 200 people, so you do the math. I don't know if this tells the whole story of incoming freshman class. International freshman are not in the campus yet. After they come, the racial diversity might improve. </p>

<p>I would say around 99% come with their parents. I was by myself. The students are requested to stay with parents while getting the ID, listening to the lecture, during lunches etc. You are with your parents 80% of the time. So, I suggest bringing parents otherwise you might feel awkward. </p>

<p>They said a record high number of students are starting in the summer. The total number of freshman is also the highest EVER, around 8000. I read somewhere that the capacity is 7200. Expect classes to get bigger, eating places to get even more crowed. I waited around 15 min in line. </p>

<p>Do not read this if you want your orientation to be a surprise.</p>

<p>Spoiler Alert...
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You have been warned</p>

<p>All of them are in chronological order.</p>

<p>12:30 or before : You check in. They give you some papers, the room number and key. You go to the room and drop your baggage.</p>

<p>At 1:00 : You goto the HUB. Get your new ID card, put a new password on your PSU account, Get lion cash(optional), Pick up a free book, you link your ID with PNC bank account (optional)</p>

<p>At 2:30 : Listen to a guy that talks about your new life at PSU. After this, you separate from your parents.</p>

<p>At 4:00 : You get a group. The group goes to the auditorium inside the HUB. You talk with the group members, the leader will tell you stories.</p>

<p>At 6:00 : Dinner</p>

<p>After dinner : Do fun activities with the group, get to know each other better. Then you goto a party thing (just hang out with people)</p>

<p>Day 2</p>

<p>Get up early and eat breakfast. </p>

<p>Around 8:15: You meet with parents. Another guy tells you about elion and explains how you can pay bills, request parent plus loans, master promissory note etc. </p>

<p>9:00 : You get the placement test results. You get a lecture about how college is different than high school. </p>

<p>12:00 : get lunch</p>

<p>1:30: Go to the building written in your name tag. You get a presentation. Here you schedule classes. Your adviser will come around to help (NOTE: this isn't one on one advising, around 14 people will be in your room)</p>

<p>Then you get to leave. I left around 3. </p>

<p>Post any comments below.</p>

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<p>When you are grouped with other people are those people in your same major?</p>

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<p>If you are talking about Day 1, 4:00 pm, the answer is no. Its random. </p>

<p>The only time you get to be with people that are on the same college as you is at DAY 2, 1:30 pm(they might not be in same major). This is the place where you schedule classes.</p>

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<p>International kids (the lack of diversity you were probably expecting) don’t have orientation until right before school starts if I’m not mistaken. And thats about 10% of our freshman class</p>

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<p>My son and I attended Penn State’s New Student Orientation (NSO) this week, and I wanted to share a couple hints with other parents.</p>

<p>You will be doing a lot of walking, so dress comfortably. Temperatures ranged from unbearably hot (while waiting in lines) to quite chilly (while in the auditorium). </p>

<p>Try to eat before arriving at the parking garage assigned for NSO. After leaving the garage and walking to NSO, the only place we passed to grab a bite to eat was the creamery. They have great ice cream, but only pre-packaged sandwiches.</p>

<p>Not sure of every NSO schedule, but we were told to arrive at 12:30. We arrived right on time and queued up into the first of many lines. There were A LOT of people in front of us. Not sure how early they had arrived. We then waited in a series of lines (to register/to get IDs/to sign up for a bank account/etc). If I were to do it again, I think I would arrive early and hopefully avoid most of these lines - and then have a nice leisurely lunch before the first formal session (which for us began at 2:30). I should also note that I noticed that people arriving really late had very short or non-existent lines. </p>

<p>If you sign up for a PNC Bank account, note that it requires your child’s SS# and 2 forms of their ID – though one can be the new Penn State ID. If having a joint account with you, your SS# is also required along with your 2 forms of ID.</p>

<p>Bring a tote bag or plastic bag with you to carry your items. Parents receive a book and you’ll have misc papers and stress balls etc. that you pick up along the way. Bring your book back on Day 2 also. </p>

<p>The students need to check out of the dorms on Day 2 by 7:45 am. Many parents arranged to meet their child in the morning to get their overnight bags and bring them back to their vehicle. Other students carried theirs throughout the day.</p>

<p>Note that you will not be sitting with your child while they meet with their advisor and schedule their classes. Any conversations you want to have about majors, class selection, class times (early morning classes vs. afternoon), etc should be done before arriving at NSO.</p>

<p>The schedule says that NSO is out at 5 pm on Day 2, but we were done by 3:30.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Were most of the students friendly? Easy to make friends without being Caucasian?</p>

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<p>Chcmom wrote a very accurate description. I am a parent this year and have participated in NSO in the past. One minor comment on: “Note that you will not be sitting with your child while they meet with their advisor and schedule their classes. Any conversations you want to have about majors, class selection, class times (early morning classes vs. afternoon), etc should be done before arriving at NSO.”</p>

<p>what this parent wrote is true in some cases. Some departments/colleges have parents there during scheduling. They can even talk to advisors, but only after they helped the students. This is about the students, but advisors are happy to speak to parents if time permits. My experience (I have helped advise during the sessions with our honors students) is that 40% of parents actually help the process, 20% are neutral while others impede the process. You see, having parents outside of the room may be: 1) logistical- there may not be enough room for all in the physical space and 2) a way to move the process along because most do not help and some actually delay completing the schedule. Above all else, remember that you can change your schedule on elion throughout the summer. You can even set an alert to let you know if a closed (full class) opens up so that you can schedule it.</p>

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<p>the lack of diversity you were probably expecting </p>

<p>If you are saying I was excepting a lack of diversity, then you are wrong. I expected most (around 75%) to be Caucasian but turned out 90% are. (in NSO)</p>

<p>Were most of the students friendly? Easy to make friends without being Caucasian?</p>

<p>Yes and yes. </p>

<p>There were people from New Jersey, Philly, Pittsburgh, Maryland etc. It shouldn’t be hard to find people that have similar interest’s like you. </p>

<p>I go to a pretty diverse high school which is why I experienced a shock at the NSO.</p>

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<p>Chcmom - thanks for the report, very helpful. When you say people who arrived late had shorter lines how late did they arrive. Though I’m not sure that is an option for a person who is chronically earlier for everything, I am traveling for 4 hours though.</p>

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<p>I arrived at 11:45 so didn’t have to wait. By the time I dropped my bag and was headed towards the HUB, the check-in line was sooo long.</p>

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<p>GraphicD, I noticed the absence of lines as we were walking through the HUB into the first sessions, so probably around 2:10. It would make me nervous to arrive this late, so I think I would go with an early arrival if I had to do it again. We arrived at 12:30 and probably waited close to 1 hour in various lines, and it was uncomfortably hot. Sauna hot, actually! There was a line to get the paperwork, a line to get the ID, a shorter one to pick up the ID and sign up for lioncash, a shorter one to pick passwords (or something like that … not entirely sure what my son did), and finally a line to sign up for a PNC bank account. There are also various tables set up providing info (athletic tix, libraries, health services, etc) and some of these were quite crowded when we eventually made our way there. If you can get there early - do. Another hint - print out a map of the campus and bring it with you so you know how to walk from the East Parking Deck (where they ask you to park) to Warnock Commons, and then eventually to the HUB - and wear sneakers!</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply, we will get there early. Is there an app of the campus that we can download?</p>

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<p>chcmom - where did they tell you to park on campus. And was check in at the Warnock commons in North halls?</p>

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<p>The parking garage they have you use is called the “East Parking Deck”. They give you a pass and with it you will have in/out privelages for the two days of the orientation. I do not know about an app, but PSU’s dept of Geography has a great maps of the campus which you can access on-line. Yes, check in was at Warnock, then off to Runkle to check into the dorm, then to the HUB for IDs, etc.</p>

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<p>for those that have already scheduled their classes - did you already do your research and make a tenative schedule of the classes and times you wanted beforehand?</p>

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<p>GraphicD ~ Check out Schedulizer I find it easier to use to look at tentative schedules. Elion has a similar thing but I think Schedulizer is easier particularly if you are new to scheduling. You pick your classes and it shows you all available schedules.</p>

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<p>[Recommended</a> Academic Plans - Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) - Pennsylvania State University](<a href=“http://dus.psu.edu/students/sem_plans.html]Recommended”>http://dus.psu.edu/students/sem_plans.html)</p>

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<p>Thanks PSU85MOM - That makes it ALOT easier</p>

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<p>How should we dress for NSO?</p>

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<p>

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<p>For me, 88% Caucasian, 10 % Asian, <2% AA and Hispanic. </p>

<p>Probably around 60% males and 40% females (nope not exaggerating). PSU male to female ratio might get even more skewed. Right now, its 55 to 45.</p>

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Anything is fine. Jeans, T-shirt, shirt, shorts etc.</p>