<p>Mine is this week and I have no idea what to expect. I know I'm registering for classes but that's really it... and yes, I realize it's different at each school, but I want to have an idea of what to expect</p>
<p>Why don’t you call the school and ask them?</p>
<p>^ Probably the best option. A select few schools also have online schedules.</p>
<p>At mine… we got there pretty early and registered for our student ID cards. Then I think we listened to some pretty boring lectures. After that, we separated into groups based on our majors to tour campus and go to sessions about each college. A few times, we’d separate again and attend “breakout sessions,” where you could choose to listen to a different lecture on things like the Honors College, fin aid, prelaw, etc. This pretty much went on for two days, ending with us registering for classes in a computer lab.</p>
<p>We had a bunch of workshop session sort of things (on honors program, study abroad, security, etc.), as well as tours of campus buildings. Mostly I just ignored this stuff and talked to people.</p>
<p>We heard some speeches, picked classes, and went to some small info sessions for each major. More importantly, we had a pool party at the rec center pool which had a water slide. Totally badass! We also met a bunch of people throughout the orientation that are some of my best friends now.</p>
<p>Most orientations include what has already been brought up; lectures, learning about your school, tours, etc.</p>
<p>I’m working this summer as an Orientation Leader, and that’s pretty much what ours is. We do lectures, student panels, academic advising, etc.</p>
<p>Expect it to be very strictly scheduled and not to have TOO much fun. I hated college orientation, but I love college.</p>
<p>Yea I think most orientations are the same.
Pick classes, lectures, advising.</p>
<p>Bleh, mine honestly wasn’t all that fun… basically, the first three days (it was four freakin’ days long) were full of all these silly mandatory events in this ginormous auditorium, and most of the information we received could easily have been obtained from pulling up a couple of webpages. I didn’t meet or talk to anyone :P</p>
<p>They had some organized stuff at night that was supposed to be fun, but those were mostly populated by the few dozen or so socially awkward people that weren’t out getting schwasted. </p>
<p>I think it was mostly me, though - I stayed in a hotel far away from campus, so I had to call up my parents to take me back and forth, which was tiresome. LOTS of people, mostly the ones staying on campus, went out and partied every night (as evidenced by the quote, “Dude, I have such a hangover and I only slept 2 hours. I DEFINITELY can’t do this in real college.”) </p>
<p>Oh, and… bring an umbrella, just in case O_O</p>
<p>Mine was just alot of hearing people talk. lol. But it was pretty useful information, so it’s good to pay attention even though it’s hard to keep your eyes open at 8am over summer. There was also a tour of the school, and then lunch afterwards, where they had free food and also club tables were set out so you could learn about clubs you want to join. Towards the end, they divided us into our majors, so we got to meet our advisors and the people who will be in most of our classes. And last but not least, don’t forget you’re gonna take the picture for the ID you’ll be carrying around the next four years. lol</p>
<p>Rice’s O-Weeks are the stuff of legend. One of the best times of my life, no lie. </p>
<p>It’s ok to be jealous ;)</p>
<p>Long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.</p>
<p>Long, boring, hot.</p>
<p>To me, it was like the most irritating form of summer camp. </p>
<p>Treated like you’re 12; expected to go to activities all day; overly upbeat and cheery current students ushering you around and taking their $7.50/hr job far too seriously; generally annoying and a pain in the ass.</p>
<p>Orientation week is fairly useless. Ours was structured as a series of optional activities/lectures sprinkled with a couple mandatory events. A few were useful but I forget what they were. There were also mixers and free dinners arranged by college and department. </p>
<p>Most of the daytime is best spent hanging out with your floormates/neighbors. Then at night everyone goes to one of the dozens of open house parties where they get taken advantage of by upperclassmen (sometimes).</p>
<p>BORING.</p>
<p>that’s all you need to know, get it done, and fast.</p>
<p>I never went to college orientations =). I heard they are utterly useless talking about common sense things or typical school things you could much easily have found out on the school website.</p>
<p>i think the primary goal of orientation, besides hearing information that’s obvious anyway, is to meet potential friends.</p>
<p>we played strip poker and blackjack all day at mine. it was nice.</p>
<p>I just got back from mine, which was mandatory.
It was overnight and the first day was just a whole bunch of getting to know one another games, (we were put into 16 different groups) then moving around for various lectures/presentations. We were so tired by the time we got back to our dorms. (8:30)
Today we got our schedules and student ID. We also had a spirit event.
I was pretty nervous too since I knew no one but since our group was only 10 people plus the coordinator, we got to know each other okay. It was fun - just relax and you’ll have fun too.</p>
<p>Lame, unhelpful and awkward. Parts of it are fun but there’s a lot of nonesense.</p>
<p>It’s only awkward if you choose to make it awkward. You are in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people–we are all hardwired to feel uncomfortable in this kind of situation. Make an active decision to be comfortable by realizing that everyone is in the same position as you and be open to meeting interesting people. Getting to know your classmates and your college will be a fun experience–embrace that. </p>
<p>I can see how Case Western’s orientation might be inherently awkward, though :/</p>