<p>soomoo, just call them. I haven’t had the same problem but I have never had a problem when it comes to getting someone on the phone and getting an answer. They are always very helpful.</p>
<p>^Yes. I guess I should give it a shot. The other two times I called them they told me to fill out one of those Help SU tickets. I did get answers eventually but it took about a month. The other issues were about transfer credits though so a call may help in this case.</p>
<p>Soomoo - I had a similar problem last year. It took a number of Help SU tickets and quite a few emails - but eventually I did end up with someone who went out of her way to help straighten out the problem - with many apologies!
Suggestion: don’t wait until quarter break - they seem to be short-handed when classes are not in session!</p>
<p>I hope it’s a okay to revive this old thread. It has lots of useful information. I’m going to read all of it and then will probably come up with additional questions. Dear Stanford parents, please be prepared! Now that my son is going to Stanford in the fall, I am excited and anxious at the same. There is so much to learn!</p>
<p>Welcome to the Farm Yolochka. My S is a sophomore and I remember what it was like to be you. So I will tell you what was told to me…Congratulations! And, Stanford is a great school. You and your son are going to love it.</p>
<p>Thank you, Dungareedoll!
I don’t doubt my son will be happy at Stanford! I am just a little sad to see him go. And being the kind of person I am, I’m already thinking what we should do to make the transition smooth. We probably should already be buying tickets for September. I wonder if this would make sense to buy him a ticket with a return day for Thanksgiving, or winter break. Is this how people do it?</p>
<p>Yolochka: YES!!! Buy your tickets now. I’m from New York so we had to deal with the whole travel issue. Definitely buy the tickets for September now and assuming that you will be dropping him off then think about making hotel reservations now too. With regard to Thanksgiving, that is the most expensive time to fly, since the whole country is flying due to the holiday being the most travelled. So the earlier you book that the cheaper it will be. </p>
<p>NSO (New Student Orientation) is run very well by Stanford. We are a very tight/close family, so like you I was concerned about saying goodbye and the long distance. Well let me just say that that was short lived. First, because school starts so late the kids get very antsy. Keep in mind that all their friends from highschool have left a month ago. They talk on facebook and all your son will do is drool at the fact that his friends are already at college and he is still waiting. So when you arrive on campus the air is just buzzing with excitment. As you help him unpack he will be chatting it up with his room mate, talking to the girls next door, meeting the RA and right before your eyes, he already has forgotten all about you. You try and explain where you have put his belongings, and how he shouldn’t forget to take his vitamins etc etc etc…And all the time it will be very clear that in his mind you should have already gone. Then after the convocation speech (which by the way you will never forget) you will go back to the dorms and say goodbye. Unlike other stories I have heard, there weren’t any tears from the kids at Stanford, and certainly mine was no exception. They are too excited and their time too overdue. Its late September and they just can’t wait to get up and going.<br>
When my husband and I left, I was actually very annoyed. My S would barely say goodbye. Oh trust me he showed us to the door, but it was quite obvious we were cramping his style. (We laugh about it now.) He came home for Thanksgiving. Of course I spoiled him. Cooked him everything and anything he wanted and then he happily flew back to campus. </p>
<p>Stanford is a very friendly campus. The freshman dorms are fantastic at making the kids feel welcomed. They have tons of events so that the kids bond. My S lived in Stern and knew every kid. They were a very cohesive/tight group. They become a family. And you will be so happy to know that they are always amongst loved ones. Its really that great!!</p>
<p>Is it worth it to go home for Thanksgiving break if you live on the opposite coast (I heard break was only ~9 days?)? Also should/do most parents take their children to NSO? Considering the time to fly and a possible layover makes it about 10 hours to travel?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Parents essentially have one day of events while the orientation keeps going for another two days for Freshmen.</p>
<p>The reason to go is to pickup things for the students, get the bike registered, attend the convocation, help with last minute shopping etc. There is a bed bath and Beyond 3 miles from campus where you can preorder everything to be picked up when you show up and continue shopping for more things. You need to buy a bike and get it registered.</p>
<p>There is two days of solid work to be done. OTOH, there are kids who manage a lot of this on their own.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, Dungareedoll! I really appreciate hearing the words of wisdom!
I will buy tickets for us asap. So you think I should be able to buy a ticket for my son with a return day for Thanksgiving break? Then do I need to buy him another ticket right away to fly back to Stanford after Thanksgiving and return home for winter break? Is that what people do usually?</p>
<p><a href=“http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/registrar/files/future_acad_calendars10-20.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/registrar/files/future_acad_calendars10-20.pdf</a></p>
<p>Yolochka: I must admit I have never tried buying a return ticket for thanksgiving. I usually just buy a one way for September and a round trip for Thanksgiving. Now I’m curious to see if thats a cheaper way of doing it. I use Kayak.com to book all my fares, if you don’t use it, I would recommend it. Let me know which way is cheaper. Also don’t forget to book a large car/van now too.</p>
<p>Austro: I think its definitely worth having them come home. Especially freshman year. At first they may 'think" they will want to stick it out, because they are now so anxious to leave, but my Thanksgiving they are very excited to come home and see family and friends. Its a big ordeal to meet up with their highschool buddies and exchange war stories. Plus they need the rest. You will find that they will sleep 12-13 hours a day. They are so exhausted. Nine days for Thanksgiving break is actually on the long side. Most schools only begin their break on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>I think most parents do drop off their kids for NSO, although my son’s roomate did not. He came by himself. But I think he was the only one in the dorm who did that.</p>
<p>I think NSO started on a Tuesday the year we went. So we arrived on Saturday. We toured around the campus, rented bikes, checked out Palo Alto, and San Francisco. We picked up orders from BBB. We shopped for bulky items like a frig, printer etc. Then my husband took a red eye back to the east coast Tuesday evening, went straight into work (he couldn’t miss anymore days) and I left the following morning bright and early. </p>
<p>I would say most people came in on Sunday. We took the extra day because my husband hadn’t visited before, so we really wanted to show him around. </p>
<p>BTW we flew Southwest. The allow the most baggage for free and we had two layovers, so yes it was a long haul out there. My husband and i lived out of a carryon bag, while the other 8 bags were all for my son.</p>
<p>This is just so helpful!
It looks like I came up with an unusal idea 
It’s just because I know that usually one-way tickets are as expensive as 2-way. Then I reasoned that we could keep doing it if he keeps coming home. I just don’t know yet if it’s possible to buy a ticket such as to Stanford on Jan 5 with return home on June 11th (or March 21st if he comes home for spring break). This scheme would take some advance planning! </p>
<p>I’ll let you know!</p>
<p>I like the idea of coming a few days early. We can make a mini vacation out of this if we arrive to San Francisco on Friday.</p>
<p>Could I ask another question? How did you know you wouldn’t be buying a second refrigerator, printer, or microwave? I understand we won’t know who his roommate is until the move in day. Is this correct?</p>
<p>The selection process for roommates is fantastic. I believe the story goes that some student created an algorithm that matches kids. It does a really good job but you don’t know who you will room with until the second he/she walks in the door. So what we did was buy everything, with the intent that if we doubled up on things we would return the item. Of course, like i mentioned my S’s roommate came by himself, but on top of that he came from the Stanford Pre-Orientation Program, where you backpack the Sierra Nevada’s, so all he came with was a backpack. Consequently, he had nothing to contribute to the room, so we had no returns to make (lol). In the end that was fine because we liked that our S had his own stuff. He didnt have to worry about borrowing stuff or taking up too much room in the frig etc…Actually his frig broke down and immediately his roommates parent shipped a new one to the dorm.</p>
<p>As for a printer you really want your kid to have there own. Ink is so expensive that thats not something that they should share. We bought a $39 printer. It was perfect because it was very compact. It never jammed and used ink sparingly. We got it from Walmart. It died this year right before I got there for parent weekend, so I went to Walmart and bought another one. </p>
<p>As for a microwave that we bought for him this year. Microwaves are somthing that kids will share on a floor between several rooms. It comes in handy but I wouldn’t rush on that unless you really think your S will need it. Now S has his own frig, coffee maker (Keurig), printer, microwave (Bought this from Kohl’s and they shipped for free.)</p>
<p>Keep in mind the one thing that Stanford doesn’t do well is Mail Service. I’m waiting for some kid to come up with better system. As it stands now everyone gets a PO Box. Consequently, you can’t ship to a POB. So shipped items get sent to Roble, the packaging center. I’m not sure why but things that get shipped there get lost in an abyss for atleast a week before they notify you thats its there. Your tracking label will state that its arrived, yet it seems to take them forever to find the darn thing. So hold on to your tracking labels, so your S can insist they look for the package. The PO is terrible too. Thats not Stanfords fault. If you send a package (like a priority mail envelope or box) to the PO Box it can take days before they put a slip in your box for pick up. I would never recommend paying for priority mai because they will never get the mail within 2-3 days because the postal workers are so darn slow. Inevitably it still takes a week, even though you have paid for the faster service. I’ve even called and complained but they are dumb as rocks in that place.</p>
<p>Just chiming in as another parent of a current student (S is a freshman). We drove to Stanford from SoCal last fall in a 4-door sedan, so didn’t have a lot of space, but didn’t bring a lot with us other than the necessities like clothes, toiletries, bedding and towels. We got there on the Sunday before NSO started so had a little time to shop for a few things beforehand; however, we didn’t buy a microwave or refrigerator even after we found out S’s roommate was an international student and hadn’t brought anything either. Both S and roomie decided they didn’t need either one and have been fine this year. We also did not buy a printer and that’s also worked out fine since many of S’s papers have had to be submitted electronically anyway. When he has had to print something, he’s never had a problem using the ones in his dorm–it’s only 10 cents/page and is charged to his Stanford card.</p>
<p>S doesn’t ride a bike so has also managed this year without one, even though he lives in Frosoco, the dorm that is on one edge of campus and far from pretty much everything. He doesn’t mind walking and just leaves a little extra time to get to class. When I was there for Parents’ Weekend the walking really didn’t take as long as I expected even though the campus is very spread out. He has said, however, that he may learn to ride a bike this summer! We’ll see…</p>
<p>As far as the Post Office, I haven’t encountered that many problems with sending packages. I’ve only sent one through UPS (the Roble Package center) and all the others I’ve sent via USPS. I don’t think any of them has been late more than a day, except maybe at the beginning of the year when there were probably lots of packages being sent. I guess I’ve been lucky so far!</p>
<p>Our D is a senior and we usually use FedEx. There is a FedEx office in Tresider. USPS is slow and packages get there a day or so late.</p>
<p>D has loved her time at Stanford but is ready to close this chapter and move on. She starts her new job tomorrow and will go full time the day after graduation. She is beyond excited.</p>
<p>Congrats Emgamac on your D’s new job. Thats great news. Can you share what her major was and what she will be doing? Also did she have any internships or research opportunities that helped her to get where she is now? I’m sure new parents would love to hear what’s in store for their kids, quite possibly.</p>
<p>D is a STS (Science, Technology & Science) major. She has a heavy math, science and CS background. She likes the flexibility of this major because it is interdisciplinary and she was able to take many classes outside of the STEM areas.</p>
<p>She was never able to find an internship but really only looked for the summer after freshman year. When that didn’t work out, she came home to work for her Aunt who owns a seasonal business. She was able to learn how to run a small business and gained true insight into entrepreneurship. She worked on campus for two years (soph,junior) as an RCC (resident computer consultant) and two years (junior, senior) as a RCA (assisting the manager of the program). There is a teaching component to being a RCC and this year has taught the CS class that is required to be a RCC. All totaled she has taught six classes at Stanford as the instructor, not TA. Her last two summers were spent working for the arm of ResComp that handles the summer sessions. This past summer she supervised at team of 10 techs.</p>
<p>The job she started today is with a Tech company in SF. She will be some sort of Engineer (can’t remember what she said). It was a very long interview process that took about five weeks. I think she did two phone interviews, one project and then four in person interviews and a lunch meeting with the entire staff. They focused on her project mgt, problem solving and client interaction skills according to her new boss. The CS background didn’t hurt either.
Since they wanted her to hit the ground running in June, they are having her go up one or two times a week to train. They are covering all of her commute costs.</p>
<p>This is her dream job in her dream city. She sent out over 50 resumes etc through the career center since mid December and it was a long, hard process. She was starting to lose hope. She was on a layover heading to Vegas when the offer came in. There was much jumping for joy and crying. </p>
<p>Please feel free to ask me questions since we’ve seen a lot in our four years.</p>
<p>WOW!!! I’m so happy for you. That is awesome. I can only imagine how happy all of you must have been. I have never heard of STS. That was very interesting. My S is an interdisciplinary major too. I think they are the wave of the future. Again congrats you must all be so relieved to know that all her hard work paid off.</p>