<p>Back in my own college era, freshman orientation almost always took place just days before the academic year officially began. So new students met their roommates and classmates and toured the library and laundry room with an “It’s too late to turn back now” attitude. These orientations were included in the cost of attendance and didn’t require extra gas miles or plane tickets. The few colleges and universities that held summer orientations back then were primarily public institutions that drew the bulk of their student body from within several hours’ drive. </p>
<p>But, today, summer orientations–at both public and private colleges—are increasingly more common. Some of these are held when the ink on high school diplomas is barely dry. And the reports I’m getting from students are mixed. Many claim, upon return, “Now I’m more excited about college than ever … and less intimidated!” while others come home with doubts about their choice, wondering if the campus community they just encountered is really going to be the right fit or feeling a little miffed that they missed a beach blow-out with high school friends in order to go to “college” in June.</p>
<p>So here are some questions for those of you who have attended summer orientations (or for parents whose kids have):</p>
<p>**-Do you think the pros of summer orientations outweigh the cons? </p>
<p>-Was the orientation optional or required? </p>
<p>-Was there a choice of dates (including those that wouldn’t require a separate trip to campus before the fall semester)?</p>
<p>-Was there an extra cost (aside from transportation)?**</p>
<p>Thanks for any insights you can provide by answering these questions or by offering other thoughts on summer orientations.</p>
<p>Summer orientation is a good thing - provided they have enough dates so that you don’t have to miss the end of senior year or something else you have planned for the “last summer”</p>
<p>It was required for the student - optional for the parent </p>
<p>There were a lot of dates to select from - very flexible</p>
<p>Cost for student was included in deposit - cost for adult was extra (if you decided to room on campus)</p>
<p>Orientation was a good time to get more specific information on the school and meet your advisor(s) in person. Some kids made friends that weekend which they kept through the start or school and beyond.</p>
<p>Thanks, kiddie. The adult rooming on campus is an interesting twist. I wonder how frequently that option is offered. When I was in college and orientation was held at the start of September, parents departed right after drop-off, maybe spending just one night in a nearby hotel if they came from afar. I think that the students (me included) would have been mortified by the thought of Mom and Dad moving into a dorm. But now, with my own son starting college in a year, I’d love the chance to room on campus during his orientation … except maybe for the shared-bathroom part of it. 8-| </p>
<p>My son goes to a state university where orientation is required. There were many dates so that was an advantage. His orientation was 3 days with an overnight stay in a dorm. Parents attended their own separate orientation so we were never with our child (my son was glad about that !) . At the end of orientation they got to meet with their advisors and register for classes. He made friends that he still stays in contact with. All in all a very good experience. </p>
<p>Do you recall if any of those dates butted up against the start of school or was it necessary for students coming from far away to travel to the campus twice … once for the required orientation and then again for the beginning of the semester?</p>
<p>My orientation was literally the day after my high school graduation - they had a list of dates (each being two days) scheduled sporadically throughout the summer to ensure flexibility - some were on the weekend, some were in the middle of the week. I intentionally chose the earliest date because I wanted to ensure that I was able to register for all of the classes I needed at the times that were best for me. Parents were allowed to go both days - I didn’t bring my parents because the school is only about 6 miles away from my house and I didn’t think the benefit of them going outweighed both of them missing work (my orientation was Tuesday/Wednesday) for two days. </p>
<p>I didn’t really feel one way or the other about my orientation - I really liked the schedule I registered for - all of the classes were my first choice and at the most ideal times for me, plus, despite it being a huge public university, my placement in the Honors College meant that I got one on one academic advising with two separate advisors as opposed to the 30+ student academic advising sessions for the rest of the Freshman class where there was one advisor for every 15 or 16 students. </p>
<p>I didn’t really learn much about anything that I found particularly compelling or important - there was a lot of talk of roommate matching and such, so as a commuter student, I didn’t really care all too much about that.</p>
<p>I’m excited to attend my school for reasons that wouldn’t be conveyed through the orientation - so it had very little influence over me. Plus, because I’m kind of a huge geek, I’d already spent the last three months reading about majors, general ed requirements, credits, electives, etc - so all of the information sessions on degree audits were the same information I had already read on their website and course catalog, so that was kind of boring. </p>
<p>-Do you think the pros of summer orientations outweigh the cons?
Yes, I went to the first possible orientation. This allowed me to be able to register for all of my classes before most of the other freshman. Having early orientation dates allow the students who are really excited about college/care alot about their schedule to get an early taste of college (I’m even more excited about college) and the perfect schedule.</p>
<p>-Was the orientation optional or required?
Orientation is required, but there are (I think) 6 different dates, with the latest being in August right before move in. </p>
<p>-Was there a choice of dates (including those that wouldn’t require a separate trip to campus before the fall semester)?
Yes, the very last date</p>
<p>-Was there an extra cost (aside from transportation)?
Either a $100 or $150 fee, I can’t remember which.</p>
<p>Parents were also allowed to come to our orientation and stay the night on campus. Most of the guys came alone and around half of the girls brought parents. Although parents and students were separated most of the time during orientation, those whose parents came dictated alot of what their son/daughter did. Two examples of this: I was up until 1 a.m. playing pool and card games with the orientation leaders; none of the freshman that were with parents were there (they missed out on making a bunch of new friends). Also, after classes were selected, I heard conversations students were having with there parents where the parent was forcing the student to completely redo their schedule (controlling what they should take and what time their classes will be). </p>
<p>I’m glad my parents respected my decision of going alone; they also did not care much about my schedule, and are leaving the responsibility to me. </p>
<p>Sally, I believe there was 1 orientation that ended the day of dorm move in. However, it was more expensive because it was a “5 Day Spirit Camp” Orientation.</p>
<p>-Do you think the pros of summer orientations outweigh the cons?</p>
<p>For my daughter, yes. It made her more comfortable with the school and gave her the opportunity to meet people. It also got course registration out of the way. Another benefit was that it gave her time to think about her class choices over the summer and make changes before school began.</p>
<p>-Was the orientation optional or required?</p>
<p>Required. Optional for parents.</p>
<p>-Was there a choice of dates (including those that wouldn’t require a separate trip to campus before the fall semester)?</p>
<p>Yes but the Honors students were strongly encourage to pick the first session. There was one that back up to the start of the classes for those that had to travel. Each session had the same number of seats reserved for registration. This way everyone had the same chance of getting the classes they wanted.</p>
<p>-Was there an extra cost (aside from transportation)?</p>
<p>Yes both for the student and the parent. Parents were offered the option to stay in a separate dorm but it was cheaper to get a hotel room. Both programs (student and parent) were structured so the parent and student never saw each other the whole time. Actually, the whole program was well run,</p>
<p>LOL. So the decision was sort of like, “Spend 100 bucks to share a toilet with 12 people or pay $89 for a private bath and access to a pool and Jacuzzi?”</p>
<p>I’ll have to keep that in mind when my own son goes to college and not be too quick to sign up for the dorm option just because it’s available. </p>
<p>And here’s another question to add to the list … Do colleges ever offer financial aid to parents to allow them to get to orientation programs that would otherwise be unaffordable for high-need families? (Possibly these offers are made quietly so that there isn’t an avalanche of requests from parents who just don’t want to pay full freight at the Econolodge, but I personally know parents who had hoped to attend campus events with their child but didn’t have the means to do so and who weren’t offered any assistance.)</p>
<p>My school also had the option of family staying on campus for orientation. Being in Boston, this was MUCH cheaper than a hotel, and it was in the university’s upperclassmen apartment style dorms, so no communal bathrooms for the parents!</p>
<p>I did like having this extended orientation in the summer instead of right before school. It was specific to my college within the university, so the information was more relevant me. Plus, having multiple sessions meant there weren’t 3,000 students all getting lost in the chaos all at once.</p>
<p>My whole family drove halfway across the country for my orientation and turned it into a relatively cheap family vacation for the summer. (With my dad being a teacher and my mom no longer working, we had a lot more flexibility, time wise, to do that.) I do know people, though, who couldn’t invest the money to fly out for a mid-summer orientation all the way across the country. For that, the university did have a condensed orientation during the “welcome week” period right before classes started.</p>
<p>At my son’s school. they have a parents’/seminar hotel on campus which is really nice. I know they offer a discount during orientation for the parent(less than a nice hotel would cost) but since I live an hour away, I didn’t take them up on it.</p>
<p>I’m hearing about some colleges doing orientation this week (third week of June), but in NYS, most (maybe all) graduations haven’t happened yet! Our state Regents’ exams continue until next week. It’s definitely way too early for us.</p>
<p>At UC Berkeley, all the orientations are throughout the month of June. In my community, school doesn’t get out till near the end of June, so many of my friends had to miss school for orientation.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed my orientation(I went to the earliest, June 5-6th) because I got to become excited about the fall and register for the first half of classes.</p>
<p>The orientation was “optional” but those who couldn’t go had last priority for classes which can be problematic at a large public university.</p>
<p>There were a choice of dates, but like I said, they were almost all in June.</p>
<p>Only in June? That seems a little weirdly early! The first one here was last weekend, and they go straight up until the start of the school year.</p>
<p>My orientation is next week and it does feel a bit early, but there were a long list of dates to choose from and I went with late June in order to pick the classes that I wanted. But I don’t know, I kind of like having such an early orientation-- you get a taste of the college life while having the whole summer ahead of you. Kind of like waking up before your alarm and getting to sleep in that extra hour.</p>
<p>It was required for us, so it was really a matter of when rather than whether.</p>
<p>You could choose when you wanted your orientation–there were around 10 time slots, I think, ranging from mid-June to right before classes started.</p>
<p>There was no extra cost, but if you paid an extra 60 bucks you could spend a night in the dorms, which is what I’m planning on doing! </p>
<p>My D’s orientation is two days after her HS graduation–it’s a bit of a whirlwind since her school is in another part of the country and we will have to fly–orientation is only two days and I can’t take the extra time off that we would need to drive. There are many dates to choose from, but this one was the best choice for us. Several of her HS classmates have had to go to college orientation prior to HS graduation, and, I believe one of them had to miss the senior class trip. It is mandatory for the student and optional for the parent and there is a cost for both to attend. D took care of it all online but I want to say it was $250 for her and $150 for me. Plus about $1100 for airfare for two and a hotel room for two nights. We may have to skip out before it’s even over on day two to catch our flight home. She is very excited about going–her roommate will be leaving orientation the day after we arrive, so we will try to have dinner with her and her mother so they can meet face to face–and she will be taking her math placement test and registering for classes, etc. This is a large, public state flagship U. </p>
<p>My son’s summer orientation and registration at an out of state flagship was mandatory, with placement testing having to be completed before orientation. Students stayed in dorms, and parents were invited and could stay in dorms or hotel. Over the two day process, there were some sessions which parents and students attended together, though most were separate. My son appreciated the chance to get a closer glimpse of his future life and to make some friends to ease the transition to big campus life and walked away with his class schedule. As parents we appreciated the info about health services, meal service, safety etc. </p>
<p>Both my husband and I attended LACs back in the dark ages, which had both had registration as part of freshman move-in right before the fall semester began. I have heard that schools other than the big publics have started adding summer orientation and I have to admit, I do not understand that move. With 6000 freshman, sure, you have to get them in more than a week before class. But with 250-600 freshman, surely than can be handled at the same time as move in. If we were required to pay for airfare across country for a recommended or even mandatory LAC mid-summer registration, I would be peevish for sure. </p>
<p>Last year, my orientation was in July, which was pretty late compared to others. It was better during the summer because I could take care of my class registrations before classes begin, so I can ease into the start of the semester. It would also have been better for the whole school because there were too many freshmen to handle in a short amount of time. I’d imagine it would’ve been stressful for both the students and the faculty if done that way.</p>
<p>IMO, a couple orientation days just aren’t enough for me to get the full “feel” of the school, so in that aspect it wouldn’t have made a difference whether the orientation took place in July or at the end of August. It took me at least a month to fully know the school’s aura.</p>
<p>My college does a great job with summer orientation. It is not inflexible like the schools that have only one set date. To be honest, if a family was complaining about the dates offered, I’m sure no date would appease them. </p>
<p>My college has a required two day orientation for students and an optional two day orientation for the students’ families. The orientation costs to attend, but to help ease the stress of transportation, the college offers a room for those who would be coming in at awkward times for orientation for an added cost. Orientation is offered twice a week, every week for three months. If that isn’t flexible I don’t know what is. </p>
<p>In my world, summer orientation is a great thing. It hypes up the excitement for the start of college. It allows students to meet fellow students before the start of the semester. It allows student to be educated about the services offered to them before it’s too late. (The few days before the semester starts is “too late”.) It allows students the flexibility to make changes before the start of the semester. </p>