<p>Hey Guys!
I am from SO CAL and my family and I will be driving up to Santa Cruz a day before the Orientation since it starts early the next day.</p>
<p>My only question is : Do we have to rent an hotel nearby?
And if we do, do you know any motel that is nearby to Santa Cruz for a good price?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>P.S: Visit the INCOMING FRESHMEN PAGE of 2011 :]
UCSC</a> Incoming Freshmen 2011 | Facebook</p>
<p>Bumping for relevancy.</p>
<p>idk does the orientation give you a place to stay? Like on campus? I’m also going to UCSC from Socal. 
Try emailing whoever is in charge of orientation.</p>
<p>Question: So cal as well, do we have to attend summer orientation or not?! whats the benefits</p>
<p>You don’t have to go </p>
<p>From the site</p>
<p>"Students who attend Orientation feel better prepared, encounter fewer problems, and receive priority registration for the fall quarter before other students who do not attend Orientation. </p>
<p>During the one-day Orientation program (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) you will enroll in classes, learn to access campus resources, meet with college and department advisers, meet new and continuing students, learn about the many student organizations on campus, attend a resource fair, take your picture for your student ID card, attend breakout sessions, gain valuable student life information, and get your questions answered."</p>
<p>You will have to provide your own lodging. Kayak is a decent source to compare prices of hotels/motels. Hotwire can be useful as well or one of the bidding websites like Priceline if you don’t mind the opaqueness. University Inn (hotel owned by UCSC) might have a special deal for summer orientation students, but I do not know this for a fact. The prices can be hefty all over the city in summer due to tourism. Book your reservation early for the best prices.</p>
<p>Orientation allows you to register for your classes. That is, in my opinion, the only worthwhile benefit that you cannot achieve on your own. You do also get the chance to speak with advisors and such, but I was able to do this months before my orientation and had things already planned out. If you do not go to orientation, you will be registering for your classes after all of the scheduled orientations have ceased.</p>
<p>I highly recommend speaking to an advisor regardless of whether you attend orientation or not. I was able to secure permission codes to add classes that appeared full. This is not always going to be the case, but you will not receive these if you don’t talk to an advisor.</p>
<p>The expense for the parent (or anyone else beyond the student) to attend is a waste in my honest opinion. Some do feel they are able to get good information from it, but all of the information provided is available online or can be asked with a simple phone call or a visit to the office for which the question is for. During the student’s orientation is actually a very good chance for a parent (or other) to explore the campus.</p>
<p>From so cal as well, is there any student transportation from San Jose International Airport directly to UCSC or downtown SC ? I’ll be on my own up there and don’t really know how to get to UCSC orientation from a hotel.</p>
<p>[UC</a> Santa Cruz - Transportation & Parking Services](<a href=“http://taps.ucsc.edu/airports.html]UC”>http://taps.ucsc.edu/airports.html)
[Santa</a> Cruz METRO](<a href=“http://www.scmtd.com/]Santa”>http://www.scmtd.com/)
[caltrain.com[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://www.vta.org/]Santa”>http://www.vta.org/]Santa</a> Clara Valley Transportation Authority](<a href=“http://www.caltrain.com/]caltrain.com[/url”>http://www.caltrain.com/)</p>
<p>Google maps (public transportation) will help you figure out which metro buses to take to get to your hotel and which to take to get from your hotel to UCSC. Metro buses that go directly to UCSC are numbered 10-20.</p>
<p>@Kender Thanks :D</p>
<p>is the orientation program really only 1 day?</p>
<p>is there another one later on that is longer? Just wondering because even CSU’s have overnight orientations.</p>
<p>Yes, it really is just one day. There are no overnights through the general campus orientation.</p>
<p>You probably got the email, but if your family needs a place to stay for the night, you can stay on campus for $135 in one of the dorms i believe. Reserve a spot soon~</p>