Phew, it’s been a day! We were on vacation last week and got home last night around midnight, then up this morning for a 9 AM move-in. We didn’t actually fully move-in - we just brought the essentials (bed stuff, toiletries, a few changes of clothes), and will move stuff gradually over the next few day (i’m bringing down another few bags tonight when I meet D for a move-in celebration dinner).
I have another question about the middle class scholarship - that’s actually what I came to ask about and saw the discussion a few posts up. My additional question is whether anyone else has “will not disburse” under the MCS. Is that normal? Or should I be worried? What does that mean?
Congrats on partial move in!
You should not be worried that MCS is taking a bit longer. You can reference the link I posted up thread for a bit more context. Sounds like California bureaucracy to me. We just made a partial payment and will keep watching the Web Grants 4 Students site to see when the MCS amount is awarded. Last year I was able to see the award $ on that site before it was disbursed from Cal, and it hasn’t shown up there yet. Mygrantinfo.csac.ca.gov
Yes, I see that too. I always figured that “will not disburse” field would only be populated if the MCS amount exceeded actual costs with other aid added.
Last year’s fall MCS disbursement was delayed until winter break because the method of calculating the MCS completed changed. To be honest, I can understand the delays- CSAC needs to figure out which students will be enrolled and eligible (taking into account any other aid/awards they might have received) then divvy it up among all students attending California schools.
Last year financial aid encouraged me to just pay 20% until everything settled but I went ahead and paid the full amount due. I was too worried that classes would somehow get dropped even though there’s a message saying that won’t happen.
His room is good(Unit 1 Double) and Floor/Bathrooms are mixed gender(lot of girls on his floor compared to boys). Was a 30 minute wait for lift(high level floor but otherwise move-in went smooth).
GBO registration: Thanked us for our last name as his line was only 20 minutes compared to 2-3 hours for other last name people.
Son is attendng GBO and got his numbers from there. Acceptance rate for Cal this year: 7.472178060413355, Incoming class is 9400.
Mine said she spent over an hour and half in line yesterday. Today she texted that she and her friends were unable to get breakfast before the convocation because the line was so long. I guess that’s inevitable with the number of students, but I wish they had better foreseen this and planned for it a bit better.
I’m participating in the alumni event on Saturday evening and am curious how that will go. I’m not totally clear on how it’s supposed to work: I just know we’re to meet on Memorial Glade and make name tags listing our majors and students are supposed to mingle and ask us questions about how our majors influenced our career trajectories? Well, we’ll see!
I think a big part of the issue with long lines is poor signage. It’s often unclear when you see a line whether it’s “your” line. (And, more important: it’s unclear for everyone else in front of you whether it’s “their” line, either, but there’s little you can do about that.) Per my photo a few posts up, half the people in the A-L line should actually be in the M-Z line, but they just see a line, ask people in it if it’s for “registration”, hear “lol yeah”, and get in it. Better signage — especially with “if you’re in Other Group, go HERE” alternates — would help it go more smoothly for all.
(And, of course, sometimes it’s just a function of there being tons of people going through an unfamiliar process and there’s little you can do to speed it up.)
Move-in to Foothill dorm went surprisingly well yesterday! Double room is awesome–quite large with an amazing view of the bay from his desk. So pleased with everything so far. DS anxious, but seems to be handling things well and making friends. Fingers crossed everyone’s kids have a successful year!
I think you can apply for room change but it will depend on if there’s availability. Lot of students did not get any room assignments (especially Transfer students), so I would not count on that.
Note: “There is a hold on housing transfers for the first two weeks of each semester. Room changes also cannot be processed at mid-year, during finals, or winter break.”
Move in at Foothill went very smoothly. GBO check in line was over an hour and a half for us. Son likes his room and roommate, had fun with the suite mates last night, so all good so far. Not thrilled with his GBO small group, isn’t with any of his suite mates. DS is toying with the idea of crashing his roommate’s small group. Not sure if they’d let him, but we’ll see.
I would agree with her. For most kids the best orientation happens through impromptu connections via room mates, hall mates, and random encounters. But there is always a subset of people for whom social interactions don’t come naturally and GBO gives these people a platform to make connections. Other than that, I can see why some people might feel checked out.
I’ve noticed throughout my life that obligatory community building activities can sometimes be effective despite being boring, because participants can bond over the shared tedium
So far it seems like a lot of standing in various lines!
I know her dorm had a welcome party last night which she said was pretty bad - they tried to cram everyone into a single room and the sound system wasn’t working so there was no music. It ended up just being crowded and awkward. Tonight there is apparently a rally that she said might be fun, though. This morning was convocation - mostly just speeches from various administrators. She also got assigned her Day in the Bay activity which is a baseball game that she has zero interest in, so will probably just skip it. The lines for food are apparently too long to bother with, which is why she and her roomie ended up hitting Chipotle for lunch and walking around a bit off campus instead of participating in the organized - and apparently very crowded - events.
