I was looking for more information about the upcoming UC davis orientation and came across this: "The Special Transition Enrichment Program and Summer Start are alternatives to Orientation offered to Educational Opportunity Program and international students, respectively. Students attending those programs do not need to attend Orientation. If you have been invited and have decided not to attend one of those programs, we recommend attending Orientation…(http://orientation.ucdavis.edu/first-year/)
I have a lot of questions concerning Orientation and STEP. Okay so what exactly happens in a college campus orientation? I know very minimal about it. Why is it important to attend orientation? What is the STEP program and how is that different from orientation?
I guess I’m just confused as to how STEP can be an alternative and considering it because of the fact i really don’t want to pay over 200 for davis orientation 
I don’t know anything about STEP, so I can’t answer anything pertaining to that. Look around for someone you can email for information.
Orientation consists of a bunch of lectures familiarizing you with the school, and both individual and small group advising. When I did mine (back in 2012 when it was a 3 day event), we had a mandatory violence prevention presentation, lectures about how to navigate financial aid, how to schedule your classes, presentations from the UCD police department, the college dean talked to us briefly, and we had small group and individual advising.
The most important is the advising, combined with having the opportunity to spend time on campus. In particular, your assigned orientation leader has individual advising sessions with you to give you specific advice for your major, any major you plan to switch to or are generally considering, and any other general concerns. They also personally walk you through registering for your first quarter.
This outlines the entire program as it currently stands: http://orientation.ucdavis.edu/first-year/schedule-student.html
My boyfriend goes to Davis and was a part of step before he started and he loved it! He stayed in the dorms for a while and met a lot of people before starting school. That’s where he met his roommate and many of his friends he has now. Step is basically starting school a little early and getting used to college life before it starts. So he got a head start before any of the other incoming students.It made the transition a lot easier for him!
@litorodriguez, I don’t know if you’re still looking for info on UC Davis’ STEP program. My son was invited to apply to the program shortly after he was accepted to the unversity. There was an application he had to submit and he should know by the end of May whether he was accepted. I’m guessing that if you weren’t invited or haven’t already applied that it’s too late to be considered.