<p>I am an incoming transfer, and I have SOAR in July, and I was just wondering if parents are involved in SOAR at all. I know when I registered for SOAR, there was an option to pay $25 to have them attend a Parent Program, but we decided not to do that.</p>
<p>So my question is.. even if they don't have their own program, do parents usually come along with students and go through SOAR with them (especially for transfers)? In the SOAR schedule, it said SOAR was a time to meet with your advisors and meet with other students, in which case, I think it would be kinda weird if my parents came along. I am perfectly OK with doing SOAR by myself, as my parents are old and tend to get impatient and grumpy at these type of things (haha). Maybe I can just drop them off on State Street while I do SOAR?</p>
<p>What do parents typically do during SOAR, especially parents of transfer students who aren't signed up for the Parent Program? Do they tag along with me throughout the program, or should they just drop me off?</p>
<p>So, I’m an alum from way out-of-state and I’m really looking forward to SOAR. Here is what I would say: consider getting them tickets for a lake cruise on either Monona or Mendota, or have them arrange a visit to Taliesen in Spring Green (that will get rid of them for most of a day but you need to reserve time and pay in advance - get to work on that). If you are going to be staying until Saturday, ship them off to the Dane County Farmer’s market for the morning. For drinking and dining you have a lot of choices, but they could kill a couple hours taking in a reggae band or another local act with some beers or drinks at the Edgewater, or they can slum it with the students on the Union Terrace. If they are serious or aesthetically inclined, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts is worth the walk up State Street. Then there is always a tour of the State Capitol Building which you have to reserve in advance and they might enjoy a walk around the Convention Center to see what kind of looming engineering disaster Frank Lloyd Wright has in store for this one. I would re-take the tour of campus at the end of SOAR with the folks, though, then maybe head out by foot in the general direction of Picnic Point or take a quick drive down to the Arboretum. They aren’t welcome at SOAR anyway - so send them in the other direction. Chances are, they won’t really want you tagging along with them while they are having such a good time anyway, but a little planning for them will help. Enjoy a stress-free SOAR - its college, we all wish we could do it just one more time. Oh, and make sure they make the pilgrimage to the University Bookstore to stock up on window stickers, sweatshirts and Badger gear…for you :)</p>
<p>I highly recommend the SOAR Parents program, even for alumni still familiar with Madison. This was when son was a freshman. The parents are given pertinent information so they will ask you far fewer questions. Business issues, safety concerns addressed and other useful bits. Perhaps parents of transfer students may feel they have the college process learned and don’t care about the details as their already college-experienced child knows how to navigate this world. They do NOT get involved in your SOAR day- they are not allowed to “tag along” with you. I remember that we all stayed at Liz (very convenient and good breakfasts) but parents were housed in an entirely different wing and students started their day earlier- it was possible to never see them except at scheduled events. For us that was a dinner (after which the students had a get together and parents were free for the evening, not allowed to crash their student’s event) and we saw the assigned dorm but with separate student/parent room viewing(that way neither embarrassed the other, students could ask questions they didn’t want their parents to know of). The $25 is cheap for what you get. The $ for a dorm bed is also cheap- and you get to remember what dorm life is like (we were in a corner room close to the men’s bathroom, yes, couples shared a room, but it was a long trek to the other wing for the women’s bathroom- no problem for students).</p>
<p>My H especially wasn’t that interested in all of the parent sessions so he did some of his own exploring. I looked around to see changes since my time. I do recommend seeing the DoIT (dept of info tech) store in the Comp Sci building- they have a separate entrance you can use, open during the day. I also checked out the Res Halls convenience store and snack bar to see what they offered (at what price). If you are staying in an apartment the Madison Market grocery store is worth checking out. Check out the University Bookstore on State St. Then there are all of the fun things mentioned above.</p>
<p>Bohlig to Mack-Nebraska game-1974. That was quite a game. I was in the upper deck and it was really swaying. Good times. Back then you could still smoke at the games and I nervously sucked down half a pack.</p>
<p>You could only truly appreciate that moment if you understood how bad they were during the Coatta years and how lightly regarded they were going in against Osborn’s Cornhuskers, Barron’s. Not generally rated as one of the top plays overall, but I will always put it right up there.</p>