What is O-Fest, 9/19 Noon-5:00PM?

<p>as title.
It is part of the freshman orientation with parents participation.</p>

<p>For future reference: they are called “first years” not freshmen.:)</p>

<p>If it is anything like previous years, it is pretty much a bunch of nothing. (I am not certain exactly what is going on this year, because they are “packing” the normal 4-5 hours of move-in day activity into two full days, so everything is a little inflated.) Basically, there are two or three things that incoming students have to do, like get IDs, that require some standing in line, and they do a pretty good job of having stuff to distract parents and younger siblings so they don’t clog up the lines with the students and the students get a break from dealing with their parents’ anxieties. Lots of free food, information booths, promotional freebies for the new first-years and siblings who look like they might be new first-years, semi-lame student bands trying to connect with a new crop of first-year groupies. You can open bank accounts, etc. And there’s probably some reception with the RM or RH of whatever dorm/house the student is in. All of it is perfectly pleasant and totally nonessential (except for the 10-15 minutes to get the IDs and a couple other things I forget). </p>

<p>Don’t worry about it. If you are there, you’ll have a perfectly good time, and if you can’t be there, you won’t miss anything. (This applies to parents. Students need to get their IDs.)</p>

<p>Thanks a lot guys. I guess no one would know as this is probably new. As described in the “Family Schedule” O-fest is hosted by Information Technology Services and the Family Resources Fair.</p>

<p>This is just a new name for an old thing (I believe the old name was something like “NSIT Fair”, and they just went with something more shiny). Don’t worry- as JHS pointed out, the only valuable portion of it is getting your student ID and getting information about UChicago computing services- not a big deal if your parents can’t join you for it.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if the longer lines (for the id etc) are at the beginning and it might be better to come midway through or at the tail end? With mandatory house stuff in the evening and the planned activities for the next morning through the parting at the gate, this afternoon seems like the best time to do a target run if one is needed after seeing the actual room.</p>

<p>We also want to open a Citibank acct for D, seems like the most convenient option but no branches near us. We could drive a distance to the closest branch at home or wait and handle it during this “fest”</p>

<p>I think I went to get my packet of stuff and my ID early, and it was no more than an hour for both. I’m not sure what it’s like later, but I’d say it’s probably better if you could get to Target earlier. Keep in mind that there’s also a Target trip later in the week, if I remember correctly. They take you directly there on a bus.</p>