<p>Hello. I'm new to CC, and therefor am not sure if my question has been addressed on another thread. So, here goes: I read a few posts which made it seem like students starting Freshman year this Fall already are proceeding to the next steps, such as: room mate choices, CLASS CHOICES (they're available so soon?!!), Facebook sites. My daughter is just beginning to gear down from the college process; does this next step really start right away? Re class choices: my impression was that students chose their classes in the first week of college.
Thanks.</p>
<p>A lot depends on the school. At all the schools I’m familiar with classes are chosen during orientation (first week of school), but some student like to browse the catalog to see what they might be interested in.
Some schools let you choose your roommates, but most, I think, do not. Some schools will let the kids know who their roommates will be at some point during the summer, others will not.</p>
<p>You can post on the subforum for her college to find out the specifics for her new school.</p>
<p>Spending time at the “Class of 2013” facebook site was a huge help for my son (and me too!). He got the chance to “meet” kids he’d be going to school with. They talked about interests, and there were some older, matirculated students who answered questions. They even did a music exchange, sending mix tapes to each other. The kid my son exchanged with turned out to be his freshman roommate and they just signed up for their third year of sharing quarters! Whether your D is active on the boards or just lurks it should be fun. It would also probably be a place you can get answers to questions like when do they sign up for classes and how do roommates get assigned. You can also probably find some of those answers on the schools website.</p>
<p>My daughter’s college had them register online before they got to campus (although I can’t remember the exact timing – I can remember her checking out schedules and requirements and ratemyprofessor.com at home over the summer :)). </p>
<p>There are usually steps to be taken for housing quite quickly (deposits, maybe choice/preference forms). I would suggest your daughter gets going on this as soon as possible. At some college whether you get your preferred type of housing is first come, first serve.</p>
<p>The Facebook links are great for kids, I think. I think it made D1 much more comfortable going to college to have some links with some other freshman before arriving on campus. </p>
<p>This stuff was all good for D1. It got her excited about the next step in her life. And I think it gave her some feeling of control to know about her housing, her roommate, and her classes. IMHO, it made going to college easier for her.</p>
<p>Your daughter’s school should be guiding her through the next steps. DS#1 chose a LAC three years ago and after he deposited received a nice, very detailed three-ring binder with everything he had to do, sorted by deadline. DS#2 will be attending a much larger school and his stuff has really all been online. He can log into the school’s “blackboard” web site and see a checklist of everything that has to happen.</p>
<p>For your daughter, there are likely some housing and dining contracts that should be filled out sooner rather than later, and some kind of summer orientation to sign up for (optional but highly recommended) during which your daughter can meet with an academic advisor, choose classes, meet some fellow students, . . . There will be at least one medical form, possibly some placement tests.</p>
<p>Again, every school differs, but as soon as your daughter’s deposit has been processed, she should be receiving instructions. I agree posting on your daughter’s particular school’s forum can help, but if you tell the parents here which school it is, you’ll likely get some more detailed info.</p>
<p>All the decisions are made before the start of school. Dorm and roommate assignments may already be known at some schools, or next month. Students then have a chance to get to know their roommates, which dorm to buy stuff for, etc. Public schools often have a summer orientation and registration. With computers it is also easy to make changes in schedules. Read your D’s school website. A lot goes on well in advance to facilitate a smooth start for the first day of classes. Find out her dorm move in date to plan ahead for the big move.</p>
<p>Both my kids registered shortly after they deposited and received the housing and dining contracts. S1 actually had his “first advising” session via phone with his assigned advisor - it was required before he registered. Registration for both was on-line. But both my kids committed long before the May 1 deadline so perhaps that is why it happened so fast. The “roommate” thing came later in the summer…mid-July or so for both kids. But yes for us there was a flurry of activity and then a nice long break for the kids in June and July…at which point I was trying to organize the “drop off”, finding a hotel room, organizing lists of “stuff” to get for the kids all that parent stuff. It’s a fun time for the kids with high school ending, thinking about college. anticipating a roommate, thinking about classes. I don’t think the kids (or I) were stressed about any of it. It all goes so fast (we are leaving this week for our first’s college graduation.)</p>