<p>Daughter will be attending college on the opposite coast. In the old days, freshman orientation happened over a few days or a week before upperclassmen returned to campus. Now apparently - it's in midsummer pretty much everywhere? </p>
<p>Had not planned or budgeted for this...and it seems important because that's when the students also register for fall classes. Did everybody know about this except me LOL?</p>
<p>It depends upon the school. D1’s freshman orientation was the week before classes started, but many of her friends went to orientation programs in the middle of the summer.</p>
<p>^same at my son’s school. Perhaps the bigger uni’s want the kids to not have such an overwhelming experience so split orientation up into groups.</p>
<p>My son’s school does an optional 4 day program first (he went sailing) then 4 days of orientation before classes start.</p>
<p>It seems to be the publics that draw a large portion of the student body from instate that hold orientations over the course of the summer.</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages when I went to college, we had an orientation in mid-July where we signed up for classes, met our roommates, etc. Then, a week before classes started, freshmen arrived on campus and did all kinds of activities to get to know their dorm mates and kids from around campus.</p>
<p>Our older two had orientation in MARCH of their senior year. It was for early commits–they had sessions in April and June as well but since you signed up for classes at this, we went as early as we could. I did NOT like that at all. Too easy to check out of studying in high school.</p>
<p>I’ve actually never heard of waiting until a week before school starts to sign up for classes, every school I am familiar with does it long before then but most schools have some kind of program where freshmen arrive earlier than upperclassmen for various get to know you type activities.</p>
<p>Our son’s U had several different sessions to choose from. Several were mid summer and a final being right before school started in August for international students and those that traveled long distances. Space was held in classes for these students to register. You might inquire at your students U if they have such a session.</p>
<p>Even though D1 had orientation the week before school started, she was able to start signing up for classes in May online. The students were given information about the registration process, and the contacts of academic advisors if they had questions. If there was an issue with the schedule (kid signed signed up for Calculus 4 and didn’t have AP Calc credit), they were notified over the summer to make adjustments to the schedule. At orientation, the students met with their advisors in person to chat and review their schedule.</p>
<p>I’m two for two with summer freshman orientations (one LAC, one OOS public). Both schools offered orientation right before the semester started but both also had class registration during orientation so we’d pick the earliest summer one we could get to. (Although at least at the public they <em>claimed</em> that they had a certain number of class positions allocated to each orientation session so it shouldn’t matter which one you attended; i.e., going to the first one was not supposed to give you an advantage in terms of classes over going to the last one, or even the one right before the semester started.)</p>
<p>Had not planned or budgeted for this…and it seems important because that’s when the students also register for fall classes. Did everybody know about this except me LOL?</p>
<p>I think there are several reasons for this…</p>
<p>1) if the frosh class is large, several sessions are held so the school isn’t trying to register a gazillion kids at one time. Plus, they can add/adjust course sections as needed for the next session.</p>
<p>2) If most/all of the sessions are held weeks before classes start, then they can spend the rest of summer assigning class rooms according to expected class size.</p>
<p>3) it helps avoid “summer melt” (losing acceptees).</p>
<p>4) Those who won’t be coming, won’t come to these early scheduled sessions, and then schools know if they can still draw from a WL. </p>
<p>That said…often a school will still make allowances for the student who is really coming from afar and simply can’t make 2 trips. For instance, the student coming from abroad, Hawaii, Alaska, or is so low income that 2 trips just isn’t do-able. Those kids are often allowed to register the week before classes when they come at that time.</p>
<p>We only have experience with big state u’s (Both DH and I and the kids). All of us attended orientations in the summer. There was no option to go a week before classes started for fall semester. </p>
<p>DH and S1 attended a three day orientation based on their major. When they went was based on major so all the new engineering majors were there at once,etc. DH’s was the next weekend after h.s. graduation. S1’s was in mid July.</p>
<p>S2 and I went to a university that had about six or eight different summer orientations and we could choose which we wanted to attend. S2 went in June.</p>
<p>They registered for classes then but of course could change their schedule any time during the summer since they had university ID and passwords.</p>
<p>Common at least among the publics we researched – typically, students sign up for a particular two-day slot in the spring. Then, over the summer, a few hundred students at a time do overnight orientation and registration. At some schools, students may take placement tests on the first day but at all the ones we researched, they meet with their advisor on day 1 and then register for classes on day 2. Then, all freshman come together a few days before rest of students for welcome week type activities. </p>
<p>Agree, if you hadn’t planned on it, it can throw a wrench in summer planning. Still not sure how my son will work it, what with the summer job he is supposed to be getting!</p>
<p>D had one school choice that had summer orientations but also offered it for the few days before school started for those who couldn’t make the long-distance trip twice (like international students). Find out if this is available and what her options are for class registration.</p>
<p>We are down to one public (UCLA) and one private (USC). Both orientations are months before classes begin. They do offer exceptions if a student cannot come to the (strongly recommended) orientation, one or both stating however that such students will be last to sign up for classes.</p>
<p>This is my first child in college so I am amazed at how things have changed. When I went from the midwest to Bryn Mawr in the 1970s (obviously a smaller school), there was no semi-compulsory extra trip out in the summer for anyone…wasn’t expected and I’m sure most parents would not have paid for it. I remember standing in line to register for classes the day I got out there in August.</p>
<p>BMC in the '70s! I was early '80s grad, lived in Erdman freshman year. Made some mistakes early on CC when I popped in to BMC and Hford boards and suggested that there were coed dorms at BMC. Apparently, the demand for Hford students to live at BMC dropped entirely once Hford when co-ed so that there are no coed dorms at BMC anymore. I started at Bryn Mawr the year of the last all-male freshman class at Hford, so things hadn’t changed that much by the time I graduated. Of course, my dear mother was a bit surprised to find out that, at my women’s college dorm, I had Hford sophomores living down the hall. They were our big brothers who looked out for us. </p>
<p>Best wishes to you and your eldest!</p>
<p>Lol. DS signed up for his orientation yesterday at an OOS Big State U. He has his last high school class on a Friday, and will be attending his college orientation the next Monday!</p>
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<p>You might check with a Frosh Dean. Colleges recognize that not everyone can attend over the summer, and in particular internationals. Thus, some colleges reserves slots in typical Frosh courses for those OOS students who can only attend the last orientation, held the week prior to which school starts. That way the typical Frosh courses are not full when the last group registers.</p>
<p>“standing in line to register for classes”
The good old days . . . :)</p>
<p>My S’s private had kids come a week early and register for classes a day or two before classes started in September. I was shocked at that. D’s large public is holding multiple orientation/registration sessions March through July. School starts mid August.</p>
<p>I also remember standing in line to register - different lines for different classes. Sometimes we would finally get to the front of the line and the sections we needed would be full. It was fun to be able to get a look at your potential classmates while waiting in line. :)</p>
<p>At the University of Wisconsin in the old days (early 80s) not only did you stand in line, but you had to go to each department’s line separately IN THEIR OWN BUILDING. You could literally walk/run miles and miles all over that huge campus if you had to double back and change your schedule because classes were full or whatnot. It could take hours. I remember one year just sitting on the steps of the Chem building and sobbing. Hurray for computer registration!</p>
<p>My son’s LAC does registration online earlier in the summer, so schedules are all sorted out before they come to either the optional trip part for freshman and orientation. </p>
<p>I too stood in endless lines at Boulder and remembering getting to the front of lines and the course also already being full. Rinse and repeat for hours and hours and hours and hours. </p>
<p>I also walked miles to and from elementary school in blizzards. :)</p>