<p>when should freshmans arrive in Cambridge? Since we will know whether we're accepted to a pre-orientation program in July, should we book our tickets assuming that we've been accepted? This is a bit presumptuous and if we're not accepted, we'd be arriving way too earlｙ． also how much time should we allow for city exploring, saying goodbyes to parents, ect. When do freshmans usually go shopping for random necessities, after orientation? </p>
<p>thank you very much</p>
<p>The Orientation site asks you not to book tickets until you know when you need to arrive on campus, although even if you’re not in an FPOP, you could certainly arrive when the FPOP people do.</p>
<p>You need to be on campus by Saturday, August 29 at noon. Thinking back to the years I stayed in the dorm over the summer, I would say most people who aren’t in FPOPs or trying out for fall sports arrive on Thursday night or Friday.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of time during orientation to go shopping and explore Boston – some parts of orientation are geared toward exploring Boston anyway, and there’s enough free time during orientation that you can go do what you want. (Vanishingly few parts of orientation are required; if there’s something you don’t want to go to, you generally don’t have to.)</p>
<p>And saying goodbye to your parents depends on when your parents are leaving – parent orientation is from Saturday the 29th through Monday the 31st.</p>
<p>If you have any fellow prefrosh friends, I would suggest coordinating your arrival with them. I arrived a day before all my friends did and felt kind of abandoned the first night, but the next morning, when my friend came and we met up, I felt <em>much</em> better about the whole college thing.</p>
<p>If you arrive before formal orientation events start and you’re not doing an FPOP, you’re going to have to be more proactive about meeting with upperclassmen / finding things to do because not everyone will be back yet. If you’re temped in EC or Senior Haus, you will definitely have things to do because we start Rush construction early, but I’m not sure about the other dorms.</p>
<p>How early can we arrive and still get some form of housing? I’m also applying to FPOP, but would like to arrive as soon as possible to get my life straight, so I can form a routine and stuff (and I don’t mind about solitude. I’m pretty used to it).</p>
<p>Summer rooms won’t be available until the start of FPOPs - housing has to repaint freshman rooms and move furniture and things around. I think the earlierst you’re allowed to arrive is the Saturday before FPOPs start or something, but you’ll get more information closer to the actual date. Depending on where you’re temped, they might not let you check in early if you’re not in an FPOP, because various summer programs are housed in the dorms and your room might not be available.</p>
<p>^Yeah, you can contact the house manager of your temp dorm.</p>
<p>MacGregor usually finished up summer construction and let summer residents move to their fall rooms around August 15, so a prefrosh arriving a week early wouldn’t have been a problem. But it most likely varies from year to year and from dorm to dorm.</p>
<p>does school start right after orientation then?</p>
<p>Registration Day for upperclassmen is the day after Labor Day, and the first day of classes is the day after that.</p>