Links
HomeMaking the Choice
Scholarships
The Applications
Financial Aid
Waiting for Decisions
The Final Choice
College To-Do
High School To-Do
The Bank Account
Choosing a Computer
Communication Plan
Clothes and Supplies
Orientation
Class Registration
Buying Textbooks
The Roommate
Handling the Move
Saying Goodbye
The Empty Nest
Attending Orientation
If your son or daughter's university offers a parents' orientation, make sure to attend. Be prepared to sit through a lot of seminars where the same information is repeated over and over, but once you've sat through it at least once you can then safely skip "class" and wander the campus instead.By wandering the campus you can get a good feel for the place, and then you can appreciate the amount of walking your student soon will be doing every day. If the school offers a walking tour to parents, make sure to participate in addition to doing your own private wandering.
Usually orientation for students is more than a one-day affair, so they'll be staying at a dorm for at least one night. This is usually included as part of the orientation fee. They will not necessarily be staying in their dorm, but they'll all be grouped together according to what program they're admitted to and they'll all be put in the same dorm building.
This is a wonderful way for them to meet classmates who will all be taking the same classes, so orientation is a great way to break the ice. Unless the roommate is in the same academic program, this will probably not be the opportunity to meet them and get acquainted.
An important step prior to the orientation is to have the student make a list of goals that need to be accomplished during the orientation, so while they're there they can make sure to address them (ID card, location of dining halls, registration for classes, meet the advisor, etc.).