hmmm, orientation questions

[hopskipjump]

DDs freshman orientation is a 2-day event. The students are supposed to check in around 9 am, stay overnight, and check out at an as-of-yet unknown time (it seems you get the full schedule *after* signing up... so dd will have to call tomorrow to get a better idea of the timeline).

 

So - does this imply that she will need to find a flight that will get her to this city and a ride to get her to the university (they do not pick up students at the airport) by 9 am? Or is she supposed to fly in the day before, and get a hotel overnight (don't you have to be 21 to get a hotel room? Or is it 18?)?

 

If I have to go with her, we have to rent a hotel room for 2 or 3 nights, pay for transportation for two of us, and airline tickets for two. This will turn into a $1500+ trip immediately, which seems beyond ridiculous for a super-quick 2-day visit to a school she's already visited...

 

There are no flights leaving here in time to get her anywhere near the campus before 11 am. :mellow:

 

So - I am obviously missing something here. Give me smart questions to suggest to dd before she calls them tomorrow?

 

(most of the students at this university are from the general area, or at least within driving distance. So the information they provide isn't always helpful for those of us who live a zillion miles from the university! I'm getting used to it, but ... urgh!) :blink:

[Gwen in VA]

Good luck trying to lower the cost.

 

Two years ago dd had to attend a freshman orientation at a school about 7 hours from us. All told, between the cost of the orientation and the two nights at a hotel for me and meals out and gas the bill was nearly $1000 (and we drove!).

 

Dd said that absolutely no new or valuable information was imparted to students. The parent sessions were dreadful! The only benefit was that dd decided not to attend that school (yes, she changed in mind in mid-June!). But hopefully most students don't react to freshman orientation that way!

[creekland]

I think I'd have her asking if there are options for drastically out of town students.  They might have some more local folks (related to the college) who are willing to provide more inexpensive travel and/or lodging (summer students?  local students?).

 

It's worth asking.

 

Then if it's a budget deal, we might be pondering whether she/we actually had to go.  One of ours had a summer orientation, but it was voluntary.  Neither of the other two had one.

[bettyandbob]

My dd's orientation is two days starting at 8 am and ending at 4pm the second day. The site says overnight stay is only for one night. Obviously, coming from any distance you'd have to arrive the night before. We are in state and will stay in a hotel the night before because I'm not going to start driving at 3 am to get to orientation at 8am.

 

In your case, it sounds like school is set up for people who are rarely local. I think your dd should contact the orientation organizer and explain the situation. Often they can help with accommodation the night before, but aren't going to put it on their website. They may be able to help her get to and from the airport or at least have suggestions as to how to handle that too.

 

ETA at my dd's school, orientation is where they set the course schedule. For that reason she picked the earliest date. Otherwise, she might not get courses she needs or at least not good times.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Diana P.

[J-rap]

Some schools make accommodations for international students, knowing that it would be near impossible for them to come to a 2-day orientation across the Atlantic Ocean, go home, and then return to school again in the fall.  Maybe partly because of that, they sometimes allow these same considerations for students traveling across the country or in other situations.  My dd actually registered this way.  Her school had two orientations.  One was mid-summer, when they registered, and another in the fall leading up to actual school/classes.  It was really impossible for my dd to attend the mid-summer one.  They had a Skype meeting with her instead and she met her advisor and registered for classes that way.  Of course she missed out on some of the orientation stuff, but it really wasn't a big deal in her case.

 

I wonder if your dd could look into that a little?  Otherwise, I would think if she emailed or called someone in admissions or incoming students office, she might find someone who could brainstorm with her a little and be of help.

[FaithManor]

Ask the school. Most of the time a parent really can skip orientation and just get a packet of info from the college. My eldest boy's school will help get students to and from the local airport and allows students who are not within a reasonable driving distance to stay in the dorms the night before and after if need be. I think they charge $25-50 for this.

 

Due to both our sons attending schools where registration for classes occurred during orientation we opted to be in the earliest session in order to have top pick of classes and times.

 

When we move him to campus we will go in the night before and stay at a hotel.

[plansrme]

My daughter's college orientations are not mandatory.  They use the lure of early registration to entice students to come, but if you read the fine print (my specialty!), it's not mandatory.  Isn't your daughter an athlete?  I wonder if she could skip it, if she wants, and get the athletic department to register her for classes instead.  Regardless, I wouldn't think Mom would have to be there at all.  Also, she is old enough to get a hotel room as long as she isn't going to the beach for spring break.  Renting a car would be expensive or impossible, though.  

[gingersmom]

We had to fly to my daughters orientation. She loved it. The parent portion was a waste.

 

They did have an option for international/kids who could not make it to do orientation days before school began (right after move in)

 

A big incentive for going was you got to pick your classes first.

[DebbS]

It seems like orientation is a profit center for many universities.  They could do as much with an online presentation and allow some kind of Q&A either via email or dial-in times for questions. It is ridiculous! 

 

Some universities expect that students will come a day early and need housing for up to 3 nights instead of just overnight. Usually it's pretty cheap to stay in the on-campus accommodations.

 

I would give admissions (or whoever is in charge of orientation) and discuss your options. I think it will be different for each college.

[hopskipjump]

Thanks for the input! SO helpful!! :cheers2:

 

More info:

 

She can register for classes now. In fact, that's on her to-do list for this week. You can set up an appointment via phone or skype with an advisor and go back and forth as necessary to set up classes. Orientation really sounds like it's just a "here's where everything is," "meet some other incoming freshmen," and placement testing time.

 

The *only* reason I would go is if I needed to be there to rent a hotel room. Sounds like 18 is old enough for that, if necessary, so I would stay home. (just saved $500! Ding!!!)

 

All indications are that the orientation IS mandatory. And dd really wants to go... so we'll get her there.  :D  I'm just going to make sure we aren't spending extra $ where it's not needed on the trip! 

 

So, her checklist for a phone call so far includes:

 

* Finding out if the math testing has to be done at orientation or if she could do that from home or locally somehow (or if they can use her math ACT score as a placement... we aren't positive from the website information). She likely won't go to an orientation until July, so it'd be great if she could do the placement test now so she can pick her Calc class.

 

* If they can pick her up at the airport, or if we need to arrange a service to pick her up at the airport and take her to a hotel/university.

 

* If she can arrive a day early/leave a day late to make arranging flights easier and stay on-campus instead of checking in to a hotel.

 

We do have family abut 4 hours away, so we could also see about having her fly to them... and them driving her up that next morning for orientation. Pay for a hotel room for them to stay in that night, and then they could pick her up after orientation and either take her to the airport, or back to their house to fly out the next day. I hadn't thought about utilizing family til just this minute... hmmm...

 

We are planning to drive up in August to drop her off - arriving about 5 days early, making a vacation of it. Then dd will have plenty of time to drive around, exploring the area and learning where everything is before it's move-in day. So, anything we-the-parents need to know, we can find out then.

 

 

 

 

In your case, it sounds like school is set up for people who are rarely local. I think your dd should contact the orientation organizer and explain the situation. Often they can help with accommodation the night before, but aren't going to put it on their website. They may be able to help her get to and from the airport or at least have suggestions as to how to handle that too.

ETA at my dd's school, orientation is where they set the course schedule. For that reason she picked the earliest date. Otherwise, she might not get courses she needs or at least not good times.

 

 

 Her school had two orientations.  One was mid-summer, when they registered, and another in the fall leading up to actual school/classes.  It was really impossible for my dd to attend the mid-summer one.  They had a Skype meeting with her instead and she met her advisor and registered for classes that way.  Of course she missed out on some of the orientation stuff, but it really wasn't a big deal in her case.

 

I wonder if your dd could look into that a little?  Otherwise, I would think if she emailed or called someone in admissions or incoming students office, she might find someone who could brainstorm with her a little and be of help.

 

 

My daughter's college orientations are not mandatory.  They use the lure of early registration to entice students to come, but if you read the fine print (my specialty!), it's not mandatory.  Isn't your daughter an athlete?  I wonder if she could skip it, if she wants, and get the athletic department to register her for classes instead.  Regardless, I wouldn't think Mom would have to be there at all.  Also, she is old enough to get a hotel room as long as she isn't going to the beach for spring break.  Renting a car would be expensive or impossible, though.  

 

[Carol in Cal.]

We had already done a school visit, so DD did an online orientation.  It was by far the most sensible solution.

[TammyS]

My son's school has freshman come a few days before the semester starts for orientation.  Why don't they all do that?  I think it's a terrible burden to ask people to travel mid summer for orientation.  We would just have to say "no" if that came up.

[hopskipjump]

My son's school has freshman come a few days before the semester starts for orientation.  Why don't they all do that?  I think it's a terrible burden to ask people to travel mid summer for orientation.  We would just have to say "no" if that came up.

 

DDs #2-choice school did this! The classes could be registered in advance, and then placement testing was done during orientation. If you didn't pass the testing, then you'd have to reschedule that math/english/foreign lang class.  They did have "optional" freshmen orientations through spring/summer, but the only mandatory one was days before the semester started, so freshmen just showed up 3 or 4 days earlier (which makes SO much sense anyway!!)

 

This school has 4 dates. DD can't make one of them, so it's down to 3. All are in June or July.

[FaithManor]

About the hotel, if she tries to get it in person, she could be denied due to being 18. There are several hotel chains that are stinky like that. What we have done for 19 year old ds is reserve it ourselves on our credit card ,and then given him a credit card on our account to present at check in. He just recently spent a week in Missouri, and this worked out very well and at a hotel that otherwise will not reserve a room for someone under 21. I think they simply want a parent on the hook for the bill for someone that young. He checked in just fine, and they never asked him any questions since the credit card he presented matched the account number on the reservation.

[TammyS]

About the hotel, if she tries to get it in person, she could be denied due to being 18. There are several hotel chains that are stinky like that. What we have done for 19 year old ds is reserve it ourselves on our credit card ,and then given him a credit card on our account to present at check in. He just recently spent a week in Missouri, and this worked out very well and at a hotel that otherwise will not reserve a room for someone under 21. I think they simply want a parent on the hook for the bill for someone that young. He checked in just fine, and they never asked him any questions since the credit card he presented matched the account number on the reservation.

 

Was his name on the credit card, or your/dh name? 

 

I've been wondering about something like this for my ds, because he will be flying on a connecting flight cross country and my fear is of a delayed/cancelled connecting flight and where would he go?

[hopskipjump]

Thanks for the info! DD already has a credit card on our account (same #, her name on the card) and I think I'll call the hotel in advance (if it turns out that she needs a hotel room) and make sure that it won't be a problem. I'd hate for her to not be able to check in!! O_O

 

About the hotel, if she tries to get it in person, she could be denied due to being 18. There are several hotel chains that are stinky like that. What we have done for 19 year old ds is reserve it ourselves on our credit card ,and then given him a credit card on our account to present at check in. He just recently spent a week in Missouri, and this worked out very well and at a hotel that otherwise will not reserve a room for someone under 21. I think they simply want a parent on the hook for the bill for someone that young. He checked in just fine, and they never asked him any questions since the credit card he presented matched the account number on the reservation.