1. Freshmen orientation was great! Move in was so easy! Definitely do early-move-in. Almost everyone does it, and it especially sucks if your roommate beats you there and you're stuck bickering the next day over how you want to rearrange the room when s/he has already started settling in. Also, early move in people have the benefit of driving their cars up on Belk lawn so they can unload closer to the dormitories. Furthermore, you have the help of about two hundred upperclassmen called O.T.s (OT = Orientation Team). They volunteer to move the new freshmen class in and help get them settled in a bit. The exchange is that these upperclassmen get to arrive a few days before the freshmen (as opposed to a few days after) to get settled in, themselves, without the stress of having to go to class two days after they arrive. Stephen Curry did Orientation Team this year, along with a few other basketball players. He carried a box of my stuff up here haha
I'm doing it this year, so I hope to see you all there!
I did think it a little bit long, though. Everything on the schedule until Sunday is marked as "mandatory," so they keep you pretty busy. They're trying to keep you from having time to get homesick. But generally speaking you can regard "mandatory" as "strongly recommended." The transition to college is pretty stressful, even if you're excited and everything goes smoothly. If you need a break or a nap, take one! But a lot of the stuff is really fun, too. Freshmen Olympics gets really competitive (you play fun games that you probably haven't played since elementary school), and it is important to get the swim test out of the way. You obviously HAVE to go to the Honor Code Signing Ceremony on Sunday night (the night before classes). The health (drinking, sex, etc.) talk is funny...skits and whatnot. And some of it is really helpful! They have a lecture about the library, computer/technology services on campus, and so on. If I hadn't gone, I would not have known how to set up my wifi.
2. My art class has twelve people. English has mid-twenties. Philosophy has maybe eighteen. Astronomy has thirty-six (it's a popular class among non math/science people like me...we refer to it fondly as "baby physics"). The vast majority of classes are capped at 32, but you will mostly have twenty or fewer students in your class. Last semester, my writing class had sixteen, English had twenty-five, Biology had thirty-two (but there were two lab sections with sixteen per lab), and calculus had twenty.
Professors won't usually raise the bar to admit more students after the cap has been reached, unless you desperately need the course for your major or graduation.
I'm pretty sure the most you will EVER have in a class is forty, and that is only in Astronomy, Intro Psych, and a few other hugely popular courses or prerequisite courses.
3. I've found a mix. Probably mostly lecture, but my writing and English classes have been primarily discussion. Professors try to mix it up and engage you.
This is a post I made a few days ago. The second video clip contains a 20 minute funny documentary of our orientation. I'm sure it's different every year, but this should give you an idea of what to expect!
Funny Davidson Videos! 
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