Is it normal for a freshman to go to orientation without a parent?

[Marian]

It is a very good idea to look at the online catalog and whatever literature the college has sent you to get some tentative ideas of what you might want in a course schedule before you arrive for orientation.

And it may help to get your parents' input into this -- especially if they went to college. Your older sibling might be able to help, too.

My son went to orientation almost clueless about course selections and ended up taking the chemistry course intended for pre-meds (i.e., the hard one) to fulfill a distribution requirement. Given his major (computer science), he could have and should have taken the easy version of chemistry or some other less demanding science course, but he didn't know any better.

Having a parent at orientation would not have helped with this (the parents didn't even see the kids throughout the orientation program). Doing a little research in advance would have.

Try not to be quite as naive as my son was.

[mimk6]

When son #1 went to summer orientation at UCLA I don't think any of the L.A. parents went. I think there is a difference between Admit Days and orientation and it sounds like your parents did go with you to see the school when you were deciding. Let me give you another perspective. You're the last kid which means your parents are at a different place in their parenting experience. It sometimes takes having a few kids (I have four) before you realize that your kids are more capable than you think. So sometimes parents go to all these things with the first or second kid and then later realize that it might have been overkill. I have no doubt that his business commitments are a factor but he may also be saying, "This is it, you're growing up and I trust you to figure this out." Your parents are probably, as with many things, more relaxed this time around. None of which means they don't love you as much as your sister. But if you really feel you need a parent there, you should say something.

[HisGraceFillsMe]

^Unless, like me, none of your siblings have ever gone to anything but a JC before. ^_^ I think that's a big part of why my parents are going with me. I'm the first kid in the whole 4-year university sense.