How important is O-week?

windream · 05-20-2008, 10:56 PM

I will be gone on vacation and will miss the first 3 days or so of O week. But if it's really important, I will change my plane ticket.
So how important is that week for an incoming freshman?

blackeyedsusan · 05-20-2008, 11:06 PM

Really, really important. DON'T MISS IT! Seriously.

dragon2owl · 05-20-2008, 11:57 PM

OMG!! Don't miss any of O-Week!!! It's like one of the best week you will ever have!

hotasice · 05-21-2008, 12:14 AM

Dude, this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments (or week, rather).

Change your plane ticket PRONTO!

maysixxmom · 05-21-2008, 12:20 AM

Just consider O-Week mandatory.

genieinabottle · 05-21-2008, 12:45 AM

I am an out-of-state student, and I have several questions concerning O-Week. I have to buy plane tickets and plan to stay at a hotel so I really want to know what to expect ahead of time. Is this the week for orientation, making freshmen schedules, and moving into dorms? What else goes on during this week? Also, are the activities planned for O-Week for students only or should my parents come, too?

If you know anything more about O-Week, please let me know. Any comments would be appreciated.

Singersmom07 · 05-21-2008, 07:52 AM

You do not stay in a hotel fo rO Week. you move int your dorm room on that Sunday. It is not something to miss. It is when you really become part of Rice. Parents only are there on Sunday. You will be getting information on OWeek form your college. but you can check it out here. this site has all our info fo moving in and O Week. Rice University O-Week: Welcome

NYSkins1 · 05-21-2008, 11:23 AM

O-Week is mandatory at Rice. Consider the first day of O-Week the same as you would consider the first day of classes.

O-Week is about half advising, half indoctrination. There is the requisite picking of classes, meeting with an academic advisor, learning about the honor code, etc., just like at any other school. But what makes Rice's O-Week different is how it is run through the residential colleges.

Each residential college has two or three student O-Week coordinators who spend their entire summers at Rice planning O-Week. It's an unpaid job, so they do it just because they love Rice and O-Week that much. Each college has a different system for advisors, but almost all of them (Sid and Wiess being the exceptions) place you into a group with about 7 other new students. You have three student advisors: two from your own college and one from another. You spend most of your time that week in your group, getting to know the people in it, but also getting to know the incoming class at your college. This helps forge the college unity from day one. It's worth noting that the application process to be an advisor is highly competitive; between 60 and 100 people apply for 24 slots in the advisor round, then between 60 and 100 apply for only 12 slots in the co-advisor round. These people really are the cream of the crop of Rice students.

O-Week is like a week of summer camp, except it's in college. It was one of the best weeks of my life, and it set the tone for my entire Rice career. There's a reason this year will be the third O-Week I've participated in (including my own).

You'll be getting a packet of information including a big, thick O-Week book from your college sometime in July. That book will tell you everything you need to know about O-Week. Get excited!

Singersmom07 · 05-21-2008, 01:51 PM

From the web site:

Frequently Asked Questions
IS ORIENTATION REQUIRED?
Yes, all new undergraduate students to Rice University are required to attend O-Week.
WHAT WILL WE DO DURING ORIENTATION?
O-Week is designed to ease your transition to university life by introducing you to campus resources, providing you with many opportunities to meet other first-year students, and offering strategies to enhance your college experience. The week will be packed with a full schedule of activities designed to prepare new students for a successful beginning at Rice.
WHEN IS ORIENTATION?
O-Week begins on Sunday, August 17 with move-in and lasts throughout the week.

Eravial08 · 05-21-2008, 03:08 PM

Totally go to O-week. I will have to miss the first three days of classes (i really wish I didn't have to, but it's kind of impossible to avoid), but I don't consider that nearly as bad as missing part of O-week, which I have been looking forward to since Owl Days.

pcannon · 05-23-2008, 04:48 PM

God I hated O-Week. Most people seem to like it, but if you have no interest in the college system and live off campus it is entirely pointless.

Dorian_Mode · 05-23-2008, 05:28 PM

Despite all that, pcannon, it is still mandatory. Let the incoming students decide for themselves whether or not it's worthwile.

maysixxmom · 05-24-2008, 12:14 PM

Students "hating" O-Week will be a small minority compared to those who love it.

aibarr · 05-25-2008, 02:48 AM

I wasn't as big on the college system as everyone else was, either, but even though I never really liked summer camp or anything like it (and O-Week is kind of like summer camp at college) I would never have missed O-Week. It really kind of changed my personality.

I was always a total goody-two-shoes in high school... Well-liked by pretty much everyone except when I was being the community conscience. There was a point during O-Week, as I watched all my colleagues jumping into Malcolm Gillis's swimming pool (Gillis was the president before Leebron), I just decided I was going to have fun in college (even if it wasn't always the "proper" or "allowed" type) and I jumped in, too, fully-clothed, as Mrs. Gillis threatened to call the Campos.

I had a lot more fun after that (and it didn't do anything negative to my academic successes, either).

jym626 · 05-28-2008, 09:55 PM

Now that they moved that silly writing requirement/test thing to an online assignment, O-Week will be absolutely perfect!! That was the *only* thing that was not a blast, from what I hear. The final party, Dis-O (disorientation) is apparently a lot of fun too. Do NOT miss it. Great, GREAT way to meet everyone and get settled in.