<p>I’m a freshman at Tufts and I honestly don’t see anything wrong with Myspace, LiveJournal, etc for meeting people before arriving on the hill. I met my original roommate on the Connection2009 Forums (they’re forums that Tufts sets up for the admitted students in June, the summer before they matriculate) and we hit it off so much that we requested each other to be roommates and it was a fantastic fit! I also met one of my closest friends here at Tufts via CC! I have to admit that the rest of the people I talked to, I did not clique with when I met in person and seldom even run into on campus. But so what? I think there’s no harm in meeting people and bonding over a common excitement for Tufts, college, interests, etc. It’s just important to be realistic about these relationships and not have your expectations set too high regarding continued friendships with these online friends. As long as you don’t get too carried away, envisioning your online friends as friends for life, etc, I see no problem with having them, for the several months leading up to September. </p>
<p>As for the pre-orientation programs, I completely disagree with Renee. I did IO (I’m not an international student but I was born in Moscow, Russia and moved to LA when I was 5 so I’m still kind of international, heh) and I had a blast. It’s true, I’m not close friends with most of the people I met there, but it’s still nice to get to know people. It definitely eased me into Tufts, allowing me learn some names and get to know some people in a smallish group (300 I think) before the rest of the class arrived. It was also nice to get to move in and set up my dorm room early.</p>
<p>Renee, what’s this about 90% of the lesson fee being waved if you major in Music? I’m a music major and have never heard anything about that. I think what you’re talking about is the ensemble scholarship, which, if you get it (it’s not hard to get) covers about 90% of your lesson fees if you’re concurrently enrolled in an ensemble (like Chamber Singers, Chorale, Gospel Choir, Orchestra, etc.) – but this can only be done for a max of TWO semesters by each person. Is that what you’re talking about? Or is this something different?</p>