<p>I’m planning for next year’s commencement, and would welcome some input from those who have been through it recently, or will this year. </p>
<p>Most places one can book require a stay of Friday thru Sunday, so not much discretion about that. The ceremony is Sunday, and Monday is Memorial Day.</p>
<p>But in planning our likely itinerary, I have to consider that lovely D2 during that time will be frantically cleaning out her apartment to vacate, partying with her friends, and will want to spend as little time with us as humanly possible. At least, that’s what I did.</p>
<p>So what is a reasonable itinerary to expect from the parents perspective? What night(s) should we plan on taking her out with us? all of them? One?
What else did people do, while the soon-to-be graduate was doing what soon-to-be graduates do? What did you guys’ (parents) do?</p>
<p>How is getting to/from Schoelkopf, is it an ordeal? Parking? ( I assume it’s still at Schoelkopf).</p>
<p>My parents were in town from Saturday-Sunday. They stayed in my apartment and left their car in the parking garage all weekend. We did lunch together after Convocation on Saturday and went off to do our own things for the rest of day (my parents really loved downtown Ithaca and spent their entire day there). On Sunday, they walked to the stadium and I met up with them after the ceremony. We had an early dinner and they left (I only lived 2 hours from Ithaca). I was good about packing up my belongings before my parents arrived so we were able to load the car when the arrived on Saturday.</p>
<p>For my friends who had family travel from long distances, they had the same general plan but stayed at their hotel while we all went out Sunday night.</p>
<p>you don’t have hotel reservations yet? Unless things have changed dramatically since my d graduated in 2008, you should be in “hotel lottery” the year before graduation as hotels will take the reservation one year in advance. So I would contact hotels ASAP and find out about a reservation for next years graduation.
Re: graduation–
There are 2 services- Saturday am/noontime is the convocation (?) program. The “famous speaker” is invited to address the graduates at convocation. I believe the president of Cornell is always the speaker at the actual graduation service on Sunday.</p>
<p>If you cannot get a hotel room in Ithaca, the school has a lottery in February to get rooms in the dorm. We got dorm rooms for a few family members as hotel rooms are absolutely ridiculously expensive for graduation. It was over $300/nite in 2008 and we made our reservations in 2004 when we dropped our kid off for orientation. Yes, some hotels do take reservations 4 years in advance- others have the lottery one year prior to graduation.<br>
We had dinner reservations for both saturday and sunday- we figured if we were done by 10:00Pm we wouldn’t get into our kids way- I think most kids were willing to put up with their parents for part of the evening.<br>
My kid was in Tradition- and they had a nice Awards dinner planned for Friday evening. I think other student organizations (Hillel) may also have things planned for friday evening too.<br>
Traffic was tough to get into graduation. As we had a disabled family member, we were able to get a special parking permit and seating area. That made things alot easier.</p>
<p>and if interested- we had a great dinner at Taughanock Farms. Prix fixed- 3 or 4 courses and reasonably priced. Which is a rarity during graduation week-end. Restaurants start taking dinner reservations in January. So don’t overlook that fact either.</p>
<p>Frankly, I would stay in the dorms during commencement weekend. That way you’re right on campus and you don’t have to deal with driving back and forth every time you want to change your clothes. You can also stay through Monday (Memorial Day) which will make things a bit more relaxing. It’s probably cheaper as well.</p>
<p>You probably won’t know the different receptions/activities that your daughter will have to attend until next April at the earliest. </p>
<p>My graduation weekend was pretty full – Cornell Tradition reception on Friday, followed by dinner with my faculty adviser and parents. On Saturday was convocation followed by a big open reception on the Arts Quad and then smaller receptions at night. I think I attended the Glee Club concert that night. On Sunday was obviously commencement and then afterward around ten of my closest friends and I organized a barbecue for our families down at Stewart Park which lasted until 6PM or so. </p>
<p>My parents didn’t leave until that Monday. I actually stayed in Ithaca until July that summer so I didn’t have to pack just then. A lot of students didn’t bother to pack up and leave until the Monday after Memorial Day, and I think those that did leave that Sunday after commencement regret not having a more drawn-out ‘goodbye’.</p>
<p>ya the problem is her lease will be up, I suggested she consider this when she looked for apartments, but evidently this point was not a priority. Many others (but by no means all) are in the same situation.</p>
<p>BTW I was using this thread, in part, as a sleezy way to get contacts to discuss accommodations and restaurants on PM, so I won’t invite attention from my competition. All PMs re: restaurants with advance booking periods less than 1 yr will be most welcome. Ditto accommodations, I’ve got the major hotel lotteries covered, but would prefer cheaper and/or better options.</p>
<p>well since it is already discussed.
I think staying in a dorm makes alot of sense. It is so much cheaper and you don’t have to worry about the car or dealing with traffic for the ceremony.
the only major complaints I heard from my sis and brother in law
–no air conditioning (they stayed in cascidilla as I thought they would enjoy being in college town.) If west campus dorms have airconditioning, I’d try to get a room there.
–and b-i-l who never lived in dorm, didn’t love idea of community bathroom/showers. But for someone who is a bit more adventurous, I think staying in the dorm is the way to go.</p>
<p>I stayed in Donlon when we did a CAU one summer, reminded me of old times. Ate in the cafeteria too. However some old times are sometimes best forgotten. BTW those CAU things are really great vacations.</p>
<p>Those new-fangled West campus dorms have air conditioning??</p>
<p>Do they also come with somebody to carry me up Libe Slope?</p>
<p>Do they seem to have enough dorm space for all requestors, or is this a lottery deal too? If we can’t count on it, it doesn’t do much good, I’d have to book something more reliable.</p>
<p>forgot about the slope. Maybe that was the reason we got rooms in collegetown and not west campus.<br>
d lived in sheldon (collegetown) her soph year. She didn’t want to deal with libe slope either.</p>
<p>I though some of the newer dorms have airconditioning. I’m sure one of the current students can chime in.</p>
<p>Up until a few days ago, there was still space available. Apparently it is all gone now.</p>
<p>Here is info about the dorm rates.</p>
<p>Rates
Commencement guest housing is charged at a weekend three-night package rate that includes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights (May 28, 29, 30). The rate is the same for a l, 2, or 3 night stay and includes a breakfast buffet on Saturday and Sunday mornings.</p>
<p>Residence Halls: The 2010 housing rate is $155* per person for a 3 night stay plus Saturday & Sunday breakfast buffet.</p>
<p>*These rates are non-taxable.</p>
<p>I also did a quick search for rooms for this years graduation. There are still rooms available in Cortland. So, if that is worst case, that really isn’t so bad.</p>
<p>My parents loved staying in a Gothic on West Campus. They were pretty giddy about it. Both of them commuted to local schools when they went to college, so they never got the chance to live in a dorm. I think they were smart enough to bring a room fan. It was a pretty sweltering commencement weekend. </p>
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<p>Really? It says that space on North is still available… I think you’re safe depending on the lottery, Monydad. There are around 7,500 rooms on campus and only 3500 graduating seniors.</p>
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<p>There’s pretty decent bus service throughout the weekend as well.</p>
<p>cortland is a good alternative. D # 2 is graduating SUNY Cortland this week-end so I know the place well. 30 to 40 minute drive (tops) to Ithaca. Good roads. Not the typical dark windy roads that you find driving out of Ithaca. Bunch of hotels in cortland including Hampton Inn, Ramada, Days Inn and a new Country Suites. There are a few others too
if you can’t get a room in Ithaca, I’d look into getting a room in Cortland. Has a Dunkin Donuts and Applebees too. What else do you need.</p>
<p>btw- my b-i-l can be a bit of a stick in the mud. I too think staying in a dorm would be fun. I don’t think i realized it was an option when we made reservations when we dropped my freshman d off at cornell.</p>
<p>this is one of my favorite parts about college confidential. Passing along practical info that may be real helpful to others.</p>
<p>We booked last year at Country Inns for next year. Now I am hoping they have a shuttle since everyone is mentioning the parking situation. I guess I will call them now to find out. Country Inns only books three days as well and they were more expensive than normal but I am happy to have air conditioning.</p>
<p>We did not want to chance the lottery system so we booked far in advance. They were the only hotel that would do that, all the others would not take advance reservations.</p>
<p>We booked a house on the lake a year ago. We plan to spend a week there before the graduation. Ithaca is so pretty, we thought it would be nice to spend sometime up there. If D2 doesn’t end up going to Cornell, never know when we would make it up there again. We plan on having few barbecues for her friends and parents at the house. Can’t believe it’s almost graduation time.</p>
<p>A lot of students live in collegetown, and some of those apartments are very nice. Non seniors usually leave before graduation and their lease often run for whole year, I am sure they wouldn’t mind renting them out for the weekend.</p>
<p>I found a lake house for my family. Since we would have needed 4 rooms at a hotel for 3 nights, the house ended up costing about the same. Plus, it has a kitchen, deck,…all the amenities of a house which you wouldn’t get in a hotel. I found it on craigslist the August before I graduated and the owner is a Cornell professor that uses the home as a vacation house (and makes a lot of money renting it out for graduations!)</p>
<p>Both of these are great ideas. If anybody is interested in a rustic (read: there’s an outhouse) cabin on the lake around 8 miles outside of Ithaca, I can get you in touch with the owners.</p>
<p>I’m bumping this thread because I just tried calling hotels in Ithaca for 2011 graduation weekend. </p>
<p>As expected, most places are already booked, but the Econolodge (near the airport) still had rooms available. (I booked one – be ready with your credit card; you have to pay when you book.)</p>
<p>Also, the Hampton Inn is expecting their existing reservations to be paid in full by Dec. 16th. They’ll be releasing the unpaid reservations on the morning of the 17th, so I was told to call then for a chance to grab the empty spots.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d post this for anyone who’s still looking for a hotel for graduation.</p>