<p>Not sure if this is the right forum, but if any alumuni are reading, I’m hoping you can post your thoughts. My D is graduating and we’ll be attending Finals Exercises in May. I’d love to hear about what to expect. </p>
<p>Unfortunately there are 4 of us and she can only get 3 tickets for the ceremony on the Lawn.
Do we need to get there early to reserve our seats? Where’s the best place to sit? Any ideas on how to find one more ticket?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help or advice!</p>
<p>Tickets: as the data draws closer, students will begin to pick up tickets. I found tickets on CL for about $20 a piece, easy, the night before. Just watch the forums/CL closer to the event.</p>
<p>Family stuff: I suggest trying to find a nice dinner to go to the night before, rather than the night of. The night of, students will want to be with classmates, no matter how much they tell you that they’d love to hang out with you. I know it’s hard to take, but it’s the truth 
for some, it really is the last night of college. My family and I went to an AMAZING winery dinner the night before, then did an easy/early dinner the night of graduation. There was time before the SEAS ceremony to take family around and explore Grounds one final time.</p>
<p>Seats: not sure, maybe another parent can comment here. Again, more details will flow out closer to the event. I think as long as you’re on the Lawn you’re in a good seat, though obviously closer to the front and closer to the aisle are prime seats.</p>
<p>Weather: ahhhh, Final Exercises, how you destroyed my body in the final day of college. The day began wet and chilly, I was in a dress and sandals and was somewhat cold in the very beginning, even with the black polyester robe. I had brought a small bottle of water thinking that I’d just drink it and be fine. HAH! Mother nature graced us with full blown C’ville sun about halfway through the main ceremony and people were in rough shape. Thankfully most people had sunglasses on Croakies, but almost no one had water or sunscreen, and lots were hungover. Oops. Many got burned when they took their robes off, but at least it warmed up, and a few people managed to order pizzas and other delivery :P. Fast-forward to afternoon ceremonies: it was hot by this time and SEAS wouldn’t let us take our robes off so we all baked during the 2-hour long ceremony. At one point in the beginning before things got underway it started to thunder and they considered moving us indoors. I’m pretty sure they thought us e-schoolers were going to riot if they did, so we continued and it sprinkled a little but nothing major. All we ever dreamed about during our years was graduating one last time in our beautiful courtyard in Thornton.</p>
<p>Anyways, long story short, be prepared for all sorts of weather. It’s the valley in May, things can be freezing cold or hot, dry or humid, perfect or tornado-y. Also, tell your kid to eat and drink something before the ceremony and take a bottle or two of water, sunglasses, and some sunscreen. Also, I HIGHLY suggest having a snack for your kiddo between ceremonies. Trust me, they’ll love you even more than they already do. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing and be prepared to walk a lot and be flexible on timing/spaces. Don’t panic about seats/tickets, everything generally works itself out in the end.</p>
<p>Most of all, HAVE FUN! That was definitely one of the best days of my life.</p>
<p>Thank you Shoebox !! - I’m getting so excited for her and all of us just reading your post!
The tips on snacks and drinks/sunscreen are great and I’m relieved to hear there may be a chance for an extra ticket. What is CL? Cavlink? My D should know.
We decided on a dinner Saturday so it sounds like the right thing to do. What winery did you go to?
My D is in SEAS also but her diploma ceremony is being held at Kent House/Dabney House, Front Lawn . Disappointed that it won’t be in the beautiful courtyard at Thornton. And also, of course, the Rotunda will be covered in scaffolding!
The good news is that Stephen Colbert is the Valedictory speaker on Saturday. My younger S will be attending with us and is a huge Colbert fan!</p>
<p>Sorry, CL = Craigslist. There were a few other buy/sell/rent listings down there too, don’t remember any off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Winery was Barboursville. It was a four course meal with optional wine pairing, and it was hands down one of the best dinners I’ve had. My parents still talk about it and I think they’re vying for me to return there for a wedding ;)</p>
<p>Sorry about Thornton, although I’m not surprised. My class barely fit in there and it was standing room only around the perimeter for parents/guests. Plus, it was a tight squeeze in and out. Dean J may know a bit more about the change and the specifics behind the move, but size is my best guess.</p>
<p>frzz…CL, I presume, is Craig’s List (?). Also, I called to inquire about the scaffolding. (Our D will be a 4th year, and we wanted to have professional photos taken of her in her sports uniform on the lawn this summer.) The architecture rep said the scaffolding would most likely be removed before graduation but would most likely be put back up afterward. You must come back and post after the ceremony; I’d love to hear anything about graduation anyone would like to share. </p>
<p>shoe…Are lawn residents allowed to have more than 3 guests? Is it possible for double majors to attend both ceremonies? (Her first major is a distinguished major and only has like 10 students. Her second one has a lot more. Are these ceremonies done by major or college? IOW, is there one ceremony for all of the SEAS, one ceremony for the CAS, one for Curry, etc.?)</p>
<p>Cross-posted with shoe</p>
<p>[Final</a> Exercises, University of Virginia](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/finals/]Final”>Finals | Office of Major Events, UVA) – UVa even has a website for “Final Exercises.”</p>
<p>jc, you can see how the diploma ceremonies are scheduled this year, tho no guarantee they will be the same for 2014. So long as the one’s for your daughter’s two majors don’t overlap, there is no reason you can’t attend both.</p>
<p>Since you will be coming from out of state, it is not too early to consider accommodations for 2014. Some places, such Boar’s Head, are already taking reservations. Still others wait until the Monday after 2013 FE. The Hampton Inn on Main St. starts a waitlist 4 years out!</p>
<p>JC: I don’t think so, but not certain. I think it’s 3 per student, regardless.
And yes, double majors can attend, although if they’re back-to-back or close to each other, most just pick either their “favorite” or the smaller one, which in your D’s case would probably be the distinguished. </p>
<p>SEAS was all together, as is Curry, Arch, and Nursing I’m pretty sure. CAS splits it by majors, it’s just too big to do otherwise. That’s at least how mine went.</p>
<p>As for the scaffolding, it does look weird, but UVa is old and that’s part of the deal with such a place. We had the giant black coverings during our graduation and when I look back at pictures I remember the great amount of work that goes into maintaining the place. You could consider shooting the other way on the Lawn, or not getting a full-framed shot of the Rotunda.</p>
<p>Yikes! I’ve called the hotels we tend to stay at when we’re in CVille (Doubletree, Marriott Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn); they’ve all said they won’t take reservations until a year out from the date I want to stay. They suggested I start calling the first of May. I really would like to avoid staying far away if possible. </p>
<p>I just looked at the chart on the link you sent. I hope next year follows the same schedule/location as this year. Both of her majors are in Newcomb Hall. The larger is at 1:00 and the other very small one is at 3:15. It would be perfect presuming the first is over in time. (I would presume it wouldn’t last 2 hours and fifteen minutes.)</p>
<p>What exactly are the valedictory exercises on Saturday morning? Is that simply the ceremony where the commencement speaker gives his speech? Also, can you detail what Sunday morning (procession) looks like? Is this where Sullivan addresses the students and parents and the degree candidates walk the lawn? Anything else occur? Lastly, do most of the students go to the party Saturday night?</p>
<p>I had good luck reserving at the English Inn about one year ago for this year’s graduation. So you might try them now to see if they still have rooms for 2014. They are closer to town and have decent rooms with many having been renovated.</p>
<p>Since this will be our first and only Final Exercises, I can only report what I think will happen. Valedictory Exercises are like Baccalaureate exercises other places, without the religious parts. I believe Class awards are announced then as well as the class gift. Unclear whether the event is widely attended in most years, but Colbert should be a real draw. Sunday morning’s final exercises are the cap and gown event when students process. This year’s speaker is VA’s recently retired senator, Jim Webb.</p>
<p>My student hasn’t mentioned the party on Saturday night. I am trying to plan dinners. Know some places impose prix fix that weekend . . . . </p>
<p>Hotels – Last year I canvassed most of the hotels you mentioned and was able to get reservations at all of them with some calling (HGI and Courtyard on Main could not tell me exactly when they would start taking reservations), so stay patient. As long as you move by early June, you should find something. Ended up booking at the English Inn on Emmet, behind Bodos. Was the only place not requiring 3 nights (though we booked for that), and they did not jack up rates nearly as much at the others. I have not stayed there before, but I know some who have.</p>
<p>^^We’ll look for you frzz!</p>
<p>My mom booked up at the Double tree for graduation, it was great. There was also this random important guy there, still don’t know who it was, there was security all over the hotel and black escalades and so on.</p>
<p>I only went to the Lawn and to one of my majors/degrees (I did BA/MT). The timing did not work out for both, plus I would have been way too tired. My 2nd ceremony was in JPJ inside which was great! It was super hot for the Lawn ceremony. I was considering not going actually but I’m glad I did. I didn’t want to sit through a lot of boring stuff, but I did everything with my Curry group (both Lawn and ceremony) and it was great since I actually knew everyone. I’m kind of sad I didn’t get to go to my math ceremony but I wouldn’t have really known anyone so it’s more of a sad in that hypothetical way. I wouldn’t have known anyone 4th year either (I was finished my math major by 3rd year).</p>
<p>I went out the night before… I think probably Timberlake Grill (I was living up near Target anyways and my mom loves that place), and they also were obsessed with the Kohr’s Brothers (we are from Philly). The day of I was wondering if people would want to do lunch or dinner but actually all of my friends did have plans! My family took me to Sakura near Target which is my favorite thing ever (mm, hibachi) and I’m pretty sure we had more Kohr’s brothers. Hrm but now that I think about it I remember being super underdressed at Boar’s Head at one point… I wonder if my hs best friend stayed at the doubletree and they stayed at Boar’s Head… Ummmm… I know we had breakfast at the DoubleTree which was perfect, get right on the shuttle, happy graduation atmosphere, etc.</p>
<p>Re: Lawn: One of my friends had an extra ticket so I just grabbed hers. Then my mom has Multiple Sclerosis and the hot temperatures were way too much for her so she left that halfway through and I do not even think she came to my JPJ ceremony, in hindsight I would have had her just come to that but she really wanted to try the Lawn so it was what it was. My brother and high school best friend came to my JPJ ceremony so it was just fine. One of my closest friends did not go to the Lawn, and we staged photos together at a later date which was so much fun.</p>
<p>The parking was really easy to leave from JPJ, we took the hotel shuttle since I thought it would be super traffic-y but I would have just parked at JPJ if I had known. The next morning my brother and I made a Sheetz run and then it was back to normal (since I stayed in CVille in my single apartment all summer, working at UVA, until I got my job near Richmond and moved in August). THAT was weird… I had a lot of townie friends so it was fine, I was hoping to stay in CVille for good, but I am glad I moved obviously since I like where my life has gone. I am glad I made myself grow and didn’t become a townie. I miss the friends I just had there, though, since I do not have a lot of friends in Richmond, but I have a lot of friends in NOVA so when I move this summer I think it will be nice to move forward in that way.</p>
<p>I also helped out at the Brown College breakfast/luncheon 3 years of undergrad, again it is a I wish I got to experience that with class of 2010 thing since I had no real desire to go hang out at class of 2011 when I hadn’t even lived there all year kind of thing. I am glad I helped out those 4 years and got to hang out with all of my friends when they came to it in 2010 in between ceremonies. Basically you will never get everything in which is sad but it is what it is.</p>
<p>That’s great Ava! It will be here before we know it !</p>
<p>We always stay in the English Inn, and last time we were there (this past summer) we asked when they would start taking reservations for 2014 grad. They said February (2013!) – so we have already booked a room for my graduation in 14 months time…!! Get on it as quickly as you can!</p>
<p>Will the rotunda renovation finally be done by this year’s graduation?</p>
<p>It is being done in phases. The first phase might be done.</p>
<p>It will be a pleasant surprise if the renovations are not too obvious at Final Exercises this year. The scaffolding is rather fitting, actually. My son endured construction at every other level of his schooling . . . .</p>
<p>The best place for detailed, current information about the state of a construction project at UVa is the Featured Projects page on the Facilities Management site:</p>
<p>[Featured</a> Construction Projects](<a href=“http://www.fm.virginia.edu/fpc/FeaturedProjects.htm]Featured”>http://www.fm.virginia.edu/fpc/FeaturedProjects.htm)</p>
<p>There are status reports posted every couple weeks for every project that is in progress. Most projects also have picture updates. The Rotunda reports and pictures are really interesting. :)</p>
<p>Oops! Double post!</p>