Freshman experience; breaking the ice

anon94785555
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Choose the college on the fit, not the orientation et al activites. Those will fit the student body. Costs will vary- publics based on the financial abilities of typical students moreso than privates.

UW-Madison has a 1 1/2 day (after 1/2 day for placement tests which may have been taken earlier) SOAR- summer orientation and registration for students with a parallel (separate) good parents’ program. They then have a “Wisconsin Welcome” week when classes start. Plus dorms do their own activites for incoming freshmen. A large school with many and diverse activities. The kind of school the independent student thrives at- no handholding.

Do not be taken in by school x’s activities compared to school y’s. Look at the overall package for fit. Schools tend to arrange their activites to fit their student body. At UW students would cringe at a mandatory freshman class for everyone. Some students are scared off by the campus and don’t apply. UW has improved its student help compared to past eras and seems to offer enough to help make a large school seem smaller without confining students.

Note that different schools will appeal to different people- hence the diversity in programs et al. Accomodates opposites- what one likes, another dislikes…