So I was wondering if anyone else had some opinions on timing incoming Freshman orientations. Last August was our son’s 1st yr, we brought him in and attended some of the family orientation stuff then said goodbye. This coming June it will be our daughter’s turn. However, we go up the end of June and then all come home after a couple days. At the end of August we are supposed to bring her up and drop her off and that’s it. I’m already feeling the pangs ;( I feel like the thing where we all go and all participate for a couple days is an easier and more gradual separation and easier? to handle … or am I wrong? This is my baby girl and I’ve always been there for her, now I won’t be. Oh Jeez.
If she goes in June for the orientation she will get comfortable with the lay of the land and get her feet wet. She will need you less come August which is hard but a good thing. Our older D’s school had a freshman early week and no separate summer orientation. They had an evening even for kids and parents (separate) the night before move in then separate events on move-in day. After the convocation it was parents exit stage left and students exit stage right.
S’s school has separate June orientations which also have an optional parent component but I am not able to go. It is an expensive flight in. He will go through all the meeting with advisors, “how-to” seminars, ice breakers, stay in the dorm 2 nights and organized nights out. By move in he should know what’s going on and I expect to be a third wheel by mid afternoon. What I did was book our flight so we arrive late afternoon 2 days before move in. That gives us a full day for procurement, to get bus passes, find a bike, barber shop and whatever and for a “last supper”. By then I imagine he will be ready to go and I will just have to come to grips with my empty nest. I am staying on 2 extra days to see sights and just settle in to my new reality. I booked a place with a deep tub and I plan to travel with some Lush bath bombs so I can soak in the tub and wallow in my obsolescence. :’(
Both of my boys went to their Orientations in June. They went with friends who were also attending (in state publics). S1 attended DH’s alma mater and S2 attended mine so we were familiar with the colleges. One good thing about early orientation is that it gives them time to go home plan their schedule and play around with it some without pressure to get it done immediately. In August, we hauled all the stuff and helped set up the dorm room. Went out to dinner with them and headed home. Both were ready for us to leave by then!
My D has late June orientation (mandatory, 2 days with 1 overnight in the dorms). I am going along for the drive (10 hours each way) and for the optional parents orientation (my H made fun of me for going to that but I think I will enjoy it). We’ll drive her back in mid-August for move-in.
Honestly, I am really looking forward to having that time with her. The long ride home together will give her plenty of time to share some of the orientation excitement first-hand. I expect that when we drop her off in August, there won’t be much lingering, and that phone calls and texts the first few weeks may be sparse and not very detailed. So overall I think the separate orientation will be a positive.
I also plan to send the kid with a list of things to measure in the dorm - particularly the closet shelves to know what size box or Rubbermaid will fit. I want to get my money’s worth out of that peak time plane fare. 
I like the June orientation for the same reasons others have stated and because it gives the incoming freshman a chance to meet other freshman before all the hustle and bustle that occurs at the start of the school year. Then they have all summer to socialize online.
Another thing to consider: if registration is part of orientation, there will be more the school can do in June if the classes your student wants are full. By August, most classes will be full.
Okay, bring tissues. We did the first orientation available. Yes, I had already sent another child to college, but she was my baby. We step onto campus and I started crying - this was it, she was coming here - and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
However, she stayed on campus while we were in a hotel. It got her used to school, excited, and comfortable. They say they opened classes for each section - I’m sure they did. However, it made summer much better for her. Her schedule was done, we pre-ordered her books, she stayed in the dorms where she’d live, she made friends and saw she’d survive.
I of course hung out at the bar at the hotel and wondered how I’d actually do with the drop off if I was crying at orientation.
Okay, bring tissues. We did the first orientation available. Yes, I had already sent another child to college, but she was my baby. We step onto campus and I started crying - this was it, she was coming here - and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
However, she stayed on campus while we were in a hotel. It got her used to school, excited, and comfortable. They say they opened classes for each section - I’m sure they did. However, it made summer much better for her. Her schedule was done, we pre-ordered her books, she stayed in the dorms where she’d live, she made friends and saw she’d survive.
I of course hung out at the bar at the hotel and wondered how I’d actually do with the drop off if I was crying at orientation.
^they generally do offer a small amount of seats in each course for each orientation, but for some GE courses the student will also be competing with upperclassmen. Plus, if you go early, there will be more seats that aren’t restricted for that orientation that you may be able to talk the school into letting you into. I worked as an Orientation Leader for two years; with every session we got more and more “there are no more seats in any of this GE class, so don’t even tell people about them.” By the last session we always had some students crying and taking home classes they had no interest in because that was all that was left.
@eyemamom so how did you do at drop off? I’m not looking forward to it. I keep thinking about how I used to pick her up at preschool and she would be so happy to see me she would run full-tilt and almost knock me over as she threw herself at me in joy. Today I thought I should start remembering her more grownup accomplishments and not that very young stuff.
It’s OK to stroll down memory lane and get misty. Maybe the more of that you do now the more composed and ready to let her go you will be when the time comes.
DS told the dog last week to be ready because “when I leave mom is going to mother hen the hell out of you.” Yep, he sees me picking at her ears and cooking her her own egg in the morning just to keep myself occupied. He could be right . . . we’ll see.
Drop off was much better. we unloaded the room and hubby assembled stuff. We left her while we ran to bb&b. We came back, picked up her books we preordered from the bookstore and took her to lunch. Then we hugged goodbye and left. We both cried a little when we left. However she’s really good about texting and calling. I thought life as I knew was going to be over, but I really grew to like the empty nest. My older son didn’t go back for a few weeks aftwr. We took him back as well and went away for the weekend. That helped with the transition.
We’ve been chatting about visitation plans and she said “September is for me”. Meaning, leave me alone for a month please. hahaha
I have never been to a parents weekend and don’t intend to go. They happen too soon after drop off and with that already being a long flight I see no point unless your kid REALLY needs/wants you to be there.
So is this June orientation the only orientation for first year students, or are orientations held throughout June or the summer?
My 3 kids attended private schools where orientation for all first year students was held the week or so before classes started. It was because students came from all over the country, or world, and it would be very inconvenient and expensive to come in June or July and then again at the beginning of the semester. So you brought them once, dropped them off, said good-bye and that was it.
The school where I work is a state school, so most students attending are from this state. Orientations are held various times in June and also at the beginning of the semester. A major benefit of an earlier orientation is more class choice. At the school I work, by the last orientation, students just have to sign up for whatever classes are still open.
They have sessions organized by college at the university from June 6- June 30. International students have their orientation at the end of August but are welcome to come in June if they want to. I don’t know how the Int’l students register for classes. I would hope they could do that earlier rather than later.
saintfan - I can see that. Our son was only 40 minutes away so that was a no brainer, and daughter will be 3 hrs by car, and I do that for birthday lunches for family, so it’s a nice get away especially with a couple nights in a hotel.
I think the June orientations are more often done at State U’s where the majority of students are coming from within a few hours away. My kids all went to small privates that had fairly large OOS student populations. All had orientation just days before the regular students came back. All three of my kids were at least 6 hours away (not counting traffic) so I don’t think we would have been able to accompany them for that extra trip, not to mention the expense. Aren’t the classes chosen on-line? With HS’s ending at different times, isn’t a June orientation difficult for some kids to make anyway?