<p>So I was on tux return duty yesterday while DS and DH played in a golf tournament connected to one of the local scholarships that DS won! They had a great time at the tournament and the report on prom was that it was AMAZING! The food was awesome, apparently the Ritz (I know…my prom was at the Elks lodge or something!!) has the most awesome mac and cheese!! All of the kids were in love!! The DJ was great and only played 2 slow songs all night so they danced like maniacs all night!! After party was hanging at his best friends house until around 2 am. It is in our neighborhood so he had a short drive home:) This week is when the rest of the local scholarships are announced. He has 3 in hand so far:) fingers crossed!!</p>
<p>lemonmelon – your instincts are correct. At most schools, freshman orientation is a whirlwind of activity. Missing scheduled activities (or even hang-out-and-make-friends time) in order to spend time with your Dad will probably be stressful. Definitely worth some thought…</p>
<p>Lemonmelon, I think Walking Tessie is right and you may not have much time to spend with your dad during Freshman Orientation. But talk to him - there are times when two days in a city like Austin, with no meetings, appointments, or responsibilities sounds wonderful to me! He might enjoy having some time just for himself.</p>
<p>Can someone please explain to me the rationale in having orientation now, when school does not start until beginning of August??? I know I have seen others write about orientations in June/ July. Am I missing something here?</p>
<p>Some schools are so large that they couldn’t possibly have orientation for all freshmen at the same time.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I’d like some opinions, please. Which do you think is a better choice between Carnegie Mellon Qatar for Computer Science and NUS (National University of Singapore) for Mechanical Engg. I’ve got a 25% scholarship at CMUQ. For the rest, I’ve applied for interest free loans from qatar foundation. At NUS, I’m still waiting for their scholarship decision. I’m applying for their financial aid in the mean time. There too, ill probably have to sign some kind of bond. Which do you think is a better university, education wise? And which country do you think will have better, more interesting employment options? </p>
<p>P.S. I’m an international student. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>picerulz,</p>
<p>I can only speak to SCS at CMU; congrats! Each class is about 70-80 students. Getting accepted as an international is quite an achievement. Reach out to Mathmom, whose son attended there and now works at Google.</p>
<p>tougis: Your D sounds exactly like mine!</p>
<p>My D had orientation on March 27th. It was a huge relief for her to be able to do it before summer vacation since she will be unavailable all summer right up until school starts. She is also very happy that all her fall classes are already set and she has her ID so she doesn’t have to worry about any of that this summer or when she gets to campus. This is one of those large state universities that YDS mentioned; they start early to accommodate multiple groups so that each group is a manageable size.</p>
<p>Thanks bookworm. I know SCS at CMU Pittsburgh is very highly regarded. Will the Qatar Campus have the same quality of education and the same opportunities? I’ll try to get in touch with her, thanks.</p>
<p>lemonmelon - You might want to check to see if UT has some programs for parents during orientation. Or - if your dad would be interested, I could recommend few things in Austin. For starters, you’ll find the Texas History Museum (Bob Bullock) and the State Capitol within walking distance to the campus. There are also art museums, libraries, gardens, parks, music venues, theaters, etc. There are bus routes all over campus and into the surrounding downtown areas. If you want more info. or want to get in touch with someone who’s local, message me.</p>
<p>^Kelowna I think the reason for early orientation is so that they can sign up for their classes. Usually that is done at orientation. Depending on how the school does registration, they like to get the freshmen signed up so the rest of the students can sign up.</p>
<p>Kelowna- my daughter needs to attend a session in June to register for her classes. It’s not freshman orientation, but some parents might refer to is as such. They still have freshman orientation in August.</p>
<p>The benefit of registering for classes in June or July is that the earlier you do so, the better your class selection will be. If students live far away, they have the option of registering for their classes during the regular freshman orientation which is held a few days before the regular start of classes in August.</p>
<p>Since we live within driving distance, we are opting for attending the day and a half session to register for classes. They also have sessions for parents to attend while kids are meeting with their advisors. It’s actually fun. We did it with our older daughter and found it beneficial.</p>
<p>Lemonmelon-On both visits to UT, I visited the LBJ Library, right on UT’s campus. With all the recent talk of George W. Bush’s Library, I was so happy I experienced it. Definitely worthwhile, especially if you remember the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam.</p>
<p>Many schools like to conduct orientation in smaller groups therefore they have many weekend orientations…the freshman need to sign up for at least one of them. I know at D11’s school, all internationals came a week early for orientation.</p>
<p>My S’s school has three 2 day sessions in June; we are going to the first one. It’s the start of orientation and class registration, though it finishes up at the three day August orientation before classes start.</p>
<p>My orientation for UConn is June 3&4 (coincidentally, it’s the two days after prom weekend… 
) There’s only 63 people in my orientation group. At first I was trying to figure out why on earth they’d do it now and not over the summer, but the more I think about it, the happier I am with it because I get to meet my future classmates face to face and start forming bonds! I’m doing random roommate selection (you bet I want to be able to have the liberty of complaining about my roomie if I hate her…something I won’t be able to do if I pick her), so I’m not really going into orientation looking for a roommate, but more so people I can make connections with whom I can get to know further over the following couple months after orientation and make better relationships with. Maybe that won’t even happen. I’m just excited that this whole “I’m going to college!!” thing is coming lol</p>
<p>With that said, I’ve already started picking my classes (read: I have my whole schedule planned out. If things go as planned I will be a very, very happy camper in the fall). </p>
<p>I run a college admissions blog and have been asked to write for a website for next year! I’m going to be making YouTube videos to supplement my posts and I’ll also be making videos for another organization, Get Schooled, too! I’m REALLY REALLY excited! On top of that, I’m going to be a video blogger for hercampus.com! Your daughters should check it out! There’s tons of advice for college (and high school aged!) young women! I’m currently a high school ambassador this year (and my blog is part of their blogger network) and it’s been such a great experience! Seriously! Have your daughters check the site out!</p>
<p>I have my APES exam tomorrow, lit Thursday, stats Friday, and then I’m DONE with my AP classes! After exams are over I have two academic classes: physics and Spanish through UConn. Spanish is the only class I have to really care about. I’m so happy! I mean, I still graduate on June 27…but at least I’ll be doing nothing in school!</p>
<p>Confetti - Loved your advice to Luckylu about the pepper spray!</p>
<p>Oh, I’m just gonna have to say ditto to everything Confetti said. :)</p>
<p>@pkdof13
STAmum, congrats on Sarah Lawrence! I guess our kids won’t meet at Wheaton (if that was the deposit school).</p>
<p>Yes, Wheaton was the deposit school sent on 1May - Oh, well lost that deposit by two days! All along D was adamant that she would get off the WL. Tried to bring her down to earth with the facts of Waitlist hell but D would not listen. Don’t think D realizes how miraculous the SL phonecall was.</p>
<p>Good morning! You guys are quiet today. Interesting story with my son’s friend. He was AGONIZING trying to decide between Cornell and Berkeley. He finally decided Tuesday, mostly for financial reasons that he would go to Berkeley. Cornell comes back and offers a better financial aid package, and then Friday he gets off the waitlist at UCLA (which was his dream school). He agonized again all weekend and in the end he will attend Cornell. This is definitely not for the faint of heart.</p>
<p>That’s awesome TX5! Congratulations to you and everyone who has gotten off the waitlist at their dream schools.</p>