<p>Concerning the period between pre-orientation and orientation for those who live nearer to Smith:</p>
<p>We were all ready to come back to Smith, after our D got done hiking, to help with moving in, but she phoned us to say that it wasn’t necessary. Being a rather ascetic minimalist, she didn’t need to get any more stuff (or was able to get little things she had forgotten at the CVS in NoHo) and she managed all the rest – setting up her computer, setting up her bank account, setting up her prescriptions at the pharmacy, setting up her room – just fine without us. She also spent the time doing all the pre-season workouts with her team, getting to know her room-mate (who was on the same team), and helping other first-years move in, so she wasn’t in danger of being lonely. And because we live relatively nearby, it wasn’t as though the post-pre-orientation period was our last chance to see her before Thanksgiving or the December break.</p>
<p>So that’s another option to keep in mind if you’re not coming from the other coast. It may be a play-it-by-ear thing whether you need to be there again after dropping your D off.</p>