<p>I suppose we can wait for snail mail to find out, but for those in the know, what happens next? I assume we mail in a deposit. Is there going to be a parents orientation or something along those lines? Also, how do you select housing? Any helpful hints?<br>
Thanks!</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS! I’ll bet you’re all very excited today!!</p>
<p>Here’s an overview of what I remember from last year, in more-or-less chronological order.</p>
<p>1) The big e-mail arrives, pointing you to the even BIGGER on-line decision. Hoorah!
2) You’ll set up an on-line account at CAESAR, NU’s net-hub for students.
3) A decision letter arrives via snail mail. It will be so SMALL you’ll think you’re rejected.
4) You’ll get your FA offer (if relevant) via CAESAR the snail-mail.
5) Send notice to all other schools you applied to, withdrawing decisions.
6) Make a small tuition deposit and a housing deposit.
7) You’ll be contacted by your PA (Peer Advisor), who will be available to answer questions. This was sometime in the summer I think.
8) Fill out Housing Request forms. I think this was in August?
9) Wildcat Welcome is the first week of the year, and that’s when Freshman move in to dorms and register for classes. They help you with everything that week.</p>
<p>A couple quick tips…</p>
<p>A) Find out when Wildcat Welcome and Family Weekend will be, and book hotels ASAP. They don’t call NU the Land of the Over-Prepared for nothing, and those hotels fill up QUICKLY!! ;-D</p>
<p>B) Expect to feel odd and a bit left out while all of your RD friends are busting their humps on applications and stressing while you’re FINISHED. </p>
<p>C) You will want to be finished with HS tomorrow, but you’re not, so keep learning and excelling because you WILL need all those good habits more than ever next year!!</p>
<p>Again, congratulations!!!</p>
<p>I think you may have thought I’m the student, but I’m the dad. We ARE very excited though.
OK, the suspense is killing me–what’s the BIGGER decision to which you refer?<br>
Also, is Wildcat Welcome the same time as Family Weekend? Tried finding some info online but not much out there. Actually on the 2012 calendar it shows that New Student Orientation starts September 17 but it doesn’t say anything about Wildcat Welcome.<br>
Thanks again!</p>
<p>Congrats DadTimes2! Awesome feeling isn’t it! My D is a freshman at NU. Wonderful school.
I believe (and correct me if I am wrong momcares) the BIGGER decision may be accepting the offer for admission!</p>
<p>Wildcat Welcome Week is the same as New Student Orientation. They do have orientation programs for parents too during the first couple days of welcome week.
Family Weekend is separate from welcome week and is sometime in the fall.</p>
<p>Momcares is correct about booking hotels for welcome week, etc. Evanston is a nice place to hang out in!!!</p>
<p>DadTimes2-check out this link :)</p>
<p>[Class</a> of 2016: Office of Orientation and Parent Programs - Northwestern University](<a href=“Student Transition Experiences - Northwestern University”>Student Transition Experiences - Northwestern University)</p>
<p>Glad momof3sons found this year’s link for parents, as it will answer most logistical questions.</p>
<p>We noticed last year that communication from NU will go a little quiet while they finish RD admissions, but in general they’re great at communicating with families and have always been happy to answer questions.</p>
<p>Thanks all! Yes it feels great. Thanks for the link mo3s, it was helpful.<br>
So momcares, still not telling us what this BIG decision is?</p>
<p>so there’s an official facebook group created by the school. thats great</p>
<p>I KNOW! I just found it on Northwestern’s site. Some current student messaged me on FB all mad that I was promoting someone else’s group (also another non-official student-created group I thought was the official).</p>
<p>@dadtimes2 - tessamess had it right… I just meant the initial e-mail saying the decision was available, which pointed to the bigger event of NU’s actual decision that was on-line. In our household last year that distinction was important, as I got the initial e-mail while D was at school, but waited all evening until D came home to let her go on-line to see whether NU’s decision was yes or no. ;-)</p>
<p>Ahhhhh, ok, I get it now. It’s kind of funny actually. He thought decisions were going to be out on the 15th. I was following the threads on CC and thought it would be sooner, but didn’t tell him since I didn’t want him stressing out more than he already was. Then when I got home from an appointment on Friday I checked CC and saw people were getting their decisions, so I calmly went to his room and told him “you may want to check your email.”</p>
<p>Fantastic surprise! That’s almost exactly what happened with us, as D wasn’t following cc and was in the midst of big auditions, so she wasn’t anticipating an early-Early Decision either.</p>
<p>You can expect your S to get really antsy for HS to end in the coming months! ;-)</p>
<p>Congratulations! That’s super exciting!!! Welcome to the Wildcat circle.</p>
<p>Parents, be sure to sign up when given the chance for emailed newsletters from NU for parents of freshmen; they were very helpful. The parent sessions in the first two days of Wildcat Welcome were great, including career services and health info.
Also be sure at WWelcome that you and your child sign the form to get you access to your child’s health records (I even talked once to an NU doctor at Health Services about my son so I could reiterate her advice to him) and to their grade records (or just ask your kid for their full password for CAESAR for grades; this password must change every 90 days or so.). Lots of financial info online; we got our FA package online before even heard about it through email, etc. CAESAR password also gets you into the course schedule and CTECs (student evals of profs); my son, now a junior, still wants help from me in finding classes to take.
I learned on CC (somehow missed it in the newsletters) that you must send in proof of your child’s health insurance or buy the pricey insurance from NU.
As I recall, incoming students filled out a survey on their living habits (messy v. clean, sleep schedule, etc.) in May or June, then a form with their top 5 dorm preferences in June, and got the dorm decision and name of roommate in late July. This all was a lot later than my son’s friends who were going to semester schools that started classes a month earlier than NU.
We got lots of good advice on CC on dorm prefs (such as – if you put one of the small themed residential colleges anywhere in your top 5, you will get it, as they are not very popular). Some large non-theme residential colleges, like my son’s Shepard (which he loved) and Willard have their own websites with links from NU housing site.
My son learned a lot from the NU student Facebook group as well; some NU student groups “recruited” new members on the FB group, so he was hired by the campus newspaper before he even set foot on campus. Some kids find roommates on the FB group, but seems like NU does a good job of matching kids up by habits; even if they don’t become buddies, they have no issues sharing a room.
My son loved his pre-orientation program, Freshmen Urban Program (Google for FUP website). There are several other pre-WWelcome programs which are great to have when your child’s local friends have already left town. These programs costs extra, but were well worth it (FUP I think was $200).
In early summer the incoming freshmen in Weinberg also turn in their preferences for their freshmen writing seminar (small class–around 15). The seminar prof is their frosh advisor (good to talk a few minutes before class or after), and a student peer advisor also attends the seminar.<br>
My son and I also recommend NOT trying to ace the placement tests and instead do NOT take the highest level course you are qualified for through AP credits or placement exams. It is a rare high school class that gives you as good a foundation in a subject as an intro NU course. Plus it’s nice to have one or two easy classes your first quarter when so much in your life is new. It’s hard to go from being a top HS student to an average student at NU…
And buy your kid some Wildcat apparel if you haven’t already!
Enjoy!
From a proud Wildcat Mom</p>
<p>Parents can get “guest access” to Caesar - your child has to authorize this. The parent is then given their own separate log on information. Guest access will allow you to pay bills online (which I find really convenient), and see some other general non-personal information (course descriptions, etc.) You can not see grades via guest access, which is ok with me.</p>
<p>Wow this turned out to be a very helpful thread! Thanks all!</p>