{"id":11650,"date":"2019-07-31T15:49:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T21:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/?p=11650"},"modified":"2019-08-09T13:48:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T19:48:57","slug":"what-to-expect-at-college-orientation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/what-to-expect-at-college-orientation\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Expect at College Orientation"},"content":{"rendered":"

College orientation is exciting! You get to familiarize yourself with campus and your freshman class, and learn about college before you get thrown into the mix. You get to move into your dorm room and explore your newfound independence. However, there are a lot of questions that come up with college orientation. What will you be doing? Will you get all the information you need? Can you ask social questions?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to former orientation leader Devin Valdez, from <\/span>California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo<\/span><\/a>, to get inside access into the orientation process so you know what to expect\u2013and what to look forward to.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of freshman orientation<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cWith Week of Welcome, we get groups of 15 to 20 students and we become like our own little families. We have themes, for example we were group 110B2, I\u2019m better than you, and our mascot was Beyonce. It was just a good time,\u201d said Valdez.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Valdez explained that the idea behind making the process fun is to get students involved and excited about their new college life. A major part of many freshmen orientations does include setting each student\u2019s class schedule up and registering for classes, although this is not part of the orientation at CalPoly as freshmen students declare a major before arriving at orientation and are automatically signed up for their classes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince the students are already signed up for their classes, orientation is more about feeling comfortable with campus and also the general area. So, there would be some informative aspects like, \u2018this is where you\u2019re living,\u2019 \u2018this is what you can expect from your academic program,\u2019 but then there was also some other fun activities,\u201d said Valdez. \u201cMe and my co-leader would take our students to a cute little town 15 minutes away, or show them the state park and go hiking, or take them kayaking in Morro Bay, just generally trying to make people feel a lot more comfortable with not only college, but the surrounding areas too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While each college determines their own university schedule, most have a lot to cover. Valdez shared that him and his co-leader planned every minute of every day of orientation week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very rigorous but a lot of fun to get to know people, because it wasn\u2019t only to get comfortable with your program, but to have an immediate social circle. A lot of the students that were in my Week of Welcome group are still friends and roommates to this day. Being able to make them feel so comfortable is something I\u2019m really proud of,\u201d said Valdez.<\/span><\/p>\n

The orientation schedule<\/b><\/h2>\n

The orientation schedule varies from school to school, but most have the same elements. You get an orientation of different elements of campus and college life: your academics, your living situation, clubs and sports, etc. Valdez explained a typical day of CalPoly\u2019s Week of Welcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTypically it would be something in the morning that was more of the academic side. At CalPoly, they have their majors set when they come in, so they would go to their respective majors which would have their own orientation. After a sort of academic breakdown, it was up to me and my co-leader to have activities planned for the rest of the day,\u201d said Valdez.<\/span><\/p>\n

He explained that this would usually start with something fun, such as showing them places around San Louis Obispo or going to the local farmer\u2019s market. Then at the end of the day, they would sit down and have a free space for asking questions or seeking out advice from Valdez and his co-leader. Valdez said he would often teach a casual yoga class during this time and students could ask questions and talk through answers as they came up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing at orientation<\/b><\/h2>\n

Many students are nervous about the unknown aspects of college. Valdez shared that as an incoming college freshman, he was most concerned about general confusion and awkwardness, which probably resonates with you as a student.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was worried about not knowing where to go, who to talk to, or what to do outside of class because class makes sense, but essentially when you first go into college you\u2019re still a highschooler. So a lot of the growing happens with the help of orientation, it shapes a lot of your experience. So I was most nervous about was just the social aspects of college and that is exactly how I tailored my orientation group to be, to help them learn how to navigate through college life, because that was my biggest fear,\u201d said Valdez.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another point Valdez brought up to calm an incoming freshman\u2019s nerves is that orientation is likely something you\u2019ve done before, and the process will be similar, but likely more fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of orientation is going to be similar to other orientations that you\u2019ve had either through middle school, high school, jobs, whatever, similar aspects are still going to be there, but the purpose of orientation is to help you find yourself in college, to help you navigate for yourself because no one\u2019s going to keep you accountable, it\u2019s all on you,\u201d said Valdez.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is true about college, that you are now on your own, orientation helps make the process less scary and sets you up for success in college.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOrientation is there to give you all the tools you need so that you can live your best life, you can be who you\u2019re hoping to be in college,\u201d said Valdez.<\/span><\/p>\n

See also: <\/i><\/b>Pre-College Medical Checklist<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

College orientation is exciting! You get to familiarize yourself with campus and your freshman class, and learn about college before you get thrown into the mix. You get to move into your dorm room and explore your newfound independence. However, there are a lot of questions that come up with college orientation. What will you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":11651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[513,1694,664,3280,3279],"class_list":{"0":"post-11650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-colleges","8":"tag-college","9":"tag-college-freshmen","10":"tag-freshman","11":"tag-freshman-orientation","12":"tag-orientation","13":"ad_tags-clep"},"better_featured_image":{"id":11651,"alt_text":"","caption":"Diverse group of Hispanic, African American and Caucasian high school or college students are sitting in rows in lecture hall. 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