DD had scheduling, dorm selection, and a one-day in-person orientation a couple of weeks ago.
Scheduling: Was easy-peasy. They group nursing students into "learning communities" so she will have the exact same schedule as 19 other nursing students. All she had to do was schedule her learning community and there were spots reserved for her in all of the classes. So we didn't have any issue with being closed out of classes, etc. And her schedule isn't too bad. She's not excited about an 8am chemistry class 3 days per week... but she's done by 2 most days and is done by 9:30am on Fridays.
Dorm Selection: Did *not* go as smoothly as we'd hoped. The school has several styles of on-campus dorms (traditional, suite-style, apartment style) as well as several off-campus apartment complexes that still count as university housing. She was hoping for a traditional style dorm. It is 1) the least expensive and 2) both our tour guide and student panel recommended traditional dorms for freshmen because it's easiest to meet people that way. She had heard that people were having trouble finding rooms, but she was not part of a roommate group so we thought it'd be easier (at my son's school people cry "there are no rooms" when they can't find a spot in their preferred dorm for their group of 4... but DD was mid-range in the priority, not last, and only looking for one bed, so surely there would be a choice of spaces, right?) Not so. She logged on when her selection window opened and it said there were NO ROOMS AVAILABLE (at all). It said to call housing, which she did... and they told her that was a glitch, just keep trying. We refreshed and refreshed and refreshed for about 6 hours. Finally some things started coming up but they were all the off-campus apartment complexes. I did not want her to live blocks off campus (it's an urban campus in a pretty big city. I am not keen about her living off campus EVER, but certainly not the first year. Plus, all freshmen, regardless of assignment, are required to carry a full meal plan. I don't want her to have to take a bus to campus for every meal.) FINALLY-FINALLY, we saw a spot in a suite-style dorm. It's still not the traditional that she wanted, but I said "I think we should grab it. You can try to change it later, but at least it's *on* campus." So we did.
And then they shut the portal down because apparently ALL on-campus housing is gone. The remaining students (who haven't chosen yet -- and there are a lot of them) will be assigned to a room later after the university secures more housing (likely off campus). One of their largest traditional dorms (housing 800+ students) is closed for renovation, so that's apparently PART of the issue, but... geez. I had no idea housing was going to be like this. I'm feeling very grateful that we found something on campus -- and I think it's going to end up being better than what she THOUGHT she wanted honestly. Now, I just hope her roommate is good. (I had an experience with a crazy random roommate when I was in college so the thought of her going random makes me uncomfortable, but...)
ORIENTATION: She loved it and it solidified her choice. She met two really nice girls in the morning session (mixed majors) and one of them is from another suburb of our city, so they are making plans to get together this summer. In bad news, I think I caught COVID at the orientation.
I've been so careful for 2.5 years, but it finally found me.
NEXT UP: Will be picking a move-in time slot. The first thing that is REQUIRED will be on a Friday. However, it sounds like freshmen timeslots are likely to be on Sunday-Monday. She doesn't want to move in almost a week early, but I'm not sure what the options will be.
