Orientation Question

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Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with studying and preparing for interviews and such. I haven't compiled enough pictures and stuff for a nice Sun God blog yet, but I'll get there. I'll answer a question that someone asked on a previous thread which was:

pcontreras24 said...

i have a question about orientation. I signed up for the last session in september and just wanted to ask what the perks were for having an early orientation date? like are you more likely to get the residence hall of your choice or sign up for classes? thanks :)

Addressing the residence hall question, I think the residence halls are randomly chosen, unless you applied for the themed housing like I mentioned before. They contact you a couple of weeks before school starts to let you know who you're rooming with and which residence hall you'll live in. But in regards to whether there's an advantage for the people who have an earlier orientation date, I don't think there is. They determine the housing after all the orientations are over so I think it's random. I went to one of the very first orientations and got stuck with a crappy residence hall, so yeah.

In terms of classes, the people who sign up for the earlier orientations have the advantage because they're able to register for classes before you do. But I'm sure you'll be able to take all the classes that you want, mainly the first quarter of your college career is used to just get a feel for college, so you don't want to overwhelm yourself. If you're going into Revelle, I highly recommend you take Gospel Choir for the Fine Arts requirement. It's easily the most enjoyable and easiest class at UCSD. And there's a lot of space in that class too, so no need to worry about getting in or not.

I can't really think of any other perks that an early orientation date can have. All of the Orientation Leaders are the same and you'll still meet some cool people from your orientation. I guess the only downside is the later orientation group COULD be smaller because it's so close to the start of school, but I'm just guessing at that. And that in turn could limit the number of people you can meet. But there are always residence hall events and meet-and-greets that will give you the opportunity to meet your neighbors and fellow college-mates.

UPDATE: pcontreras24 left another comment saying that there was an e-mail saying that there will be registration for classes in August and that registration is no longer done at orientation. If this is the case, then the registration priority will go to the students with the most college units (from either AP classes or college equivalent classes).

I hope this helps clarify some things on orientation. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a question about orientation because I didn't really explain too many details about it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for your insight about orientation!

mm, would you happen to have any recommendations for computers? i'm wondering if i should buy a netbook or a laptop for college. which one do you think is better? the low price and light weight of a netbook is appealing, but i'm not sure it'll be enough. ><"

pcontreras24 said...

thanks so much for answering :)
my only other concern after reading your post was
about classes. I've been hearing that we all sign up for classes in august. Something about getting an e-mail and you'll be assigned a counselor who will then schedule a meeting with you over the phone and help you choose classes. I read this in an e-mail sent to us from ucsd and that we didnt choose our classes at orientation...

oh also, since im in the sept orientation my e-mail said something like "beware of the Rosh Hashana" or something like that. Would you happen to know what they're referring to?

thanks so much:)

bboyvortex said...

Hi digestingxhippos,

It depends what you want to do with your new computer. A netbook is very simple and geared towards web-based applications and usage. So I would only suggest a netbook if you already have another computer that can fully run everything. But I would highly recommend a laptop for college, because it's only a bit bigger and it has full functionality of a regular desktop and not as many limitations as the netbook. I had a laptop all five years of my college career and I'm still using it now, so it has been good to me even though the hinge broke =\. If you're still torn between the two, you can check out this video which describes the difference between the two at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQgiZd0-DxI

I hope this helps you with your decision. Good luck!

bboyvortex said...

Hi pcontreras24,

It is my pleasure to answer your questions =). I'm not sure how they do class registration now, but when I registered for classes, it was during my orientation. I guess if they sent you an e-mail saying that you'll register for classes in August, there's no advantage of having an early orientation date since everyone will be registering at about the same time. If that is the case, those who have the most units from AP classes or from equivalent college courses have priority to register for classes first. And sorry I don't know what they're referring to when they say beware of the Rosh Hashana...that's kind of weird though o_O haha, I hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

To pcontreras24,
You don't need to worry about Rosh Hashana. It is a Jewish holiday, so if you don't know about it then you obviously don't celebrate it. But it starts on the 18th of September so people who celebrate Rosh Hashana cannot go to the September Orientation.

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