Research Orientation Details

I have to admit that I did not heed my own advice found in Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager Ready, Willing, and Able? about the importance of doing research.

Today I attended an orientation session at the University of Colorado with my daughter. A month or so ago when I told her she needed to sign up for an orientation date, she argued that she didn’t need to go. She knew the campus, knew what to expect, and didn’t believe she needed it. I told her that orientation was not optional—that she would learn valuable things and she would meet an adviser and choose her classes for the fall. She liked the idea of getting those classes lined up, but informed me that I certainly didn’t need to go with her—that she was going with her high school friend and did not want me there. I told her it was also valuable for parents to attend orientation—they learn what to expect, ask specific questions, and discover all the resources available for students and parents alike. Irritated at me, she dropped the subject.

Having gone through CU’s orientation in 2005 with my oldest son, I felt confident that I knew what to expect (in fact, I felt rather smug about my knowledge as my oldest son graduated from CU in May 2010). So I waited until last night to ask my daughter for the orientation documents, including the parking permit, registration location, etc. Much to my surprise, I read that parents must register by June 5 to qualify for the cheaper parent-orientation rate of $57. Parents who waited until the day of orientation must pay an additional $20.

I was stunned. Parent participation was free-of-charge back in 2005. When did they start charging? Because I had not looked at the documents earlier, I was going to have to pay $77 instead of $57. My daughter, who was mad at me about the whole subject, had paid no attention to parent information when she registered.

This morning when we finally got to the CU campus a half hour late, my daughter scrambled into the welcoming session. After looking at the schedule, I decided not to register. As it was in 2005, parents and students were together until lunch of day 1, then parents and students went to their separate programs. As I already knew, parents were not allowed in advisory sessions or when students devised their schedules. However, I did attend the first session this morning with my daughter where we learned all about the Honors Program she is entering. That was new information for me. I left her as she happily went off to lunch with her friend.

It is definitely my fault for not doing advance orientation research, but I am not happy that CU charges parents to attend. While I understand the school needs to pay someone to conduct the parent classes, as a tuition-paying parent, I feel it is a small thing to throw into the list of things included. I feel that charging parents is a deterrent to attending, and as Toward College Success points out, parents gain valuable information at orientation that helps smooth the transition for the entire family, particularly as the first or only child heads off to college.