Days on the Lawn vs Orientation for #UVA22

There seems to be a little confusion out there about the difference between Days on the Lawn and Orientation. They are very different programs with different purposes, so I thought I'd use the blog to explain...

Days on the Lawn

Days on the Lawn are six events the Office of Admission plans for students who are admitted to UVA, but undecided about attending. There are students out there who haven't had a chance to visit UVA or really get to know the school. DOTLs are their chance to get questions answered so they can decide if UVA is right for them.

While DOTLs are fun, they aren't intended to be a pep rally or victory lap for students who already know they're coming to UVA. If you know enough about UVA to submit a deposit, you probably don't need Days on the Lawn. Days on the Lawn is probably going to be too basic for you. What you need is...

Summer Orientation

Summer Orientation is planned by the Orientation and New Student Programs unit in the Dean of Students office for all incoming students. Attending an orientation session is mandatory. There are sessions for each academic area and level (first year vs transfer). If you submitted a deposit to come to UVA next year, you can register for an Orientation session starting on April 2nd.

Orientation is when you'll learn more in-depth information about being a student at UVA. You'll be introduced to many different offices and resources on Grounds, get academic advising, and register for your first semester of classes.


I'm happy to answer questions in the comments!

It's Getting Quiet

The UVa Grounds have gotten quiet and our office is pretty quiet, too. We are still working with the waiting list, but things have slowed down a bit. We're almost there.

When we have our class finalized, I'll post a message here and we will also send emails out to the entire waiting list to let everyone know we are done making offers.

CavDog hates the waiting, too.

I'm still getting emails and comments from newly enrolled students asking questions about Orientation. I am more than happy to answer general questions about UVa and Charlottesville, but if you need help with registration or a date change, be sure to contact the Orientation folks.

Paying a Deposit and Next Steps

The National Candidates' Reply Date is around the corner! By May 1st, you should pay a deposit to join the Class of 2017 at one of the schools on your list. We obviously hope you are planning on joining us at UVa!

Paying a Deposit
When you go to pay your deposit, click the "accept" button under your admission decision letter. Be sure to turn your pop-up blocker off. The payment screen will launch in a new window. The deposit system is an e-check system. You'll enter the routing and account numbers from the bottom of a check to pay the deposit, much like people who e-file taxes do. The system will take a couple kinds of credit cards, but it's a check system first and foremost, so it doesn't work with every kind of credit card.

At this point, you become a matriculated student. It might not sound like a big deal, but due to the security built into SIS, I can't "see" what you do beyond the admission process. While I will always, always be happy to help you, you have to get used to talking to other offices when you need something as a matriculated student.

Aside from collecting your final transcript and testing (see the last section below about that), the Office of Admission doesn't handle you any more.


Next Steps
Bookmark the Summer Orientation website and get familiar with it. That website lists out everything you need to do to prepare for coming to UVa. After 72 hours, you can take UVa's responsible computing quiz, set up your email account, and register for orientation. Housing, dining, and health forms get taken care of after that.

The Office of New Student Programs will send out a welcome book to give you things to think about as you get ready to come to orientation. If you're curious about that, you can read last year's welcome book online. I think they normally ship those out sometime in May.

Summer orientation is required, but there are lots of sessions offered. There is programming for parents and guests running concurrently with the program for new students during orientation. Additional orientation programming will take place in the fall.

Registration, Housing, Dining, etc.
We are not a school that gives priority housing to students who deposit early or come to an early orientation session. Pick the session that works best for your summer schedule. As long as you have forms submitted by the deadlines on the Summer Orientation website, you will be just fine when it comes to housing.

As you start to poke around in the registration system, do not be alarmed by classes that look full. Seats in the classes that first-years typically take are set aside for each orientation session, so a class may look full at the end of Session A, but seats will be opened up for Session B.


Final Transcripts and Test Scores
You must have your school send a final transcript once the school year is over. You will also want to send official results from any tests (AP, SAT IIs, IB) when they are available so you can get credit for some of your scores come orientation time.

If we don't get a final transcript from you, you'll have a hold placed on your account. I don't want to scare you, but it's not easy to get this squared away when your high school is closed for summer break.

Questions?

After the deposit is paid

Some of you who deposited have called us to ask what happens next.  Well, I'm sad to say that it's time to pass you off to our friends in the student affairs world.  The Office for Orientation and New Student Programs has a fantastic website for you to use as resource during this time.  It lists out things you need to think about doing now and things that you'll want to get done over the summer, before you arrive on Grounds (Can you believe it!?!  That's going to happen in a few months!).

Get over to the Summer Orientation website and start working on those items.  

 

BTW, make sure to check your email so you know what you need to get done this summer.  It's important, capisce? 

The Welcome Book is online!

The Office of Orientation and New Student Programs publishes a beautiful booklet each year that serves as a great introduction to student life at UVa. The book just went up online, so you can take a peek at it now (you'll get a copy in the mail later in the summer if you enroll). You can flip through the book using the buttons at the top of the frame on the orientation page. If you've started to get digital copies of magazines, you're probably familiar with the format already.

Enjoy!

Once you deposit

Once you pay your deposit, you should click on the link for incoming students on the front page of the SIS.

Within 72 hours, you'll be able to take the responsible computing quiz, which will activate your UVa email account. After that, comes orientation registration! Exciting stuff!


There are no benefits, registration wise, to coming to an early orientation session. Seats in classes are saved for each session. So, a class will look full to a student at one session once the seats for that session are full. When the next session starts, seats will be released and the class will appear open again.

Also know that you will probably shift your courses a little bit during the drop/ad period at the beginning of the year. You aren't locked into the schedule you create at orientation. There will be room for adjustments once classes start in the fall.


By the way, keep an eye on the deadlines on the orientation page:

Housing Application Deadline: June 4
Student Information Form (CLAS) Deadline: June 16
Student Information Form (ARCH) Deadline: Postmarked by June 16
Dining Contract Deadline: July 28
Tuition and Fees Deadline: August 12
Student Health Record Deadline: Postmarked by August 31

Foreign Language Placement Exams For French and Spanish, take your exam online before Summer Orientation. First-year students interested in taking German, Latin, or Russian will be tested during Summer Orientation. Transfer students and all students needing to take any other language placement exams will be tested during Fall Orientation.
French: online before your session
Spanish: online before your session

Waitlist offer ramifications

Some of the waitlisted students who have been offered a spot in the class have asked if they are at a disadvantage when it comes to orientation, housing, and registration.

First of all, you should know that in the Student Information System (SIS), only the Office of Admission can see that a matriculated student was previously on the waitlist. Your professors and peers will only know that you were waitlisted if you tell them yourself.

Orientation registration opened in May and I imagine that there are some early sessions that have filled up by now. So, in a sense, you may be at a disadvantage in that you could have fewer session options. That being said, all orientations sessions are the same. Coming to an early session is not better. I might add that from in my experience, the skits and sessions that the orientation leaders give get better and better as the days go by.

As for registration, there is no advantage to those who come to an early orientation session and therefore register early. The registration system reserves a certain number of seats for each orientation session. A class may appear full once all the spots give to a particular session are taken, but the class will open up again when the next orientation session starts (and only students in that orientation session can snap up those seats). This is why some of you who have already gone into the registration system are seeing classes that are full.

Lastly, housing forms were due on June 5th. However, housing assignments are random for first year students, so I do not think those of you who submit forms a little late will be penalized. The Housing Division has a webpage just for first year students that will give you more information about the assignment process.

Congratulations to those of you who are getting offers! Don't hesitate to go call offices around Grounds if you have questions that aren't answered on the website. While I try to be a font of knowledge, it's always smart to get information right from the source. To those still waiting, hang in there. Again, we are trying to make this process as quick as possible while still being thorough.

All incoming students should be keeping an eye on the deadlines listed on the Summer Orientation page (scroll down). One of the deadlines, the health form deadline, is firm and there is a penalty for missing it!