What to expect during Orientation Day

The Orientation is a program organized to help you become immersed in the life of the University and your new surroundings. Laying the foundation for your future takes time; it is a process, not an event!  Orientation is more involved than finding out where your classrooms are. It is also not what you did at the TREK session, which was about choosing the right program and courses.

Universities are different from other levels of schooling. Your success at university will depend in part upon your ability to adapt to university life.

Finding your classrooms will be necessary, but orientation is about knowing how to survive at university and there is no way we can teach you how to be a successful university student in a few hours. Therefore, we will introduce you to a communication network and support system that will provide you with necessary and useful information.

The process starts at:

The Launch Ceremony begins at 9:00 am where you will join parents, spouses, and other supporters to hear the President welcome you to BU, and hear a graduate’s perspective on the adventure ahead of you.

Following the Launch Ceremony you will be placed with a faculty-specific group and meet your student leader. Parents and spouses will attend their own Orientation session at this time.   There will be student leaders in the foyer of the Auditorium to escort parents/spouses to their session.  We request that parents/spouses do not attend the student group portion of the day, in order to allow your student the chance to meet with their peers and become comfortable with their surroundings.

Your student leader will be an experienced senior student from your faculty or school. Leaders will give you really useful survival advice, conduct a campus tour that goes beyond telling you the name of a building, take you to the lunch, and will help you begin to meet people, which is more central to your success.

Following lunch, you can buy books or pay tuition (if you haven’t already done so), attend one of our Special Sessions (if they apply to you), or attend to other matters.

Special Sessions
(subject to change)

Sept. 4 Special Sessions for:

Events
During the following week there will be numerous events. So join that fellow first-year student or group, or go with other students from your residence building, and get in on the fun! More details of these events will be posted on the Orientation website and in the Orientation Newsletter.

By the end of your first term, you will pretty much have the university scene figured out. Of course, there is always help available, whether it is the academic advisors and counsellors in Student Services, your professors, or the Students’ Union.