Orientation

[JGunn3]

I know elsewhere there is a topic about the dress code for Graduate school, however what is everyones thoughts on Grad Orientation. I assume most schools, mine included, do a wine and cheese and a dinner with presentations for grad school orientation, so what does everyone think would be appropriate attire for such an occasion?

[Eigen]

As ours is a "beers in the ice chest" orientation/social, I'm not sure I can comment much on proper attire. Shorts and t-shirts do it for us.

For a wine and cheese + presentations night, I'd say something along the lines of slacks/shirt/jacket (tie optional) for guys, and either skirt/nice blouse or slacks/nice blouse for girls.

Something along the lines of business casual.

[Riotbeard]

My orientation was this morning. We all just sat around a table with the DGS, then the 7 cohort members went to lunch unofficially. I wore jeans, etc. I was a sweat hog though after biking the 4.4 miles from my apartment to campus.

New Orleans Lesson 1:

Bring a clean shirt but ride your bike in an undershirt....

[coyabean]

I'm with other folks. I wish we were having wine and cheese. LOL Ours is a cookout on the quad. I'm wearing a tunic that will touch as little of my body as humanly possible and leggings to combat the Georgia heat.

For an evening event I'd suggest conservative cocktail attire: a sport coat or polo and khakis for men and cocktail dress or dark pants and blouse sans sparkles and doo-dads for women. Or cross them up if you are researching gender norms and get started on your research out the gate.

[Eigen]

My orientation was this morning. We all just sat around a table with the DGS, then the 7 cohort members went to lunch unofficially. I wore jeans, etc. I was a sweat hog though after biking the 4.4 miles from my apartment to campus.

New Orleans Lesson 1:

Bring a clean shirt but ride your bike in an undershirt....

Either that, or do what I do and keep a change of clothes at school.

If I bike to school in what I'm wearing, the sauna that is a New Orleans morning renders it completely unwearable until it dries out.

So I bike to school in gym shorts and a workout shirt, and either use the change I keep in my desk or bring a fresh one in my backpack.

If you need recommendations of fun stuff to do in the area, btw, feel free to PM me. Uptown can take a bit of work to find the fun spots, but there are lots of them around.

Edited August 18, 2010 by Eigen

[rising_star]

I know elsewhere there is a topic about the dress code for Graduate school, however what is everyones thoughts on Grad Orientation. I assume most schools, mine included, do a wine and cheese and a dinner with presentations for grad school orientation, so what does everyone think would be appropriate attire for such an occasion?

If you're female, I'd go with dark jeans or skirt and a tailored shirt. For a guy, khakis and a polo shirt. But, this really varies tremendously by department. Mine would never hold a wine and cheese event (we're too broke for that). People wear whatever they're comfortable in to our department orientation (which is held on a Friday morning) and the same applies to our Welcome Back social, held on a Saturday night. I never fuss much with what I'm going to wear to a department event. I just make sure that I'm comfortable in the clothes and shoes, since I'll likely spend hours on my feet talking to people.

[aginath]

The UGA Graduate School Orientation is held at a local civic center in a large hall. You get the full gamut of dress styles (from business professional to slacker torn jeans and tshirt). We don't dictate a dress for the event.

Our department orientation was in one of the classrooms and casual with snacks and home baked goods.

Never make assumptions about what the event will be like. Ask another student in your program.

ETA: Our welcome back social will actually be an afternoon of kayaking and cooking out. So, yeah...casual.

Edited August 19, 2010 by dacey

[coyabean]

The UGA Graduate School Orientation is held at a local civic center in a large hall.

ETA: Our welcome back social will actually be an afternoon of kayaking and cooking out. So, yeah...casual.

The CIVIC center? UGA is off the chain. Down the road we're having a sedate cookout and no word yet on department social events. :/ Wow. And kayaking sounds like loads of fun. I love it.

[rising_star]

The CIVIC center? UGA is off the chain. Down the road we're having a sedate cookout and no word yet on department social events. :/ Wow. And kayaking sounds like loads of fun. I love it.

The Classic Center isn't really a civic center, at least not like the one in my hometown. It only has about 1000 seats and is most commonly used to host musicals and some concerts with rather pricey tickets.

BTW, dacey, you should really PM me. I'm totally convinced we know some of the same people...

[gsams]

We had orientation two days ago. I wore nice clothes - business casual clothes, the same I would wear to my internship over the summer for a social services agency. We don't have our meet and greet with the other poli sci students until next Friday. That is a dressy reception and I think I will wear a summer dress and cardigan if it isn't too damn hot at that time.

[aginath]

I struggled with what to generically call the Classic Center. In Houston, it'd be a far cry from a civic center, but in my hometown in East Texas, it would be the thing. "place where conferences and concerts are held" just gets a bit wordy. Speaking of...Tony Bennett is playing in a few months. I nearly spit water all over my computer screen when I read that the other day. Really? Tony Bennett?! Wow. Now that's a new kind of low, unless of course they have it set for Halloween. And then a would-be zombie concert would be kind of cool.

PM incoming.

[aginath]

The CIVIC center? UGA is off the chain. Down the road we're having a sedate cookout and no word yet on department social events. :/ Wow. And kayaking sounds like loads of fun. I love it.

I managed to find myself president of our department's graduate student association this year. As a resident social butterfly and general lover of all things outdoors, I tend to drag others into the wilderness kicking and screaming. It only takes a half an hour before they get over the technology withdrawal and begin to enjoy the fresh air. I figured first thing out of the gate for the semester was my one shot to do things autonomously before we elect the rest of the executive council and the faculty get involved. So...kayaking it is! Before it gets too cold in November, my husband will help me plan an overnight backpacking/camping trip likely near Tallulah Gorge. The rest of our social events will be more urban (monthly happy hours and brown bag lunches in the building maybe a night bowling or a baseball game in the spring).

[coyabean]

I managed to find myself president of our department's graduate student association this year. As a resident social butterfly and general lover of all things outdoors, I tend to drag others into the wilderness kicking and screaming. It only takes a half an hour before they get over the technology withdrawal and begin to enjoy the fresh air. I figured first thing out of the gate for the semester was my one shot to do things autonomously before we elect the rest of the executive council and the faculty get involved. So...kayaking it is! Before it gets too cold in November, my husband will help me plan an overnight backpacking/camping trip likely near Tallulah Gorge. The rest of our social events will be more urban (monthly happy hours and brown bag lunches in the building maybe a night bowling or a baseball game in the spring).

Sounds like a blast. Shared adrenaline rushes breeds bonds. And, uh, just a general question whose answer I wouldn't DREAM of exploiting: are you guys checking student IDs?

[Jae B.]

I just finished a two-day orientation. Tried to dress up the first day, my nice pants, favorite pullover. Looked good enough for our class photo. Second day: t-shirt and blue jeans.

[aginath]

Sounds like a blast. Shared adrenaline rushes breeds bonds. And, uh, just a general question whose answer I wouldn't DREAM of exploiting: are you guys checking student IDs?

My motto is "the more, the merrier." Seriously, for all of our events, I tell folks to bring friends and family (kids when appropriate).

[poco_puffs]

Are all the orientations going on right now for the schools that are starting at the end of August and the beginning of September? Fall term at my uni doesn't start until Sept. 27th, and the week before that is "The Week of Welcome," but I have absolutely no information on what will be happening. I know there's still about five weeks before school begins for me, but I'm getting antsy to know about my new email address, ID card, work schedule for my fellowship etc.

If the "reception" during the visiting weekend is any indication for my school, it's gonna be department-provided snack trays with wine and beer brought in by students, although someone was saying it gets classier for certain occasions. I remember hearing that the department functions are pretty fun, and both professors and students have a good time. Something tells me I won't raise any eyebrows if I wear a cute little dress and a sweater.

[aginath]

UGA's orientation (Graduate School) was held on the Wednesday before classes started. The International Student Orientation was held the week prior to that. However, communication about these events went out approximately four to six weeks in advance. If you have questions, call/email your department. They'll be able to help.

Personally, I had scoured the university, graduate school, and department websites months in advance so that as soon as I got to town I was figuring out bus routes, looking at what to register for, and getting my student ID. Depending on the school, they might have something handy like a New Student To Do list (http://grad.uga.edu/orientation/to-do.html) to help with some of these questions.

[poco_puffs]

UGA's orientation (Graduate School) was held on the Wednesday before classes started. The International Student Orientation was held the week prior to that. However, communication about these events went out approximately four to six weeks in advance. If you have questions, call/email your department. They'll be able to help.

Personally, I had scoured the university, graduate school, and department websites months in advance so that as soon as I got to town I was figuring out bus routes, looking at what to register for, and getting my student ID. Depending on the school, they might have something handy like a New Student To Do list (http://grad.uga.edu/...tion/to-do.html) to help with some of these questions.

I've been scouring the University's main pages and my own department pages with no luck, but then today I checked the "Prospective Students" page and found the link I was looking for. I guess we're having a resource fair, some speeches, and then an Open House and Ice Cream Mingle.

The international graduate students get a whole series of lectures, and I think I'll be crashing the one where graduate students talk about life in this city and balancing their schedules. It seems applicable to a far wider section of the student population than just the international students.