Christopher,
IU also had a program for prospective students in the spring called Red Carpet Days, but I don’t think it was nearly as fun as what Dimensions sounds like. First of all, Red Carpet Days is really only one day. We arrived in the morning with our parents for a presentation at IU’s main auditorium followed by a tour of campus. After lunch, we had tours of our prospective departments followed by tours of residence halls.
It makes sense that IU doesn’t have too elaborate of an admit weekend/day due to the fact it admits tens of thousands of students. (I must add that IU has separate admit events for students receiving named scholarships. For example, as an Ernie Pyle Scholar, I was invited to an awards ceremony and reception in April.)
Judging from social media and my own experience, what really gets IU students excited (the same kind of excitement that Dimensions evoked in you) is orientation. IU and many other state schools have a two-day summer orientation program for students who have already committed. The orientation program is in addition to Welcome Week, which is similar to your orientation in that it occurs the week before classes start.
My orientation was in June, and it was a lot like Dimensions sounds. There were separate programs for parents, so we pre-frosh were forced to get out of our comfort zones and actually talk to one another. We were split into groups of fifteen, which was conducive to making friends. I lucked out in that my orientation leader was in my prospective major and lived in my residence hall. Orientation made college seems real. I got my ID card, and met with an advisor to choose my classes. The best part was a musical put on by older students about touchy subjects (sex, drugs, rape, sexual orientation, peeing in bed) that one doesn’t normally associate with musicals. The actors made the issues less taboo and I think made everyone more comfortable with coming to school in a few months.
In a previous post, I wrote about the differences between making friends at a state school close to home vs. a school far away. I must note that during my Red Carpet Days event, one of my high school friends was in the group. I ended up hanging out with her for nearly the whole day and didn’t really talk to anyone new. In contrast, I didn’t have anyone I knew in my orientation group, and ended up making a really good friend with whom I am still in touch with.
I can’t believe I have less than a week until move-in day!
Neha
After Admission 