VIDEO: UC This Summer Prepares a Wave of Freshmen for College Life This Fall

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Orientation Hotline: 513-556-2486

UC’s newest students are planning two days of their summer break to come to campus to register for classes, undergo academic advising and learn about the academic and social activities that can fulfill their college experience in and out of the classroom. Parent sessions will provide tips on how to support their new college student in the transition to college. Bearcat Bound Orientation sessions run from June 29 through Aug. 13, with check-in for each two-day program scheduled for 8 a.m. on the third floor of University Pavilion.

UC is expecting a freshman class that exceeds its target enrollment goals, with freshman ACT scores for the Uptown Campus paralleling last year’s most academically prepared freshman class that had an average ACT of 24.8. Freshman confirmations for the Uptown Campus continue to reflect that crowds are up 13 percent (4,594) from 2008 and that the numbers of overall freshmen (including the branch campuses) are up more than 15 percent (5,468).

“Our biggest gains are in the STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) fields,” says Caroline Miller, senior associate vice president and associate provost for enrollment management. “Part of that growth is reflected in the Choose Ohio First scholarships awarded by the state to recruit and retain Ohio students into those fields, but I also believe students are pursuing these high-demand areas to land successful and stable careers.”

Freshman confirmations for the Uptown Campus also indicate growing diversity from 2008 among African-American, Asian and Hispanic students. UC Admissions is reporting increases in overall freshman confirmations from nearly every region in Ohio, including Columbus (up 9.6 percent), Dayton, Cleveland and Toledo. Uptown confirmations for domestic out-of-state students are up more than 15 percent.

Freshmen and family members will be guided through Orientation by 32 Student Orientation Leaders (SOLs, pronounced “souls”) – upperclassmen who have undergone intensive preparation to make Orientation run smoothly and who share their own personal experience with families and freshmen about what it’s like to be a UC Bearcat. The SOLs will group to greet the crowds at the welcome session, which gets underway on the first day of Orientation at 12:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Tangeman University Center.

New students coming to Bearcat Bound Orientation are invited to bring a canned or non-perishable food item when they check in at the Visitors Center in University Pavilion, where decorated barrels will serve as collection points. Donations will be delivered to Matthew 25 Ministries, an international humanitarian relief organization based in Cincinnati and founded by UC alumnus Wendell Mettey. Organizers report that last year’s collection during Orientation resulted in 2,354 canned food items to feed hungry families.