WATCH: UC s Bearcat Bound Orientation Begins on June 28

Orientation website

Orientation Hotline: 513-556-2486

UC’s newest Bearcats are about to learn about their college programs, meet fellow freshmen and get the scoop on the good places to eat. Their parents are about to learn how to let go of their high-school student but remain standing by to support their child as students adjust to college life. UC’s two-day Bearcat Bound Orientation gets underway June 28 and runs through Aug. 12.

Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m., Monday, June 28, outside the Great Hall on the fourth floor of Tangeman University Center (TUC). The official welcome gets underway at 8:30 a.m. in the Great Hall. As students enter the Great Hall, they’ll take a walk through the “tunnel of awesomeness” created by the 27 Student Orientation Leaders (SOLs) to guide families through the two-day summer orientation program.

Bearcat Bound Orientation includes separate and joint sessions for students and parents.

Early spring figures indicate UC could be welcoming its most academically prepared freshman class to the Uptown Campus this fall, including confirmations from 44 National Merit Finalists. Mid-June freshmen confirmations for all campuses are at 4,915.

“UC’s incoming freshmen are also swelling STEMM-related fields in health care, including pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, pre-pharmacy, nursing and allied health sciences fields,” says Caroline Miller, senior associate vice president for enrollment management.

As part of UC’s commitment to building a just and caring community on campus, the new students are invited to take part in a drive to collect school supplies to benefit K-12 schoolchildren in Cincinnati. Donations will be collected at Orientation check-in. Requested items for the school supply drive include crayons, pencils, pens, water-based markers, erasers, glue, notebooks and pencil cases.

Freshmen and family members will be guided through Orientation by 27 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.

UC’s fall classes will get underway on Sept. 22. UC’s formal Convocation freshman welcoming ceremony will take place at 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 19, in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The ceremony will also include the investiture of UC President Gregory H. Williams.

The University of Cincinnati is one of America's top 20 public research institutions and the region's largest employer.