First Year Experience
Orientation
Olin's orientation is a five-day program that aims to provide a smooth transition to life at Olin. After moving into the residence halls, you and your family can meet and mingle with Olin staff and digest some information about the college. Then you'll bid farewell to your family and jump right into life at Olin. Your first week at Olin will include helpful discussions with college administrators and faculty members as well as exciting excursions, such as getting to know the greater Boston area.
By the end of the program, you'll be well acquainted with your peers and the college. You'll be ready to launch into classes and the ongoing development process that is Olin. If you have any questions about arrival day and orientation, email: student.affairs@olin.edu
Move-In Day
Your first day on campus starts off with moving into your new home-away-from-home - West Hall. Most First Year students will move in on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024, between 10:00AM-12:00PM. (International students are invited early by Courtney Beach, our Assistant Director for International Programs.) At 11:30am the dining hall opens for lunch for students and their families. At the same time we will have our arrival day resource fair in the Campus Center Crescent Room - this is where you will meet a bunch of staff from across campus and most importantly receive your laptop.
At 1:30pm, everyone gathers in the Norden Auditorium for the official welcome to Olin! Students will then meet their Orientation Teams while Parents & Families mix and mingle with our parent network. Finally we have a few hours of free time in the afternoon to unpack or take a trip to target, and then say farewell to parents & families by 6:30PM. At 6:30PM we will officially kick off Orientation week.
A typical day of Orientation
From Wednesday August 30 - Monday September 2 the Class of 2028 will be going through our robust Orientation program to learn all about life at Olin. Each morning students will gather in groups of 10-15 as their O-Team, lead by Orientation Ambassadors, wakes up and wanders through campus. We then have the whole Class gather for Good Morning Olin to kick off the day of team building and exploration. After dinner your O-team gathers to reflect on the day and then the evening ends with something fun (but optional as rest is important!).
Meeting your SIBB
Sunday, September 1 is a special day for Orientation. The Class of 2028 heads into Boston for a day of exploration and questing. While they are away, returning students move in. After moving in, the returning students gather to meet their little SIBBs. SIBBs, or Students Intentionally Building Bridges, is a casual peer mentorship connection where each incoming student is matched up with a returning student who helps welcome them to Olin.
COURSES AND REGISTRATION FOR INCOMING STUDENTS
All first-year students at Olin enroll in the same set of “like” courses each fall. These include cool topics like "Quantitative Engineering Analysis", "Modeling and Simulation of the Physical World" and “Design Nature”, which you will magically appear in your fall schedule. You will also be registered for something called OFYI. During Orientation, you will learn about OFYI, the Olin First Year Introductory, which engages students in topics around succeeding at Olin like teaming, resume development, and gratitude. Your one big moment of choice for your first semester courses comes in with your AHS foundation course.
- You can learn more about the AHS foundation courses on the First Year page in the Olin portal or with this Primer.
- If you want to know more about full array of courses you’ll be taking during the first year check out the Semester Offerings and Course Listings
- Additionally, you will find the First Year Seminar, called the “OFYI” for Olin First Year Introduction on your schedule in September. This 1 credit course was co-designed by Olin students and covers everything from working in teams to helping you write a resume that will help you get your first internship.
- Lastly, you can elect to join the Olin Conductorless Orchestra for 1 more credit in the fall semester. We will fill in interested students during orientation!
Welcome to Olin and see you soon!
Onboarding over the Summer
Throughout the summer, Welcome Onboard Wednesdays (WOW) emails go out every Wednesday to the Class of 2028 to prepare them for life at Olin. Each email will include a mix of informational updates and to-do list items for you. It can feel like an avalanche of tasks, so my goal is to give you one each week to check off and together we will get everything done just in time for move-in day! Below you will find the emails posted each week as well as the majority of the summer tasks so you can complete them at your own pace if you prefer.
Class of 2028 Pre-Arrival Task List
This form collects a ton of various information (emergency contacts, student directory listings, census data, dietary information) but is most importantly the survey we use to find your best possible roommate match within the Class of 2028! Starting off you will read (yes actually read it) and sign the Housing Agreement - we recommend having around 30 minutes set aside to complete this mega form.
Housing Profile Link:
Olin is required to collect proof of immunizations and other health related data. This includes Immunization Reports, Tuberculosis Screening, Medical Consent form, Telehealth Consent form, scan of Insurance card (if waiving health insurance via UHP). Students share this information via the HIPPA compliant Student Health Portal maintained by Babson Health Services. While most offices at Olin are best reached via email, Health Services is most readily available via phone for support in this process - (781)239-6363.
Student Health Portal: http://babson.medicatconnect.com/
At DSO, we get to know each student registered with our office through a highly interactive process, and we hope to be a great source of support to you while on your college journey! If you are a student who is interested in registering with Disability Services at Olin, please go to https://www.olin.edu/student-life/disability-services for more information. The earlier you submit your registration form, the more time we have to work together to be ready for the fall. That said, for coordination with campus partners, such as Housing and Dining Services, please submit your registration form by Friday, July 7th. Once the Disability Services Form is submitted, Shannon Tocher from DSO will reach out to you as soon as possible to discuss next steps. If you have any questions, you can contact DSO at disabilityservices@olin.edu
Your advisor is someone you can turn to for support academic planning and decision-making, as well as a great general resource for you on campus. Your responses to these questions will be used as part of the process to match you to your advisor and will be shared with them thereafter, so please make sure to share stories that you are comfortable sharing with your future advisor. You can write anything from a paragraph to a page per response, and this is meant to be enlightening and fun while giving you a chance to share your personality. There are no wrong answers here!
LINK:
The Olin SIBBs (that’s Students Interested in Building Bridges) is a program that matches first-year students with an upper-class “sibling” to be a useful point of contact as you prepare to arrive on campus and then connect you with folks around campus once you arrive. The matching form linked below is like the Roommate Matching form, the big difference here is that your responses are shared with a committee of students who review and match you with a big SIBB. Our goal is to match every incoming student with a big SIBB by mid July.
Link:
On the First Year portal you will find 7 short videos – 1 introducing AHS to you, then 1 for each of the 5 course options that you will rank on the registration form. You will also file a helpful Primer with content bullets points that call out key features of each of the AHS foundation courses linked below.
Portal Link: First Year Onboarding | Academic & Student Life | Welcome to my.olin.edu
Primer:
At Olin your Student ID card acts as your key to buildings, your meal plan, and your library card all in one. On move-in day we hope to have everyone’s ID cards printed and ready for you, but we need your help in getting ID card photos uploaded to the form linked below. Note, your photo will need to be much like a passport photo, with detailed requirements listed on the form.
ID Card Photo Form: https://forms.office.com/r/wjc8Xh80bY
Here in the my.olin.edu portal you will find your student account page. Bills are posted July 1st and are due by August 1st with a late fee of $150.00 applied for students who have not paid in full or enrolled in a payment plan by August 1.
MyStAR: https://my.olin.edu/ICS/My_StAR/
Each year all students must have health insurance coverage. For students who have qualifying health insurance coverage, if you waive prior to July 1st you will not see the cost of insurance on your bill. If you waive between July 1 and August 1, student accounts will update those bills on a rolling basis.
University Health Plans: www.universityhealthplans.com
Olin College will deposit expense reimbursements, student account refunds and payroll payments electronically. Please take a few minutes to provide your bank information securely through the student portal. This is the fastest way to receive your payment.
MyStAR: https://my.olin.edu/ICS/My_StAR/Student_Private_Data/
We encourage all students to have Renters or Personal Property Insurance while living on campus. Renters or Personal property insurance is available from National Student Services, Inc. You can apply or obtain more information about this company at http://www.nssi.com. The College is not responsible for your personal belongings, including your laptop computer, while you are on campus. If your family has a homeowner’s policy you should consult it to see if it covers your belongings while you are on campus. Purchasing personal property insurance is optional but encouraged.
National Student Services: http://www.nssi.com
Occasionally, Olin College may want to publicize campus events in its own outlets, or in external media. Toward this end, the Office of Communication regularly takes photographs, records video and writes news stories about campus events and developments. We would like your permission to be able to use these materials in our communication programs. By indicating your agreement below, you will provide us with your consent to make use of these materials.
Form Link: https://my.olin.edu/ICS/Academic__Student_Life/First_Year_Onboarding.jn…