Boston University has implemented a new fall Orientation model for first-year students, promising to foster more connections to integrate them into the campus community.
The University changed its orientation programming for the 2025-26 academic year to a “one week, on-campus Orientation experience for all new students” from Aug. 25 to 29, departing from previous years’ summer installments, wrote BU Orientation Director Hannah Pereira in an email to The Daily Free Press.
“Now, the experience is consistent, no matter where they’re from or their financial situation,” Pereira wrote.
Alongside required programming, the updated Orientation model implemented two days of conference style, elective sessions for students based on their interests, experiences and identities, Pereira wrote.
“The goal was accomplished to get people familiar with the campus and BU in general,” said freshman Riley O’Hagearty.
BU Orientation also partnered with the Student Leadership and Impact Center to increase back-to-school events, which include a welcome barbeque on Nickerson Field and a movie night at BU Beach.
Sophomore and student orientation leader Sumehra Saif said she felt the new orientation model was better than her experience because it was longer.
“[My orientation] was more of a crash course, and this one was more slow-paced, and so much more chill,” Saif said.
Other students said they experienced difficulty with the long hours and scheduling conflicts.
Freshman Jane Guay said they felt overwhelmed by the extended sessions and packed schedule.They said the itinerary included a three-hour lunch break, which many students left early.
Guay said while they might not keep in touch with many of the students they met during Orientation, the week gave them “good practice with socializing when it would really matter.”
Despite improvements to Orientation, Saif said it was “more hectic” than she anticipated. She worked at the Fitness and Recreation Center help desk alone from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. aiding students with directions.
“It was a trial and error for other people who did lead Orientation events in previous years, and for the professional staff and the senior staff,” Saif said. “I think we all learned as we went along and organized and hosted these events.”
Saif said it was also a strenuous experience for new students because they had to move into their fall housing assignments before Orientation.
“They didn’t have a day or two by themselves to just relax and get enough rest,” she said. “There are some students who basically flew across the country, or international students from various parts of the world, and they were all jet-lagged.”
Moving forward, the BU Orientation team plans to continually improve the initial on-campus experience for incoming students, Pereira wrote.
“Like any new program, we learned a lot about how to make things run more smoothly next year,” Pereira wrote. “Managing a larger group required a strategic plan for how students moved around campus, and we are already brainstorming ways to more seamlessly organize this next time.”
