As freshmen settle into their new homes on campus, they will also be spending a night at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, enjoying an elaborate carnival, watching a free movie marathon and visiting an open house featuring most of Penn's resource centers -- all part of New Student Orientation.
This year's NSO begins today and runs straight through the first day of classes next Thursday. The goal of the program is to help incoming freshmen introduce themselves to Penn, Philadelphia and each other.
"We have an awesome lineup of social events," said College senior Christine Jereb, one of the two NSO student coordinators.
The carnival, PennFest2002, will take place tomorrow on Wynn Commons. While this is not the first time that NSO has featured a carnival, organizers promise PennFest2002 will be different.
"This is a carnival, a casino and a concert rolled into one," said College sophomore Matthew Scafidi, the other student coordinator. "It's gonna be a great event."
In addition to traditonal carnival activities and casino games, PennFest2002 will have a special Penn scavenger hunt and vendors distributing free goodies.
The evening at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Sunday. This is the first time that NSO includes a large scale off-campus event, Scafidi said.
The class of 2006 will enjoy traditional Philly food for dinner, as well as dancing on the museum's East Terrace, with the galleries reserved exclusively for Penn students.
Also new for this year, NSO is holding a film festival that will run for five nights, starting Friday. Each night will have a theme, including classics night, Philadelphia night and '80s night, with three movies being shown each night in the Annenberg Center. Admission is free for Penn students.
Another addition to this year's NSO is an activities fair on Locust Walk on Tuesday. Previously, student groups did not set up tables on Locust Walk prior to the start of classes.
Also being held on Tuesday are the Resource Center Open Houses. Different organizations, including social, religious and cultural groups, will hold special evening hours.
"It's a day for students to learn about the organizations and resources available to them," David Wise, the NSO faculty coordinator, said.
But activities aren't the only changes to this year's NSO.
This is the first time that orientation has been planned by the office of College Houses and Academic Services. As the University is attempting to make college houses a more important part of the undergraduate experience, it makes sense for the office to organize NSO," said College Houses and Academic Services spokeswoman Sue Smith.
"We have a fantastic student staff," Smith said. "I think it's worked out really well."
Another important part of NSO is the Student Services Expo. At the Expo, which has replaced CUPID as the central information spot of NSO, freshmen can find out about student telephone services, banking, Penn transit services and recreational facilities. Freshmen can also pick up their PennCards at the expo.
But some tried and tested NSO activities remain unchanged this year.
Saturday, freshmen will go on a walking tour of West Philadelphia with their hallmates -- an orientation staple.
As in past years, Comedy Night will be held in Irvine Auditorium on Saturday. The performance will feature Alexandra McHale and Eddie Ifft.
Also continuing from past years are the pro-seminars, which will be held Tuesday afternoon. Pro-seminars are non-graded mini-courses that give freshmen the opportunity to explore topics that interest them.
The Penn Reading Project has been in existence since 1990, and this year, freshman will discuss Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart on Wednesday.
