Bear-y Important Newsletter #8 | August 7, 2026

! Top Tasks !

• See Next Steps after Registration
• Pre-Arrival Webinar next week.
• Traveling alone? Fill out Solo Traveler Survey
• Stop Campus Hazing Course and CDI Perspectives Program
• Submit O-Trip Paperwork
• Upload OneCard Headshot
• Pay Fall Semester Bills
• Activate your Handshake account

ACADEMICS 
 

You’ve Registered for Your Fall Classes! Congratulations! 

To make any changes, registration stays open through the first week of classes. 

• Join today’s Zoom: What’s Next? Waitlists, Changing Your Schedule, and Meeting Your Advisor (12:00–1:00 p.m. EDT). 
• Check Workday for waitlist offers and update your notification preferences to receive alerts when a seat becomes available. You’ll have 24 hours to accept an offer. 
• Placement surveys reopen August 21 in Canvas. 
• Meet your liberal arts advisor August 31 to review your schedule and make any final adjustments. 

Email askacademics@bowdoin.edu for any questions! 

ARRIVAL DAY 

Join us on Zoom for a live, interactive pre-arrival webinar on Tuesday August 11, 2026 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm EDT. We'll answer your last-minute questions on the spot. Staff from Academics, Res Life, Outing Club, Mckeen Center, and the Dean's Office will be on hand to get you feeling ready for Arrival Day!

→  Pre-Arrival Webinar Zoom Link

Are you traveling alone to campus on Arrival Day, August 24th? Take this survey for additional support from the Orientation Team and we’ll be in touch soon!

→  Solo Traveler Form

COMMUNITY BUILDING

Make sure to complete the very important but quick (should take under 30 minutes) hazing training required of all first-year students.

→ Stop Hazing Course

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Perspectives Program for All New Students

If you haven’t completed CDI Perspectives which teaches research-backed principles for navigating difficult conversations effectively, please complete soon! This program will help build skills to engage in conversations on campus and beyond. Your proctor will ask you to share something you learned – don’t forget to make note of one thing!  

→ Perspectives Link

O-TRIPS 

Please submit your gear request form and orientation trip paperwork (linked in your trip assignment email) before August 10. Reach out to bocOtrips@bowdoin.edu or mckeenOtrips@bowdoin.edu with any questions about your trip.

→  Read about your orientation trip and get your packing list

ONECARD

We’re starting to print OneCards for your class, but we’re still missing quite a few photos. Please log in and submit your ID photo as soon as possible. The upload page lists our photo requirements; reach out with any questions! Anyone with a missing photo on Arrival Day will be turned away from Check-In and required to travel across campus to take their photo first.  

→  Upload Link

STUDENT ACCOUNTS 

Fall tuition and fees are due on Monday.  Please remind your student and/or family and if you have a Workday Account, log on to make payment arrangements. For more information, see emails from Bursar – Student Accounts dated July 10 & 27, or visit our website.

→  Bursar Website

CAREER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

CXD is here for you all four years of your Bowdoin experience — from thinking about your goals, interests and skills, through finding and landing the internship or job! Not sure where to start? Activate your Handshake account and then visit our First Year Resource Hub with content just for you.

 ☆ Top Tips ☆

• TRIVIA: Enter to win a $5 Bowdoin Café card by answering this question: "What unique space on the Bowdoin campus supplies thousands of pounds of fresh produce directly to Thorne and Moulton dining halls each year?". The answer to the previous newsletter's trivia was "Bowdoin’s Class of 1866 inaugurated “Ivies” with a public address and poem in the College Chapel, planting an ivy and singing outside the Chapel".
• Follow the Orientation Instagram account: @welcometobowdoin and visit the First-Year Experience website for more information