Fall New Student Orientation FAQs

Registration FAQs

Do I need to register for a Fall New Student Orientation (NSO) experience?

Submit your Advanced Enrollment Deposit (AED) to Michigan State will register you for an orientation experience. Note that participation in and completion of the NSO experience is a requirement. Once you have paid your deposit, you will receive a confirmation message to your email account. Please review this email as it contains information about next steps.

What should I do if I have a question about orientation registration?

If you have questions about orientation registration, check out our Orientation Registration FAQ page for more information. If you did not find the answer you were looking for or if you have further questions, please contact us.

How do I know if I am exempt from participating in the May NSO experience?

We have listed our exemption criteria on our website. If you still have questions, please contact us.

NSO Experience Specific FAQs

Who is the New Student Orientation experience for?

Our New Student Orientation (NSO) experience is designed to welcome all new students, families, and supporters to the MSU community. First-Year, Transfer, and International students all come together to participate in this orientation experience with the opportunity to engage with information and resources geared toward their individual needs.

Where can I find information about the Fall New Student Orientation experience?

Programming and planning is still underway for the upcoming Fall NSO experience. Students, families, and supporters will begin to hear from the NSO office in M

What will my New Student Orientation experience be like?

Your New Student Orientation experience will take place in phases that will occur virtually but consist of both asynchronous and synchronous components.

Your first part of the NSO experience will be available in May 2023 in Desire2Learn, or D2L. This asynchronous content will help prepare you for the rest of your NSO experience and beginning your first semester.

In D2L, you will also review information about your College/major that will prepare you for your academic advising appointment. Once you complete your D2L content, you will be able to get more information about your virtual academic advising appointment. Your College will send you more information about your academic advising appointment via your MSU email once you have completed your D2L content.

NSO will also be offering webinars and that we invite you to participate in. Check your MSU email for more information about these opportunities.

Are there any opportunities for me to connect with other new students during my New Student Orientation experience?

As part of your NSO experience, NSO will be offering webinars with campus partners that we know you will want to receive information about.

General Spring Spring Student Orientation Experience FAQs

How can I best prepare for my New Student Orientation experience?

Students can begin preparing for their NSO experience now by completing their checklist items. Check out our First-Year, Transfer, and International student checklists. There are a handful of items we recommend students complete prior to their New Student Orientation experience and during their first semester as a Spartan! Make sure you are completing the required items on the checklist and reviewing the suggested items for additional opportunities.

How can my family members/caregivers get more information?

If you submitted an email address(es) for your family, NSO can communicate with them about various engagement and opportunities we are offering. We still encourage them to register their email address with us if MSU dos not yet have it so we are able to share information with them.

Family members/caregivers can review the Family Orientation FAQ page for information about our upcoming programming. We also have a Family Member/Caregiver Resources page that includes helpful information from various campus partners we know you want to hear from.