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Before you begin your exciting first year at college, you’ll be invited to attend a freshman orientation during the summer, where you can become more familiar with what it means to live at and attend your new college.

But for many, attending freshman orientation is a huge inconvenience. For starters, it can be pretty expensive — I know my freshman orientation cost around $300 for myself and my parents to attend, and that’s not including traveling costs, such as food and hotels. For others, the distance might be a big factor — if your college is a ten hour drive, then attending freshman orientation will take a lot of effort. Maybe you’re busy the day of orientation. And, perhaps, you’re just not interested. There are lots of reasons why you would consider missing orientation.

First and foremost, find out what’s going on at orientation. Many colleges do the same thing at freshman orientation, but you never know for sure. Make sure that nothing’s going on that you can’t afford to miss. If you’re at all unsure, send an e-mail to your college to become certain.

Talk to your parents as well. Just because you’re not too interested in going doesn’t mean they aren’t. Here’s a little secret: freshman orientation is mostly for the parents, but you get dragged along too. While you may not care about what’s going on, your parents might. Orientation answers a lot of questions parents will have.

Going to orientation may offer perks to students who attend. For example, I was able to sign up for classes sooner than students who didn’t attend, and I got out of a few of the mandatory meetings at the beginning of the year. Attending freshman orientation also gives a preview of what it’s like to meet people in college. Again, sending an e-mail to your college or talking to a student who attends the school already will provide you with more information.

Chances are you don’t need to go to orientation. To be honest, I didn’t need to attend mine, beyond signing up for classes, though I still really enjoyed the experience.