For parents and families of students who were accepted via Early Decision and have enrolled in the Class of 2029, we are eager to welcome your student to Wake Forest in August 2025!
Our New Students website for incoming ’29 students and families will be updated on May 1, 2025 for the Class of 2029, and that will be your resource until move-in. (Note that the information on the New Students website right now is for the Class of 2028).
For families in the Class of 2029 (beginning Wake Forest in August 2025)
Getting Started as a Wake Forest Family Member
There are a few things we encourage you to do as a new Wake Forest family member:
- Important Dates
- Verify your Family Record
- Subscribe to the Daily Deac
- Follow official WFU social media accounts
- Learn why Our Motto Means More
- Understand college terms and processes
- Learn about how we partner with families
- Opt in to security alerts
Important Dates
May 1, 2025
- The New Students website is published for the Class of 2029.
- Note: The current info on this site is for the Class of 2028; the 2029 site is currently being updated on a pre-production site (i.e., not viewable to the public) until all details are confirmed.
August 2025
- TBD– Pre-Orientation Move-In
- Students accepted to Pre-Orientation programs will receive their move-in instructions (including their assigned date and time frame) in mid-July after program enrollment from Residence Life and Housing. Please note:
- If you will be flying to campus for move-in, we encourage you to wait on firm travel plans until your student decides whether they want to do a Pre-Orientation program. If you make travel plans prior to notification of Pre-Orientation program acceptance, consider booking options that are flexible or easily changed if needed.
- Some families choose to send their students to campus with the bare necessities for Pre-Orientation and then bring students’ remaining belongings on Move-In Day (this enables families to participate in all family orientation activities if they are able). You can also fully move in your student on their assigned move in day (and spend a few days in Winston-Salem or other parts of NC then return for family orientation) or go home after you move your student in, as meets your family’s needs.
- Note that students will move in to their permanent room (not a temporary space) when they arrive for Pre-Orientation.
- Students accepted to Pre-Orientation programs will receive their move-in instructions (including their assigned date and time frame) in mid-July after program enrollment from Residence Life and Housing. Please note:
- TBD – New Student Move-In
- Check-In and Move-In Assistance will be available from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Note: All students must be moved in by 1 p.m.
- Students will see their suggested move-in windows in late July 2025 when they receive their housing assignments via the Housing Portal.
- Check-In and Move-In Assistance will be available from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- TBD – Orientation activities for parents and families. Families should plan to depart Thursday evening or Friday morning.
- Note that most of our student Orientation (i.e. New Deac Week) activities are on a separate track from parent and family orientation.
Verify your Family Record
Once your student’s deposit is received and processed.
Note: if you have another student currently enrolled at Wake Forest and have previously verified your Family Record, you can skip this step, unless you have new contact information (e.g., phone number, email address, physical address, etc.).
Verifying your family record with us ensures we have your correct contact information in our system. In order to do this, you will need to log into Wake Network and provide the following:
- Your student’s 8-digit WFU ID that was provided in their acceptance letter
- See instructions on first time login to Wake Network here
Once we have your preferred email address in Wake Network, we will begin including you on invitations to events in your home area, and will send you the monthly Wake Parents & Families email newsletter; see archives here.
Note: Most of the communications to new families will begin in Spring: we will include new families in our monthly Wake Parents & Families e-newsletter starting in January.
Subscribe to the Daily Deac
The Daily Deac is a blog that shares important news, offers advice about supporting your students, and covers a variety of WFU activities and events to help you get a sense of campus life.
Get the Daily Deac in your Inbox!
Follow official WFU social media accounts
Follow us on our official Parents and Families Facebook page and check out our other University social media accounts. Our official Parents and Families Facebook page is a page that anyone can access; you don’t have to apply to be a member.
Pro tip: Your best source for official information is from the Wake Forest website or administrative offices (and not rely on a group text, unofficial Facebook message board, or what your student heard from someone, as that information can be incorrect.
Processes and policies can change from year to year (and older families may not even realize there was a change!), so it is safest to use official WFU websites or social media accounts whenever possible if you have questions about policy, procedure, etc.
Learn why Our Motto Means More
Translated as “For Humanity,” our motto of Pro Humanitate calls upon the entire University community to engage in the fundamental questions about what it means to be human. It invites us to use our ideas, knowledge, talents and compassion on behalf of humanity in all its difference and diversity — in short, to be catalysts for good. Learn more.
Understand college terms and processes
Refer to our A-Z of WFU: A Glossary of Terms page to familiarize yourself with terms commonly used within higher education and at Wake Forest.
Learn about how we partner with families
Read our best advice on how we can work together towards our shared goal: your student’s success.
- How we communicate
- Stop, Drop, and Roll framework for helping your student
- Understanding student and family roles
Opt in to security alerts
Families should opt in to receive Campus Safety Alerts through the WakeSafe app (you can subscribe now, or by the summer, as you choose):
- Search for and download the WakeSafe app on your mobile device in the app store
- You will see a popup asking you to Allow Notifications. Tap Allow.
Once you have downloaded WakeSafe and enabled notifications, If a campus alert is issued, you will receive a notice on your mobile device.
How to verify you are correctly set up to receive alerts on your mobile phone
In your Settings, go to WakeSafe and ensure that you have selected Allow Notifications (we encourage you to select Immediate notifications and to allow both Sounds and Badges).
Commonly Asked Questions
We encourage you to wait on firm travel plans until your student decides whether they want to do a Pre-Orientation program. If you make travel plans prior to notification of Pre-Orientation program acceptance, consider booking options that are flexible or easily changed if needed. Note: Pre-Orientation move-in dates are assigned by program; students do not choose their date.
- August 2025 TBD – Pre-Orientation Move-In
- Students accepted to Pre-Orientation programs will receive their move-in instructions (including their assigned date and time frame) in mid-July after program enrollment from Residence Life and Housing.
- Note: if you will be flying to campus for move-in, we encourage you to wait on firm travel plans until your student decides whether they want to do a Pre-Orientation program. If you make travel plans prior to notification of Pre-Orientation program acceptance, consider booking options that are flexible or easily changed if needed.
- Students accepted to Pre-Orientation programs will receive their move-in instructions (including their assigned date and time frame) in mid-July after program enrollment from Residence Life and Housing.
- August 2025 TBD – New Student Move-In
- Check-In and Move-In Assistance will be available from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Note: All students must be moved in by 1 p.m.
- Students will see their suggested move-in windows in late July 2025 when they receive their housing assignments via the Housing Portal.
- Check-In and Move-In Assistance will be available from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- August 2025 TBD– Orientation activities for parents and families. Families should plan to depart at the end of family activities.
The dates for Family Weekend 2025 will not be available until late January-early February after the football schedule is released.
Once the dates are announced, we encourage families to make lodging arrangements. For a list of local hotels, check visitwinstonsalem.com. Please also consider Airbnbs, VRBOs, etc. as well as hotels outside the immediate near-campus/downtown Winston-Salem vicinity; there are some great hotels in Greensboro and High Point (about a 30ish minute drive from campus).
We encourage you to be flexible in your planning. Normally it is wisest to wait until your student has their final course schedule (which they will have after Orientation and the drop/add period) to purchase airline tickets for breaks. Students must consult their course syllabus for each class and/or talk to professors about the course schedule and final exam times.
Admissions plans events for accepted students. If one will be hosted this spring, Admissions will share information in the mid to late March timeframe. Encourage your students to be regularly checking their email (both their WFU email and the email they used on their admissions application) for details.
Upcoming Events for P’28 Families
Fall 2024 New Student Move-In
August 16-17: Move-in for Pre-Orientation participants (date assigned by program)
August 21: Move-in for all new students
2024 Family Weekend
September 27-29