June 9: Travel Planning, Transportation, and Pre-Orientation Dates

Dear parents and families,

This week’s focus is on how you get to campus—from airport options to car registration and your student’s official Move-In date.

Action Item Tracker

Health and Immunization Forms
Due July 1
We continue to stress that students should be uploading documentation to their Deacon Health Portal by the July 1 deadline, and checking their secure messages in the Deacon Health Portal regularly to ensure they are not missing any emails about their uploaded documentation. Not getting health info uploaded by the deadline can impact students’ move-in eligibility.

Featured Topic: Travel and Transportation Planning

• Getting Around Campus: The Wake Forest campus is extremely walkable. Students do not have to have a car. We have other options:
  • Shuttles: We operate shuttles to popular off-campus destinations like Target and the football stadium.
  • Zipcar: Students can rent vehicles by the hour or day through our Zipcar car-sharing program, located right on campus.
• Car Registration: If your family sends a car, first-year parking permits will be available online on August 4.
  • Important: All first-year students are required to park in a designated off-campus lot. Shuttle service is provided.
• Airports and Shuttles: Wake Forest offers shuttle service to the following nearby airports during designated academic breaks only:
  • Piedmont Triad (GSO) — in Greensboro, around a 30 minute drive to campus
  • Charlotte Douglas (CLT) — in Charlotte, around a 90 minute drive to campus

We do not offer shuttle service to Raleigh-Durham, which is about a 2 hour drive to campus. So if your student needs a reservation outside our posted schedule — or to Raleigh-Durham (RDU) — you can make a reservation through the rideshare of your choice, or Black Tie Transportation.

Pro Tip: Flying into GSO can be the easiest option. Even if it means making a connection from Charlotte or Raleigh into Greensboro, ground transportation will be much less expensive. There are many flights between Charlotte or Raleigh and Greensboro every day.

Move-In & Pre-Orientation Dates

• Your student’s Move-in Day depends on their plans:
  • Aug. 13 — Wilderness to Wake and Marching Band Pre-Orientations only
  • Aug. 14 — all other Pre-Orientation programs
  • Aug. 18 — all new students not doing a Pre-Orientation program
• For all students except those moving in on August 13, they will be prompted to select a time slot to move in.
  • Important note: Students/families will not be able to arrive before their selected time.
• All students will move directly into their assigned 2026-27 housing (not a temporary space) and must be moved in by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18.

Later this summer, we will post a comprehensive Move-In Guide on the New Students website. Until then, we hope this will give you enough basics to help you think through travel planning.

Until next Tuesday,

Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)
Executive Director of Family Communications