Congrats to all the admitted students! I thought I would offer a Q/A thread for admitted students. I’m a former orientation student advisor, freshmen mentor and academic advisor. I was also a UT student back in the day so I’m happy to answer your burning Orientation questions or general advising!
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.
My question on my son’s behalf…how do you know what classes to take and what classes to take AP credit for? He will graduate with over 12 AP’s and wants to take credit for all. I don’t know how that works.
Is it actually beneficial to choose the first orientation date? I did choose it, and I will have to make my down payment in a few days to make it official. A lot of people say you have a higher chance of getting all the classes you want if you go earlier, but from what I understand, UT will hold a set amount of spots open for each orientation date, so are you actually at a disadvantage with a later date? I want to go later so I can see my AP scores and know for sure which classes I have to take.
Can you use AP credits for elective slots?
Those are great questions! Well the first thing to know is that you won’t want to claim anything until talking to your personal academic advisor about your particular ones, which happens at Orientation. They’re available to claim for 10 years and DO cost a little money to process. Almost all students go to Orientation before July scores are released, but advisors show you what to sign up for based on your predicted scores. And students are actually pretty good at predicting it.
The best thing about freshmen schedules are this: they are very straight forward and almost all freshmen are in some sort of learning community. These give you 2-3 RESERVED courses, and most freshman only take 4 in the first semester. Example: Engineering majors might be given a FIG that includes their 2 freshman Engineering courses, plus their Freshman Seminar. Everyone has to take a Freshman Seminar in their first 2 semesters, so they are included in maybe half of the FIGs. This student would then add their Calculus course and voila, full schedule. Advisors will go over which Calc is the best option, based on the major and the student’s confidence in their scores/background. Some FIGS might have a Calc course, and then the students look for their own Freshman Seminar to complete their schedule.
Thus the dilemma for early vs. late orientations: Honestly, they only things that are staggered throughout Orientation are spots in the actual FIG groups and the UGS/Freshman seminar courses. Those average 18 people, so about 3 spots per Orientation. But Math classes, or your run of the mill History courses/electives/etc, nope. Those are open from April registration and there are fewer at each orientation. The 8ams begin to be the only ones open and the “best” professors can fill up quickly.
Then, there is a long period of add/drop where students can adjust their schedules after they leave orientation. Even into the first week of class, students have the ability to adjust.
Almost all students I saw have a mix of credits that go toward required core curriculum and those that just go toward electives. And yes, most extra credits can go toward elective hours. There will be examples of credits that go to waste, like Physics B for Engineers as one example. They have to take the Calc based version and can’t claim both.
There’s plenty more info I can give you, but Orientation can be a blur as it is! If you’d like to share your majors and expected credits, I can likely give you an accurate guess at their first semester schedule.
If you major in engineering, are the score requirements different? I heard that while the rest of the university might require a 4 for U.S. history or English III, they take 3’s for cockrell, but I’ve also heard otherwise.
Nope, none of the official cut scores vary based on what college you are in. The only difference is that Engineering might differ in which Calc/Science course they recommend based on your score. The one-stop-shop for credit by exam is the Center for Teaching & Learning: http://ctl.utexas.edu/studenttesting/exams?field_subject_area_tid=All&field_exam_type_tid=3&combine=
On their student testing services website, they list every AP/IB exam and the cut score, along with course or courses you get credit for. 4 or 5 on US History for example = all 6 required hours of History for the core curriculum. No variance on amount of hours for 4 or 5. Foreign languages and sciences are the only ones that have different amount of credits based on scores.
Is there a cap on the number of AP credits I can use? I know some schools only take 2 or 3 even if you meet the required score. Will I be able to transfer all of them if I meet the requirement?
Hmm there’s no hard limit on AP credits to use, it really just depends on your major how many will be used. You do have to meet the 60 hours in residency rule, meaning regardless of credits, you have to take 2 years worth of classes on campus.
I was surprised to read that most freshman are in some sort of learning community or FIG, not sure if those terms mean the same thing or not. My son is an engineering major, non-honors. Will he select a FIG or will he be placed in one? Please explain how this works. Thanks!
Yep it’s all the same thing! You’ll hear many buzzwords/acronyms, etc. but they all are similar. It’s a small group of students that have something in common, usually major but not always, that take classes together and meet once a week with a mentor. Every department does it a little differently, some are pre-assigned and some get to choose. If you’re pre-assigned, it will probably be the 2-3 classes you have to take anyway. Is he ECE? Or another type of Engineering?
Here’s the list of last year’s Engineering FIGS:http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/fig/courses/engineering
Looks like all ECE for example have the same 2 classes, so you’re probably pre-assigned. Then they add their UGS Freshman Seminar & Calculus.
EDIT: The UGS 018 is not an actual course or the required freshman seminar course, but the weekly 0-hour seminar meeting with their mentor.
@Longhorns061012 Mechanical
@Longhorns061012 Are honors engineering students in the same FIG?
Yep so for ME, looks like there are 4 to choose from (Small freshman class). They all have 2 classes, one being Chemistry 1. Half have the freshmen seminar course with it, and the topic is the Mechanical Engineering topic. This is pretty common, and actually pretty cool. So the freshman seminars are required 3 hour courses, but the topics vary. This one is offered by an ME professor, and some spots are reserved for the ME FIGS. Now for students who don’t want to take that specific seminar topic, that’s ok. The other 2 FIGS have Chemistry 1 and the introduction ME course tied together.
@Longhorns061012 He made a 4 on the Chem AP test. Should he take it again anyway? So, most of the ME majors will be in one of the 4 FIGS? Is that information available to review before orientation, or do they have to wait until they meet with advisors? Thank you for helping in this way! It’s great to have contact with someone who knows how this all works!
Hmmm actually I’m not positive about the Engineering Honors, I don’t think they have their own FIGS since they’re spread across disciplines. You might email the dept and ask, but I would guess they are just placed in FIGS based on their specific Engineering major.
They’re still finalizing the Fall 2015 FIGS, but all of that should be available at Orientation so advisors can explain it. And they will be the ones to talk about claiming credit for Chem 1 or retaking it. Engineering are the most notorious about recommending taking a STEM class instead of claiming credit, and for good reason. But your personal advisor will have the best advice about skipping it or taking it. If you want to skip it, they’ll just recommend you drop the course and remain in the FIG with your peers. You would just be taking one less class with them, and that’s usually just fine.
And yep, unless something dramatic has changed, UT requires all freshman to have some type of small community “home”.
@Longhorns061012 Okay, great info - thanks!
@Longhorns061012
Does UT accept SAT subject test credit for literature?