Hi!
I am currently trying to consider all my opportunities at Alabama and it seems daunting to make a 4-year academic plan. I am on the waitlist for CBHP. I am a Chemical Engineering major and considering adding either an economics or general business minor. I am also on the fence whether to join the co-op program or not. All of this seems exciting but trying to schedule it all is daunting…here are my main questions:
-What is the recommended first semester load of credit hours? I don’t want to overwhelm myself.
-If I were to join the co-op program, when should I start my first work schedule: summer after freshman year or in the fall following freshman year? How should I structure my academic schedule for engineering on co-op?
-Is joining CBHP AND doing a minor an over-commitment on scheduling? Currently I have 40 credit hours transferred and looking at DegreeWorks it seems like I would need 20 credit hours in CBHP and 15 in economics or general business for their programs…
Any insight will be greatly appreciated! Take care and Roll Tide!
I’m an engineering major and I’m currently doing my first semester of work! I would recommend waiting to co-op until after your sophomore year. I personally did it half way through sophomore year but I wish I had more engineering classes to be better prepared… I’ll try my best to lay out what co-op does to your schedule.
Freshman Year:
Fall- classes
Spring- classes
Sophomore Year:
Fall- classes
Spring- classes
Summer- Co-op #1
Junior Year:
Fall- Classes
Spring- co-op #2
Summer- classes
Senior Year:
Fall- Co-op #3
Spring- classes
2nd senior year:
Fall- Classes
Spring- classes
You graduate a year late with co-op. But the experience is so valuable. Also you may or may not have a say in which semester you start. I was offered for this spring so I took it. The co-op office is great and will walk you through the entire process from start to finish. So I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Others get offers to start in summer or even fall. As for CBHP and a minor, many of my friends do CBHP and a minor. Feel free to PM me any specific questions. I know @springy179 is in CBHP maybe she will want to chime in(:
Advice: try to avoid taking 2 courses with labs at once (4 credit hours each). Although labs ‘only’ add 1 hour on paper, the labs are a time-suck for many students. Opinion: Economics is an incredibly versatile major and, like statistics, you will use those analytical skills in whatever career you choose, over and over again.
@bamagirl18 I pm you
@aeromom thank you for the heads up on labs! I am seeing my gf right now with her premed labs and it scares me how much time commitment they require. She is taking both bio and chem labs this semester and it makes me sad to see how much stress she has…I will avoid this when I go to college. I will definitely spread those classes out over my academics at UA 
I LOVE economics so much. My brain just works with it well so I will for sure be minoring in it. I was just trying to see what would happen schedule wise if I added CBHP or a general business minor if I don’t get into CBHP. I don’t want to overload haha
@aeromom coming back to this discussion…looking into my future schedule if i decide to stick with ChemE, I may need to take either one or two semesters with two lab courses…how hard is it to take both physics and Ochem at the same time? What about Chem II and Bio I? Just trying to get a perspective from UA. This looks like a weed out set up…not that I don’t like chemistry and physics, but from what I saw this could be a lot…
While waiting to see if you get into CBH, apply for Emerging Scholars. In some ways, ES can be even better than CBH.
My math major son did CBH and another minor and several misc classes for interest, so this can be done.
I don’t think it’s possible for a ChemE major to avoid taking 2 lab classes at the same time. ChemE students generally have to take some Bio, 4 semesters of Chem, 2 semesters of Physics…plus the eng’g and math classes and at least 2 semesters of some sort of CS.
Try to space out the science/eng classes as well as you can. Not all of them may be hard, but they probably will be time consuming.
CBH is a minor, and as a freshman it requires 4 hours as a class. The class is heavily back end of the semester weighted in both freshman semesters, as you learn to program first, then apply it to large projects at the end of the two semesters. DD took Anatomy/Phys and Inorganic Chem as a freshman with CBH. Doable, but labs take a ton of time.
Thanks everyone for the insight! I am excited to go back to school and I just want to see how much I can handle at once since it has been almost a year for me. I feel confident in my ability but at the same time I don’t want to overload.
I’m bumping this thread with some new questions.
Hello!
As I sit down to try and set up an academic schedule for BB, I struggle with a few questions that I would appreciate some input from Bama parent’s on cc. Here they are:
-I am currently 50/50 split on mechE and chemE. I am declared chemE but my heart has been shifting away from it a little. A few parent’s gave me advice on taking classes that the two majors relate with (PH 105 and ENGR 103) which I greatly appreciate. However, I was wondering if taking both PH 105 and CH 101 or CH 102 is advisable for a first semester schedule?
-If I am unsure on mechE or chemE, what are parent’s opinions on taking both intro classes to these disciplines (CHE 125 and ME 121)? One parent said this may be redundant but could be a good way to gauge my interests. Thoughts?
-I received a 4 on the AP Chemistry test. Since it’s been a solid year that I have worked with chemistry, I am not sure of my capabilities in chemistry. One parent in private suggested CLEP as a “gauge” for seeing how I stand. Is taking CH 101 again worth it or should I push forward with CH 102? A concern with this is if I ultimately pursue mechE that CH 102 would be a waste of credit hours. Most important though is having as strong foundation as possible while not wasting time with redundant courses.
-Any other engineering scheduling advice or insight? Buffer classes (especially humanities since I need those still…) that can pad GPA?
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
The intro classes - CHE 125, ME 121, etc. - are trivial, and often only last for part of the semester. Take as many as you want!
And I wouldn’t bother retaking a course you’ve already AP’d out of. Move on.
I appreciate the honesty @dodgersmom. I’ve been reading through threads and overwhelmingly I am getting advice that retaking chem 101 benefits some but because it’s an intro class and largely impersonal that it’s worth more to just review the course yourself and move on to Chem 102.
FYI - if you retake a course for which you already have AP credit:
(1) you forfeit the AP credit for that course; and
(2) assume the risk of whatever grade you get - for better or for worse!
^ I mean, you could probably still drop it if you’re not geytieng a good grade before whatever late-drop deadline there is and use the credit instead. That was my backup plan for honors calc 1. But that wastes a semester and I’m in agreement that it’s probably better to move on.
thanks @dodgersmom and @bodangles for the input. I now have a few planned schedules to bring with me to BB! I am going to take all the credit I can get
Aww, missed my edit window. *getting
That’s what I get for surfing CC on a mobile device while I’m supposed to be paying attention to an exam review.
Good luck!