<p>one of my DD’s friends has a charge that is about 300 dollars per hour for any hours over 16.</p>
<p>didn’t they do away with that limit on the scholarships? if there is a charge, who would one contact to ask about it?</p>
<p>You need to contact scholarships. They’ll adjust it. Your D has the UA Scholar plus Eng’g upgrade, right? Be sure to mention that.</p>
<p>while the initial rule was that those with the Presidential wouldn’t be charged more, I thought that they included those with the Eng’g upgrade as well. But check.</p>
<p>BTW…the < sign is the “less than” sign. :)</p>
<p>yeah - i just saw that i used the wrong one … :P<br>
typing in bad lighting and not proofreading…</p>
<p>i don’t think the charge appears on our bill, but on one of her roomie’s bills.</p>
<p>What scholarship does the friend have?</p>
<p>hmm … i am not sure.</p>
<p>Well, if she doesn’t have the Presidential or the UA scholar with Eng’g upgrade, then she may likely get charged for credits beyond 16.</p>
<p>The “up to 20 credits” was instituted by Dr. Bonner as a bonus for the top scholarship holders. She didn’t want them to have to pay for additional courses. She wanted their scholarships to cover.</p>
<p>Just wondering: What is generally considered to be a “difficult” number of credits to take during a semester? I know that this answer will vary. Does it simply depend on class content as opposed to credit hours (e.g., a semester with all STEM courses and 20 credits will seem more difficult than having one biology (w/lab) class and 16 credits of electives)? Would it not be prudent to begin freshman year with above 16 credit hours?
Thanks.</p>
<p>they usually advise kids to take 12ish hours at bama bound. for serious student/top scholarship kids, i would advise about 15. 12 was not enough. i guess it might be if one were pledging or something, but since that is 30% or so of kids, that rule would not apply to everyone.</p>
<p>They advise 12 at Bama Bound? That wouldn’t even get sophomore status a student’s second year, right? I thought that 15 was considered typical. My older child is a freshman in college and took 18 semester hours last semester (well 19 if you count a trombone private lesson). I assumed my D would take 15-18 her 1st semester at UA.</p>
<p>For those who are considering going through recruitment or pledging a fraternity DO NOT take a heavy load first semester…I would suggest 12 hours…15 MAX!!! I know our kids are all motivated and organized but speaking from experience as a mom of a 4.0 student both at UA and high school the first semester of Greek life is EXTREMELY busy!!! You want to be able to enjoy both your classes and the activiites that have drawn you to choose to “Go Greek”. If you bury yourself then you will enjoy neither and be terribly stressed. DD took 16 hours,doubled up on Sciences and tested into an upper level Math class. She was drowning before she ever realized it!!! She had sorority obligations Monday through Thursday, football on Saturdays and she really wanted to become involved with her house. We learned a lot that semester and are wiser for it. Seriously…consider the 12 hours at least first semester if you are planning to go Greek.</p>
<p>I have been to 3 Bama Bounds and have never heard anyone advise taking 12 credits. That wouldn’t square with their ***Finish in Four ***program. It also wouldn’t square with any of the 8 semester plans for various majors that I’ve seen.</p>
<p>that may have just been one person’s advice and may have been to students coming in with AP Credits.</p>
<p>that said, if you are coming in with AP credits, then I would advise a student to take 14-15 credits their first semester. Or maybe taking 16 with the idea that you may want to drop one. </p>
<p>The first semester is an adjustment…roommates, no parents around to wake you up if you oversleep, etc. </p>
<p>If you’re not a natural early riser, do not take any 8 am classes. ;)</p>
<p>If you’re a STEM major or pre-health, don’t overload yourself with hard classes…especially a bunch with labs. Pre-meds definitely are at risk for overloading and ruining their GPAs.</p>
<p>If you’re pledging, then choose a less-demanding load that semester.</p>
<p>Always level out your semester courseload with a mix of lighter and more difficult classes…otherwise you can destroy your GPA.</p>
<p>Is it safe to assume that the advisors at Bama Bound help our kids with this? I was not a stem major and do not understand the complexity that labs add to the process. Dr. Sharpe implied that they will look at a kids history/grades when helping them decide what classes are the best fit. Any suggestions for a green parent?</p>
<p>Should we be trying to set up a schedule prior to bama bound or will it all be done at that time? (I am guessing that all of this will become more clear as we get further into the year. I keep thinking I am going to miss something important along the way.)</p>
<p>Okay. Just due to my nature of liking to have everything planned out, I put into my mind to take 16 credits my first semester. I’ve been messing around with some of the tools in DegreeWorks (pretty cool program if I may say so) and just trying to see how everything fits together for the Microbio major.</p>
<p>Should we be trying to set up a schedule prior to bama bound or will it all be done at that time?</p>
<p>Yes!!! Do this!!!</p>
<p>This is what we did…</p>
<p>Make a large grid with Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday going across the top row.
Put the times in a column going down…starting at 8am in 30 min intervals.
Each square should be big enough to list 2-3 options</p>
<p>then, in each appropriate square(s) start filling in a likely class. Some classes will cover more than one square in a day. Also include the CRN number…IMPORTANT.</p>
<p>Include a 2nd choice and 3rd choice for various classes/times.</p>
<p>Note that Tues Thurs classes often start on the half hour and end at the 15 minute mark.</p>
<p>AND…Thursdays are indicated by the letter R</p>
<p>INCLUDE a meal break time! Try to schedule a meal break time that is not at NOON. the dining venues are the most crowded from 11:30 - 12:30. So, if you eat breakfast early, then eat lunch at 11. If you eat breakfast at 8/9am, then eat lunch at 12:30. You get the idea. :)</p>
<p>PAY attention to where the buildings are when you make your schedule and try to line up classes so that you’re not zig-zagging across campus. if you have to schedule a class that is a distance, then try to schedule a meal break prior to that. </p>
<p>If a building isn’t yet indicated on a schedule, look at a prior semester’s schedule to see which bldg that class is typically held. Sometimes there is a delay in determining the room location because they’re waiting to see the class sizes. Many rooms have strict limits on that.</p>
<p>The night before you register, check to see if any classes are full. and do some tweaking. </p>
<p>Be aware that many 100 level classes will get more seats added the morning of each BB registration.</p>
<p>When it’s time to register, you just put in the CRNs of each class. If a class is full, put in a 2nd choice, etc. </p>
<p>Do not wait until BB to come up with a possible schedule. There will be 400+ kids there - and they will be registering in groups. That level of individual attention is not going to be easily had from advisors.</p>
<p>Important tip for those who are concerned about their kids studying enough. If you schedule some breaks during the day, it often forces kids to study and do homework during those times.<br>
When kids line up their classes without breaks, then they sometimes don’t study as much. Those scheduled breaks are kind of forced study halls.</p>
<p>Is it safe to assume that the advisors at Bama Bound help our kids with this? I was not a stem major and do not understand the complexity that labs add to the process</p>
<p>STEM majors have a lot of labs. Labs take a lot of time and can be hard to fit into one’s schedule. Don’t take too many lab classes in one semester. </p>
<p>Come with a possible schedule with some 2nd, 3rd choice options.</p>
<p>Thanks, M2CK - that is very helpful.</p>
<p>I should probably know this but when do the kids take their AP tests and when will they get their results? I am thinking we can’t do any detailed planning until we know the AP results.</p>
<p>Kids usually get their AP results the very end of June if they call in. Bama usually gets the scores loaded into their system around mid-July.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about AP results. Bama lets you assume that you pass (if you feel that you did) and lets you schedule accordinging with an over-ride. If you later find out that you didn’t get the needed score, then you can change your schedule as needed.</p>
<p>Students change and adjust their schedules many times after BB. It doesn’t have to be set in stone at BB. It’s all done online with a few key clicks…not like the old days. Ugh!</p>
<p>Also…don’t let your frosh have some wild-haired idea of scheduling all classes on MWF so he can have T/Th off. bad idea. Too many tests/projects/assignments will fall on the same day. Homework and studying will get overloaded. Too much info to process on each class day. And, no, your child won’t use T/Th to study all day…he’ll sleep thru those days. lol</p>
<p>“don’t let your frosh have some wild-haired idea of scheduling all classes on MWF so he can have T/Th off”</p>
<p>Oooops. Ha. Time to work out another tentative schedule.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>It’s ok to have a lighter schedule on T/Th…but don’t put everything on MWF. You’d die if a few profs all put tests or assignments due on the same day.</p>
<p>As a Microbio major, were you really going to be able to put everything (including labs) on MWF? </p>
<p>Are you pre-med? </p>
<p>Are you taking any math first semester?</p>
<p>Oh, okay. And no, I believe I have some T/Th classes, just a much lighter load than MWF, simply because of how the classes that I planned to take are scheduled.</p>
<p>HY 205, CH 117, SOC 101, COM 121, PHL 202- First semester</p>
<p>EN 249, SOC 202, SOC 360, CH 118, HY 206- Second semester</p>
<p>MATH 125, EN 101, EN 102, SP 201/202, BSC 114/115/116/117 by AP</p>
<p>AH! I’m freaking out!</p>