<p>Just got a frantic call from DD that the registrar called her today at 4:15pm to tell her that she can no longer be in her SPA201 class. Due to her score on the AP test, she placed out of 201 and has been given credit for SPA201. She must switch classes, drop the class all together, or she can stay in and audit the class for no credit.</p>
<p>Here is the problem. DD bought all of the materials and opened them all. Even did the first assignment – so no full credit book return. Why is she being notified now at the end of the first week of classes? This was her honors class selection for this semester. If another honors level Spanish is not available, she will have to double up on honors classes next semester in order to keep her honors status. Plus if she is able to find a SPA class, we have to buy new materials and she is out the first couple of lectures (depending on what days of the week the class is available.) Even if she choses a different class all together, she is out the first few lectures (not of her own choice.)</p>
<p>This was something DD specifically asked at Bama Bound when taking the placement test and registering. (I sent her solo to Bama Bound.) I am, needless to say, disappointed with this slip in the crack.</p>
<p>Thanks, vines. She already tried, but got the same story. Bottom line is by taking/passing the AP, she received credit for 201. She is frantically trying to find something else. I am sick about the waste of money of the books/materials.</p>
<p>DD’s roommate just received the same call. She, however, did not take the AP exam. They want to bump her because the SPA201 classes are too full. She politely declined.</p>
<p>Her best bet is probably to try to sell the books back to the Supe Store or The Off Campus Bookstore. Be aware, the Supe Store buy back values are online, but they don’t always honor the prices for the time period they state online. If she can’t get a decent price for them, she can always hold them until the end of the semester and try again. Prices vary from time to time.</p>
<p>that is not what we were told at BB, and I wonder how many students are having the same problem? Just becasue you took the AP, does not mean that you are prepared to manage the college class. I wonder who the next “higher up” would be to discuss this with?</p>
<p>S took AP Calculus in high school and went to Bama Bound before receiving his results. I had read on CC that he could register for next level class if he was confident his scores would be high enough. He decided he wanted to register in Calc I, which he felt like would be an easy A and he could get honors credit for.</p>
<p>He wound up scoring high enough to get AP credit, but chose to stay enrolled in the honors calc I course. We haven’t heard from anyone that there is a problem with that.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d think that whether or not AP credit prevents or allows retaking a course would be a university policy and would not vary for each department.</p>
<p>Fortunately, dd had trouble accessing her mybama account so she could not make changes to the class today – including weighing her options. (Something to do with her emergency contacts.) From what I am reading, I think we need to investigate this further. I did personally speak with the registrar that called her and told dd she had to drop. She explained to me that her AP results (she got a 4) gave her credit for SPA201 and she was not eligible to be in the class. I asked specifically if this overrode her Alabama Spanish Placement Test which placed her in SPA201 and she said it did. Something is not right because this should have been clarified at registration during Bama Bound. I know this is not UA’s first rodeo with Spanish placement and AP credit. Plus AP credit was received by UA within the first 2 weeks of July. DD could see she received 7 credits Spanish, but it did not show it was credit specifically for SPA201. Why was this not reviewed then? </p>
<p>Are any of the students that took the CLEP test experiencing the same problem?</p>
<p>My D could potentially be in the same situation but she has not received a call. She had varied results between CLEP, AP and placement. She is currently enrolled in a class she was given credit for, though she is enrolled in an honors section. We specifically asked about this during BB and were told she could certainly take a class that (at that point) CLEP had given her credit for (didn’t have AP results yet). I have noticed that her DegreeWorks looks strange when it lists this class. It seems to think she is retaking it to raise her grade (which of course she doesn’t have). </p>
<p>One difference is that this is French and not Spanish.</p>
<p>That’s odd. S received 8 credits for Spanish via CLEP. I assumed that would make him eligible for 201, not anything higher. He isn’t going to take any more Spanish I believe.</p>
<p>During my son’s first day of Spanish 202, a gentleman came into the class and said if you were a freshman, you could not be in the class. Don’t quote me on this (I’ll ask exactly what was said when I talk to son again). The man said something about changing to 201 or 353. Son called me and said he was going to meet with the head of the department, as he had dual enrollment credit that placed him in the 202 class. The department head looked at his transcript and confirmed he was in the correct class. Too bad my son and one other person had to do the freshman walk of shame and leave in the middle of the first day of class over this.</p>
<p>IMHO and judging by how early the 201, 202 and 353 classes were early on, I think this must be a space issue. I don’t think the Spanish department has clearly defined and communicated placement policies. My son talked to several people in the department before registration and received a variety of answers.</p>
<p>My son received an e-mail the day before classes were to start saying he had to change Spanish classes… He was told he had taken too much Spanish for the class he was in. Since Spanish is not a favorite of his, he was just hoping to take the lowest level possible to fulfill the requiremment. Wonder why it took so long for the unviersity to contact him. He had been registered for the class since early July.</p>
<p>I don’t see how they can force you to accept AP credit if you don’t want it. If a student is not comfortable enough with SP 201 to skip it and move on to SP 202, AP credit or not, he or she shouldn’t be forced to do so. This sounds like either colossal disorganization or a case where the classes are overcrowded and they’re trying to clear them out. The former is unfortunate; the latter is disingenuous. Fortunately my D got CLEP credit through SP202 and doesn’t want to take more Spanish, but if she was in this situation I wouldn’t have her drop until she’d gone higher up the food chain than her advisor.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice and support. I will suggest to dd to go to the Spanish Department first thing Monday and get a live person to help sort this out. Worse case scenario, she audits the class. I would hate for her to miss a semester of Spanish instruction when this is her intended minor. I am not sure how confident she is jumping into an upper level honors class (that is if she can get an override because the next level classes are full) now that classes have started. Bummer is that she will go from her ideal 15 credit hour schedule to a 12 credit hour schedule.</p>
<p>A student should be able to decline his AP credits, after all, the Math and Bio depts strongly advise AGAINST using AP credits to skip bio and math. So, this can’t be a university rule, but may be a dept rule???</p>
<p>My daughter did end up receiving a similar phone call about her FR 201 Honors class. As I understand it, she was told she could stay in the class and they would remove her CLEP credit. They didn’t say anything about auditing the class.</p>