<p>Ok so I'm extremely nervous about having to get into classes i want to take first year. I heard CTOPS is where ppl do registration (but does this include all of your courses for the entire freshman year??? Can't be possible if ap scores haven't come in...right?). </p>
<p>Also, the requirements are a lot, so do a lot of freshmen end up taking all requirement classes for the year so that they don't have to worry about completing a lot in the future, when they are actually absorbed with their major?</p>
<p>I'm new to this obviously, and i've heard that there are lots of cases where if you're not quick, you can lose a preferred class (since I'm presuming it's a rolling-basis kindda deal). I really don't want to end up with a LOT of surprises. I know freshman year is about discovering new things...but i don't want to start off too dazed/confused. </p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing as you regarding AP classes. I recently took the AP Statistics exam and will be going to the June 6-7 CTOPs date. Obviously my scores wouldn’t be reported in time for me to know whether or not I would have to take a required class or not for my major.
I called and they said that there is an Add/Drop period sometime later that we would be able to adjust our schedules when we find out about AP Exam scores.</p>
<p>I suggested to my daughter that she should choose an orientation date that falls after the mid-July notification time for AP results. As she took four AP exams, the results could have a big effect on her class choice.</p>
<p>That makes sense schokolade to have a later orientation date set. Do you think that the classes your daughter chooses will affect her eventual schedule? I’m wondering b/c I thought the classes a person gets into is based on a rolling basis type of ideal (as in the ppl with the earliest orientation time might be able to get into their classes and those at a later date might be jeopardized due to the fact that the early orientation kids took most of the common classes and by later time the common classes got filled up). Don’t know if this is why i should get an early orientation or not, but please share with me more about the process. </p>
<p>Metakirby: thanks for the add/drop period system notification. I hope most kids end up changing their original selections so there is still some flexibility present to choose popular courses that may not have been considered by a student before he/she had received the ap scores. </p>
<p>Another ? if someone knows the answer to it: what is the deal with the honors courses registration? (I know they are must smaller and manageable). Of course, i’m not an honors student. I heard honors kids get an earlier choosing option with their schedule.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the classes are on a rolling basis, but I hope not because that would be really unfair. Hopefully it’s like housing where it doesn’t matter when you apply as long as it was before May 15th.</p>
<p>You have no advantage when you go to CTOPS. The dates do not matter. If you want to enroll in POLI 100, for example, at every single CTOPS date, they will release X amount of seats (say, 5). So that means that if you go to the first session, there will be exactly 5 open seats in POLI 100, which you then get to fight over with the rest of your CTOPS group. If you go to the second session, another 5 POLI 100 seats will open up (and fill up), etc. etc. etc. </p>
<p>AP Scores really don’t matter that much. UNC is really behind on applying credit and some of the advisors I’ve talked to don’t really know how they’ll be applying the credit. Just register for the classes that you want, AP doesn’t really come into play except for picking whatever class you want. </p>
<p>The computer doesn’t have a brain and will let you register for anything you want (regardless of credit), so just make your schedule to the best of your ability, realize that whatever you pick during CTOPs is basically useless, and that you’ll probably just re-do your schedule in the fall.</p>
<p>Thanks ArtemisDea! That info makes a huge difference. I guess now I’ll just have to examine my strengths and preferences rather than having to worry about course credit.</p>
<p>@ArtemisDea, thanks for that information because I thought CTOPS was the end all be all of course selection. I was going to wait for my AP scores to come back in but I guess I’ll go to CTOPS before the second week in July lol</p>
<p>Yeah, APs really don’t matter unless they determine a pre-req for your major. The computer won’t care either way. One of my friends took a 100-level English course before completing 101 and 102, so the computer will let you do just about anything you want and no one is really going to check over your schedule to make sure it’s valid. I don’t know what would happen to that credit if anyone found out, but he took the class anyway.</p>
<p>@ artemisDea: haha. So what I’m gathering really is that it’s alright to go onto take harder courses if they are managable, but a person cannot assume course credits for the classes he/she undeservedly skipped (guess kind of like not having the classes prior to the advance one count towards requirement fullfillment). That actually gives a lot of liberty to the student (although I’m sure this isn’t a frequent act that students commit since skipping certain intro courses could be daunting prospect for future). This makes me feel as I’m not tied by my ap performance but rather how truly i’m prepared for the course.</p>
<p>Don’t skip prereqs just because the registration system lets you do that. There are quite a few classes where they actually check the prereqs (my Engl 102 prof. checked to see if I had placed out of or taken 101, and my Math 232 prof did the same with 231). Also, if advising does cancel the class credits later on, whats your excuse? That the computer let you register for it?
Before you register, it clearly tells you what the prereqs for the class is. Be careful.</p>
<p>Ok, from what I have learned from my time here at UNC-- the unofficial rule of thumb is to register first, get permission later (but you must obtain permission). For those of you without AP scores, if you think you’ll achieve a certain pre-req, you can register as if you have gotten it, and then only need to change your classes if it turns out you didn’t give a 4 or a 5 after all. </p>
<p>I say “register first, permission later” because there are so few spaces in many of the classes that if you do not have a seat in the class you want, even if you get permission, you cannot take the class. Most of the permissions are by dept or instructor, so going the first day is important so you van have that conversation with the prof and get the OK to stay in the class. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, I would not encourage you to be like my somewhat idiotic friend who took the English course without the prereq. Number 1, it’s extremely obvious that he took the course incorrectly because Engl 101 will come up on his transcript after the higher level course. I honestly don’t know what advising would do in that situation, but it certainly isn’t a good one to be in. </p>
<p>This. I registered for an upper level psychology class for my major, but I didn’t have the prerequisite class (although I had another class that was very similar to the prerequisite). I registered for it and got the last spot available in April of my sophomore year. Didn’t get permission to bypass the prerequisite until the week before classes started.</p>
<p>I know CTOPs is a lot of pressure, but it’s not life or death. Like it has been said, the date you go doesn’t matter because they hold spots for each session for the major 101 classes. </p>
<p>When I went, they told us if we hadn’t received our AP scores yet just to guess. It really is not a big deal if you don’t have them. You are expected to report them and if you really didn’t place out, you’re expected to change your classes accordingly. </p>
<p>It really really helps to plan ahead and know what you want to be signing up for for your first semester. I don’t know if you guys have access to Connect Carolina, but if you can add classes to your shopping carts, do it. Then when it is your official regression time, all you have to do is check the boxes and click enroll. Keep in mind that you may not get the classes that are your first choice, so it is good to have a lot of back ups. But don’t worry… you won’t end up taking horribly random classes that have nothing to do with your intended major. But it is good to try some new things. </p>
<p>That’s my advice. And my last bit of wisdom is take a first-year seminar. They are amazing- you should not miss out. If you don’t get one first semester, definitely take one in the spring. I am so jealous of you all because I’m a junior and can’t take those awesome classes!</p>
<p>“Ok, from what I have learned from my time here at UNC-- the unofficial rule of thumb is to register first, get permission later (but you must obtain permission).”</p>
<p>So. True.</p>
<p>Really, don’t worry about CTOPS. It’s a sad fact that you probably are only going to get into maybe one of the classes you are super excited about. But that’s okay, because you’ll be able to take them later on in your time at Carolina when you have seniority and a better registration time (except for freshman seminars, jump on those suckers while they’re hot!) Take this time to take those intro classes that will have seats available for you. They’re not always fun, but you have to take them to get to the good stuff.</p>
<p>Also, you’ll be able to play with your schedule later, so don’t worry about APs. Make choices based on what you think you’ll get. Err on the side of upper level classes since those fill up faster. It will be easier to get into Math 231 if you find out you bombed the AP calc exam than it will be to get into an upper level class later on.</p>
<p>A note on freshman seminars: They are golden for getting Connections that you really, really don’t want to do otherwise. You’ll appreciate it by the time senior year roles around and your adviser is wondering what they heck you’ve been doing the last three years. I got my Phil and Moral Reasoning credit for a first year seminar “Cheating Death and Chasing Immortality” where we talked about things like green burials and whether having your brain downloaded into a computer could count as living on after death. You’ll appreciate later on how hard it can be to get some of those credits that do not fit in with your intended major. Or do something fun. I wanted to take a bunch of the first year seminars they’re offering now, but they’re all saved for you. Bummer.</p>
<p>Okay, I have CTOPS in about two weeks.
I dug through the course directory (just searching and stuff, no big deal) and have found some classes that I’m definitely interested in.
I know these kinds of questions are taboo and such, but I’d really like a nice generalized list of the General Education requirements. I have found the requirements for my major, but not just the general ed ones.</p>
<p>What kinds of General Ed classes should you take as a freshman and which should you wait to take at later times? My sister had said that her LFIT class was really far away from her freshman dorm and it might be easier to take it as a sophomore with a car/living off campus.</p>
<p>If you can get your hands on an actual “catalog” which you will get at CTOPS … this can be helpful to find gen eds etc. AP classes really don’t matter all that much fall, first semester. You have a lot of Gen Ed classes to take to meet the requirements, so just pick something else. Best advice, try to take classes that double count or triple count for these gen eds. FYS are good classes to take and knock out some of those requirements that you aren’t crazy about. LFIT - tons to choose from, just pick one you like that fits in your schedule somewhere in first year or two. Best thing to do, is to put your best guess at a class schedule in your “shopping cart” … then when you get to your assigned sign up window/ session you just hit the button to submit. YOu might have a better chance to get the classes if you move quick. Have some back ups ready to go too. You can drop/add in the fall, but a lot of these gen eds don’t open up, and or you have to check it a lot in the fall and see if one “opens” because the window closes quickly if you don’t stay on top of it.</p>
<p>As far as adding classes to the shopping cart, then hopefully getting enrolled in them at CTOPS, is that just for 1st semester classes? Or should I put classes for 2nd semester in the cart as well?</p>