Once the IB grades are reported, you will have to send the scores to A&M, just as a student has to log into collegeboard to send their AP scores from tests taken last May. You should have a login in order to send them. If not, you can get them it from your school’s IB director.
As discussed concerning AP credits, you have to elect to receive IB credits. Here’s the IB class-credit list: http://dars.tamu.edu/Testing/AP,-SAT,-ACT,-and-Other-Information-for-Incoming-F/files/AP-IB.aspx
Hey, sorry but I’m not sure what IB credits are and I haven’t ever heard anything about them.
That’s exactly where we are now. The high school has already taken care of the IB (International Baccalaureate) scores being sent to A&M so now we wait :). We plan to register as if he has received his IB diploma and has already earned his college credit so he’s not taking courses he’s pretty much already taken or tested out of. I hope that’s a good plan but I’m sure the advisors will set us straight.
That’s ok @ilovemath987, it was a shot in the dark to see if you knew.
@Quirky813 - I am no expert on IBs, but i don’t think A&M gives any credits for the diploma, just for the college-equivalent classes. He will need the scores to register for anything other than the normal freshman classes. Two years ago, I paid to send my son’s AP scores to A&M, but they never got them somehow. I had to resend them and then he had to go through drops and adds after school started.
I highly recommend showing up at NSC with copies of DE transcripts, AP and IP scores, and so on. You can bring screen shots if that’s all you have, but by all means bring documentation for your college-level courses! (Unless you can see them in ‘Howdy’; then you KNOW they’ve been added to your record.)
Once the Advisor says “go” it is very much a race, and classes are filled rapidly. You need to have several options for each course, and have their ‘identification’ numbers in a file so you can copy’n’paste. (I forget the name; it’s a unique number indicating course and section number.) Go for the hardest-to-get classes first; check the ‘number of seats available’.
Advisors are busy helping people who are finished get checked out, so don’t rely on getting too much advising help. (Some majors are less brutal than others.)
There’s a good post on what to expect for NSC on the Class of 2020 (aaay) Facebook page.
Wow, ok. I’ll make sure we bring a transcript with us that shows all of the IB courses that he took. One question…on Day 2, is there enough time between meeting with advisors at 8:30 and registering at 2pm to put multiple schedules together? It just seems like there isn’t enough time but we can’t do it on Day 1 because we are busy all day until like 11pm.
No; students are kept hopping all day, both days. I would compile a list of possible classes at home, and come ready to go.
Resources:
- Howdy has a listing of available classes for Fall, so you can look at them now. (Howdy, My Record, Registration, Search Class Schedule)
- If you don’t already know about it, RateMyProfessor.com can be really helpful for choosing instructors. You just need to recognize sour grapes when you see them.
- ‘Grade Distribution and GPR Distribution’ (http://web-as.tamu.edu/gradereport/) shows what grades were given for previous semesters (by course and section), so with some legwork, you can see whether a Professor is more likely to give an “A” or a “C”.
The first day finished after 9 pm - and the last session was pretty cool. The second day ended when registration was complete, about 2:30 - 3:00 pm.
@auntiemame, Thank you so much for all of that information. Can we actually see what times and days classes are being offered before we get to registration? That would be hugely helpful so that we can really plan. If not, we will at least have the classes that we think he has to take and wait until we get to registration to find out the times and days they are offered.
Thank you!
Yes, I believe you can here:
Howdy, My Record, Registration, Search Class Schedule
Thank you, I’m going to give it a look as soon as I get home.
@auntiemame, thank you again. We found it.
@Quirky813, You might also check out myedu.com. My son used it to load classes and build a schedule ensuring no time conflicts, etc. It’s important for your son have a Plan A, B and C in case classes/professors are not available when he registers. As @auntiemame mentioned, the Grade Distribution Reports are extremely valuable as is feedback on both Rate My Professor and myedu.com to assess profs, their teaching styles, and grading. Also have the course/section numbers ready to load during your NSC class scheduling time. The registration process goes very quickly and classes do close. A final note – parents do not accompany their student for the class scheduling session. Just remember that if your son’s schedule isn’t perfect at NSC, students can still add/drop during the first week of classes. There is usually room for movement then. Good luck.
Myedu is no longer an option since they don’t support schedule planning for Texas A&M anymore. The last semester you could plan your schedule on there was Spring 2016 so it’s a very recent change. I don’t believe they’ll even have new grade reports on there for us anymore.
@ilovemath987 or others, is it an issue for incoming freshmen to not be able to get the core engineering classes they need their first semester?
For instance, is it possible that physics 218 could be full at our NSC next week, or ENGR 111 or some other first semester class, so that he finally gets physics 218 his second semester and then has to take 208 first semester of second year?
I think we have this plan that we are going to all be able to get Math 151, phys 218, ENGR 111 the first semester with no problem and Chem 107/117, Math 152, Phys 208, ENGR 112, in the second semester. I hear talk of classes being closed and no new ones open at NSC and wondered if it happens with the engineer classes?
If we can’t get all the first semester engineering classes, do they just fill up the space with core Curriculum stuff?
@izelkay, Good to know, but that’s unfortunate – myedu.com was a great tool! @Thelma2, They normally open up new sections for the core engineering classes (Engr 111, Math 151, Phys 218) at each NSC, so they’ll get a seat, but perhaps not the prof/section they want. Also, be sure your student continuously checks their TAMU email throughout the summer. My son’s Physics 218 class was cancelled one week before school started and there were no seats available in any other section. Ultimately, the Physics department forced him into a class (force requests are always an option). For this coming fall, my son was unable to get one of his required courses. He filled it with an elective, but plans to try again during add/drop.
@Thelma2 It’s possible that the core engineering classes will fill up. I don’t think it’s very likely or that big of an issue, but it happened to my roommate freshman year; he had to take ENGR 111 second semester instead of first semester. In that case, yes fill up space with core curriculum stuff. I don’t think it’s very likely for the freshman science and math classes to fill up, though. If anything it’s more likely for the core curriculum stuff to fill up.
@Thelma2, Agree with @izelkay. There are some very popular electives that fill up quickly – like THAR 281, THAR 201, ENDS 101. So have back-ups.
Math151 (Engr Calc) was in very short supply during our NSC. Some students used a brute force attack, entering sections numbers again and again, until they got it. Others. went home without it; they were told to try ‘drop add’ to add it to their schedules. Lots of gnashing of teeth
@AuntieMame when they are choosing classes, say Math 151, is there more than one prof to choose from, or days, times, etc? We are hitting the sack in a few and just went through a lot of the profs listed for courses on rate my professor, to get a run down of yes, maybe and not so hot.
Thankfully, while some were ranked awesome, most were very good, with only a handful being not so favorable.
Yes on the backups for electives. He made a list of the CC categories, then used the website core.tamu.edu and you can choose a tab, such as Language, philosophy and culture or Creative Arts and see the electives available under each and those that satisfy ICD.
Thanks for all of the help and advise.