Got 101 credit through AP. Which would be better to take?
I don’t have experience of taking either at UA, but from what one of my Avantis was saying at Bama Bound, he really enjoyed taking 103 even though he had 101 credit like you. Honestly it’s up to you. Both will satisfy the credit for Freshman composition.
103 will give you 3 more credit hours which will count towards priority registration and may sometimes count towards the credit hour buckets for away football tickets.
Maybe I’m mistaken, but from what I can find [here (Credit by Examination)](Credit by Examination | University of Alabama), [here (First-Year Writing Program: Placement Guidelines](Placement Guidelines – First-Year Writing Program), and in the course descriptions for 102 and 103, your AP credit qualifies you for 102 only, and not 103. The enrollment for 103 appears to be limited to those students with qualifying AC/SAT scores.
Further, even if you were eligible to take 103, you would not get “3 more credit hours,” as @Class2012Mom suggested. You’d get six credit hours for 103 in place of your three hours of AP credit for 101 - you wouldn’t get both. The only difference would be that the six hours of credit for 103 would count towards your UA GPA - and AP credit does not count towards your UA cumulative GPA.
If you in fact have both AP credit and a qualifying SAT/ACT score, then I’d absolutely recommend taking EN 103, for the following reasons:
(1) the course sections are topic-specific (e.g. “Sports and Culture,” science fiction, graphic novels, “The American President,” among many others);
(2) the course sections are smaller (18 students instead of 23); and
(3) the entire six credit hours will count towards your UA cumulative GPA (as noted above).
Before you make any decision, though, look at the instructors’ reviews on RateMyProfessors. They may not all be listed, but you should be able to find several of them.
S decided not to take 103 even though he has AP credit, which I think is good because it opens the door for other classes to take.
Sorry, but could you please explain what you mean? How would taking 103 stop him from taking other classes? Or do you mean that he had sufficient AP credit that he didn’t need to take any freshman English course?
Are you sure about this? I know my daughter’s 3 credits of EN103 counted toward her GPA, but I thought she just got an additional 3 hours of credit for EN 101, but NOT graded credits. It’s been 4 years, though, so I may not be remembering correctly.
Wow, @“beth’s mom”, you’re right! I don’t know what I was thinking, but you’re absolutely correct. EN 103 yields 3 graded credit hours only. I’m so sorry about that . . . and thanks for catching my mistake!
@dodgersmom …yes, S had sufficient AP scores not to have to take any freshman English.
i never took the ap classes so i had to sit through both semesters of freshman english. imo it’s not a bad idea to take them both since you can easily get an A+ in those classes and inflate your gpa. for some reason this school marks an A+ as a 4.3 though your transcript can only go up to a 4.0. this makes it hilariously easy to maintain a 4.0.
Interested in who you are and what your major is and how long you have attended UA, @MrBootySpoon!
@aeromom I am a junior in CS
My son never took AP English either (school didn’t offer it), and he was able to place into 103 based solely on his SAT Verbal score. I think it’s a good compromise. He did very well in the class, but I don’t believe everybody got an “easy A” – so be careful on that one.
i based my suggestion assuming op did well in ap english. he/she should have no problem in 101/102 if this is the case. from what i remember, all that was required for those classes were a few 5 page essays and class attendance.
At BAMA Bound this year we were told that 103 counts as 101 and 102. My DS who has to work in English has enjoyed his class and currently has an A. There are many different topics ranging from presidents to Sci-fi and fantasy.