<p>D had another question that I’m going to pose to the knowledgeable folks on this board, this one about class registration. If an incoming freshman has satisfied a lot of the gen ed requirements through AP, CLEP and/or community college transfer credits and wants to take an honors section of a class that is typically taken by sophomores, is this usually possible? D was looking at the accounting and business law courses, both of which have just one honors section in the fall, and wondering how an incoming freshman can possibly compete for a spot with all the upperclassmen who will already have registered. I know I’ve read on here that spaces are held back for the later Bama Bound sessions so the kids at the earlier sessions don’t fill them up, but I’m assuming those are for classes that are typically populated by freshmen. How does that work? Also, is it typical that honors Calc II is not offered in the fall?</p>
<p>I sure hope so as my son will have 30+ AP credits as well and is planning to take Honors Micro Econ, Honors Legal Env Bus and Cal III 1st semester and Honors Macro and Honors Acctg 2nd semester (since it requires Micro as a pre req)</p>
<p>The Econ courses shouldn’t be a problem - those are typically freshman classes (and D has AP credit so she’s not worried about those). It’s the accounting and legal environment of business that my D is worried about, and it looks like your son will have the same concern. </p>
<p>Do any of you experienced students or parents know how this works?</p>
<p>Frosh can take any class as long as there isn’t an unsatisfied prereq and there’s an seat open.</p>
<p>sounds like your child won’t have frosh standing in the fall…that happens.
Yes, honors cal II isn’t offered in fall.</p>
<p>UA does reserve spots in certain 100-level courses that are commonly taken by freshmen, but not so much in 200-level courses. New students register during Bama Bound, before which all returning students will have registered. Spaces might open up in desired class sections, but if not, one will have to continue checking over the summer to see if spaces open up. This is why it is highly suggested that students have a list of courses that they would be willing to take and be flexible in terms of schedule. I took 17 credits my first semester at UA, only 4 of which were courses I originally registered for at Bama Bound. The other courses I switched to over the summer as different sections opened up.</p>
<p>Unlike what your students may have done during high school, it is not necessary or often a good idea to take honors sections of every course. The Honors College usually recommends taking a maximum of 2-3 honors courses per semester. Students who take the non-honors sections of courses can still do very well in upper division and graduate courses.</p>
<p>M2CK, my daughter should also be coming in with quite a few AP credits. Is there any downfall to coming in with 30+ hours from AP credit? Are there scholarship or other implications that we may not be thinking of? I understand that as a pre-med, just because D has the credit doesn’t mean she should necessarily by-pass certain classes.</p>
<p>Coming in with AP credit is a GOOD thing! No scholarship problems. </p>
<p>Many honors kids here on the Bama forum come in with soph or junior standing…no problem!. It’s a big help when registering for Spring classes next year!</p>
<p>As for pre-med…you can use your AP credits, but then you have to take the next higher level. If you want to retake Bio I, then I’d recommend using AP credits for Bio II (which is about plants…ugh), and then taking biochem, or genetics, or cell bio. Biochem is recommended for those who’ll be taking the “new MCAT”…which I think is coming out in 2015???</p>
<p>lattelady: The other advantage to all those AP credits occurs when it’s time to select housing for one’s sophomore year. Housing is based on credit hours, so a student with lots of AP credit will choose earlier than another freshman without as many hours.</p>
<p>The additional hours will also provide additional priority (in addition to Honors priority) for registering for classes in the spring since priority is also based upon the number of hours completed.</p>
<p>quick note as far as implications of coming in with a lot of APs. Keep in mind that by passing out of the intro (re: easy) courses, a first time freshman is starting out with a more difficult set of classes. Everyone does it, and it is obviously doable, but do keep in mind that the difficulty of a whole schedule of 200, 300+ level courses is increased, so make sure and not overload at first.</p>
<p>That is true. And depending on your major, you want to be careful about how many credits, when the credits were earned, and what type credits you decide to use. In nursing, although credit for courses taken during the summer after high school graduation will transfer, they will not count toward “preference” for acceptance into upper division. Also, since your core science classes such as inorganic and organic chemistry, anatomy, and microbiology count twice in GPA calculations when applying to upper division, it isn’t a great idea to try to apply AP or CC credits there. When applying for promotion to upper division, GPA and preference are everything.</p>
<p>AL34 makes a good point…</p>
<p>But, keep in mind that you don’t HAVE to move on to the next level…Bama isn’t one of those schools that forces that…it’s student choice. </p>
<p>however, if you redo a class that you have AP credits in, you don’t get BOTH sets of credits, you lose that class’ AP credits. But, as I said earlier…for AP Bio…retake Bio I, but use AP credits for Bio II if pre-med…and then take another MCAT friendly bio class…like genetics, biochem, etc.</p>
<p>Of course, AP credits are great for fulfilling Gen Ed/Core classes that just take up room in one’s schedule.</p>
<p>SPECIAL note:</p>
<p>If your child never took AP English, ask your GC if he can just take the AP English COMP exam…It’s not that hard to get a 4 on that test even if you didn’t take the class if your English/writing skills are pretty good. S2 is not a great writer, but he took the test (not the class) and got the needed score to get out of both Frosh Comp classes…a HUGE PLUS.</p>
<p>M2CK -interesting about the AP Language test. Did your son do anything to prepare? My D isn’t taking AP English (there are a ton of prerequisites and it’s one of the toughest classes in the school to take and to get into), but she’s taking an honors grammar and composition class (and got a 35 on the English ACT, if that means anything), so I wonder if she might do OK on the AP Language test.</p>
<p>D took English Language and Comp last year and scored a 5, so she’s good for the 6 hours of Freshman Comp. And, thanks to this site and looking more closely at the UA list yesterday, we realized that she does not need to take English Lit, which she was going to take this year. In fact, it appears to be of no benefit at all (except for maybe AP Scholar awards which I don’t expect her to care about anymore). And at $90 a pop, I’d rather write the check for 4 tests rather than 5. </p>
<p>D won’t have any AP Bio credits. Her AP science classes are Physics C Mech (4) and Chemistry (TBD). So no issue there. </p>
<p>Though D will take the AP French exam, we fully expect her to go the CLEP route. I assume that you get your choice if you have appropriate scores? In other words, having an AP Foreign Language score won’t keep you from going with a CLEP score if it is better?</p>
<p>We have seen great students from our rigorous school have problems in college when using their AP credits to bump them to far up, so we are watchful of that. This board’s input will be invaluable in choosing the best path.</p>
<p>My D plans on taking the AP spanish test. I told her how she might get more credit if she took the CLEP test. Lattelady brings up a good point though about AP credits pushing them up so far that they have a hard time in the college class. I have heard this happening in both math and foreign language classes. My D wants to major in spanish. My concern would be if she places in some of the higher classes and then can’t understand what’s going on.</p>