<p>We didn't attend NSO yet but my daughter found her schedule online. They gave her Chem and Bio with labs in her first semester at school. The Chem lab is from 7-10 pm on Friday night. Needless to say, this didn't sit very well with her. They didn't give her any English or Math classes. Is this normal? I thought the freshmen meet with advisers during NSO to discuss her schedule.</p>
<p>At NSO students meet with advisors to identify the courses that they will take, but not the specific class schedule. Depending on a student’s major they may be required to take certain courses that actually are pre-scheduled (probably by random computer selection) in order to ensure that students in a particular major get into certain required courses for their major in the proper sequence. They also have limited spaces in some courses while there are tons of english and math courses available (this is probably why they were not in her schedule yet). Students get their full course schedule in August after all the NSO sessions have been completed. There is a time period at the beginning of the semester when students can try to make changes to their course schedule (on-line thru UDSIS) but by then usually the most sought after times are filled. Years ago students could request specific course times but this was discontinued as students attending later NSO sessions complained that this was not fair to them. I guess your D could ask her advisor at NSO if her Chem lab time could be changed but I tend to doubt this will be allowed (but it certainly would not hurt to ask). Best of luck to her.</p>
<p>The schedule they gave her already had 15 or 16 credits without math or english. I’m thinking that they scheduled her for both Bio and Chem just to hold a spot for her but she won’t be taking both in the same semester. I think taking both those classes as an incoming freshman is too much.</p>
<p>Perhaps you are correct in your thinking but you should be aware that not all students are scheduled for english/math during their first semester. My D (nursing major) was scheduled for english/math in the second semester of her freshman year. In her first semester she had both Bio and Chem with labs. With the large number of freshman (nearly 3900) they may have to schedule more students for english/math in their second semester. These are just my thoughts. I suspect your D won’t find out until she goes to NSO. Best of luck to her.</p>
<p>Students don’t necessarily take math or English in the first semester, but I know for a fact (my D is in a science major) that the seats are held in certain bio and chem labs for freshmen. I would think they are holding those two seats for your daughter so she can choose which to take. It is very common for a lot of lab seats to be opened up after freshman NSO and I think that holding of extra seats is why so many open up in August.</p>
<p>abminji1, where did your daughter find her schedule before NSO???</p>
<p>If you sign on the UDSIS, there’s an option for class schedule and it would be listed there.</p>
<p>^^^^
That’s what I thought you might have meant but when she did that there was nothing entered for my D. And we have NSO next week.</p>
<p>Mwallenmd -</p>
<p>How did your daughter do taking 2 lab classes in her first semester? I’m thinking that with all the adjustments of being away for the first time, that is a very heavy load. Also, my d has an academic scholarship and needs to maintain a 3.0.</p>
<p>
What major is your daughter in? It’s possible that her sequence doesn’t require taking one of those lab courses in freshman year.</p>
<p>She is an exercise science major.</p>
<p>Well, then, she is going to need both the chem and the bio. She may actually be expected to take those courses together. That is a tough one, but I’m sure your daughter will be ok. Exercise Science may be a major in which there isn’t a lot of flexibility in the first couple of years. My D’s major pretty much sets out which classes she has to take and when. The only real flexibility in the first two years is which semester to take English and which to take the honors colloquium.</p>
<p>abmnj1:</p>
<p>Zoosermom is correct. For the Exercise Science Major (all subtypes) Chem 103 and 104 along with Bio 207 and 208 will need to be taken in the freshman year. All are 4 credit courses with labs. So it looks like your D will have this tough schedule in her first year (and it might not get much easier in subsequent years). The curriculums in the majors (i.e. exercise science, nursing, and others) in the College of Health Sciences are some of the most intense, demanding and challenging at UD. </p>
<p>With this being said I can say that my D did well in both her Chem and Bio classes in her 1st semester (but you should avoid Dr. Hodson if possible for Bio - He is one tough professor - 20% of my D’s class did not pass or got D grades - but maybe he has mellowed over the last 4 years). Also lab classes usually don’t start until 1-2 weeks after the semester begins and end 1-2 weeks prior to the end of the semester (not counting finals week). While it can be tough adjusting most students who can discipline themselves and set up good study habits should have no problem, especially if they did well enough in HS to get a scholarship to UD. The key thing is to not panic (which can result in a student feeling overwhelmed). Don’t try to learn everything in the course the first week of the semester. Just pace yourself like you did in HS and your D should be fine. Best of luck to your D - I’m sure she will do just fine.</p>
<p>My d looked into the course curriculum and she does have to take chem and bio together in her first semester. Her schedule changed already and we haven’t even gone to NSO yet. No more 7-10pm Fri night chem lab. It is now 7-10pm Wed night which is a little better. Once you go to NSO and set your schedule with your advisor, is it still subject to change?</p>
<p>Yep, they said it’s going to continue to change until august. They have to give everyone a fair chance, so that the people who go to an early NSO date don’t get everything they want while the later people get nothing.</p>
<p>I would tell your daughter to not spend to much time complaining about her schedule, it is something beyond her control, at least until August when schedules are released and students can try to make further adjustments. At NSO your daughter will pick out her choice classes and then an advisor will put them into the system, she does not have control over class times at all. Even as an upperclassman some classes we need are filled and we end up with sucky lab times or an 8 am that is required. That’s life, and she should be happy they have reserved spots for her in those classes to begin with.</p>
<p>D (and Dad) really liked and enjoyed NSO yesterday. I’ve been to two of these in the past, at a “prestige” college and university and must say, UDel’s was the best handled of all. </p>
<p>D who is University Studies (aka undeclared) also really liked and appreciated the guidance, insight and help given to her by her advisor. She’s psyched about her tentative schedule (and even alternates). She also met and liked a number of students which made her very upbeat about August.</p>
<p>If only they could give room mate and dorm assignments a bit earlier…</p>
<p>D got her schedule today. She got all the classes she signed up for at NSO and when we logged on to UDSIS, there was the schedule with classes, times profs and all. Anyone else?</p>
<p>If your D is interested she can now go to Ratemyprofessors.com (and then go to the UD location on the site) and check on comments past students have made regarding the professors/classes she will be taking. This info can be helpful (but also might be anxiety provoking) depending on the comments made. Most all the professors at UD are rated on this site. My D found most of the information to be fairly reliable during her 4 years at UD. In her subsequent semesters at UD she used info from this site when she had to choose her courses/professors (but you don’t always have a choice). Best of luck to her.</p>
<p>D’s away at a camp job with little access to a computer, but I went to ratemyprofessors.com right after checking her schedule. </p>
<p>I was pleased to see that most of those she will have got pretty good ratings, but one was judged uniformly dismal by so many students that I then checked to see if there were any other sections of the class she might enroll in. I found two that don’t conflict with any of her other classes. At NSO they said that students could try to change their classes starting on 8/2 but were very definite that they couldn’t/shouldn’t try to change before speaking with their advisor. Somehow I don’t think “I want to change because he/she got terrible reviews on ratemyprofessor” will go over too well.</p>