<p>My DS and DW had a great time. DS was able to meet up with all 3 of his new roommates. DS said class sign up went smooth, although he was prepared with 3 scenarios he was able to get his first choice classes including all the Honors classes he wanted. He said the Avanti crew were very helpful as were all the UA staff. He got to hang with a few Frats and already received a bid from one. Thank you my CC and UA family, you folks just made this whole process so easy.</p>
<p>Roll Tide</p>
<p>Sounds great, NYBama. Glad it went smoothly for them!</p>
<p>D went solo and had a great time too, she got all of her first picks for classes and will be home tomorrow! She was surprised at the number of kids who had not even thought about course selection.</p>
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<p>Those poor, poor flowchart-less, spreadsheet-less children of non-Type-A parents. They have no idea what they are missing. ;)</p>
<p>Constant nagging?</p>
<p>Those of us with complete flow charts met many a teeth-grinding hurdle and closed section. Compromises were mandated. It was tough and disappointments were had.</p>
<p>But, despite the inability to obtain schedule Nirvana, DD DID manage to obtain a schedule comprised entirely of Tuesday/Thursday classes! WooHoo and let the weekend begin early every week!</p>
<p>NYBama: It is great that your son got a chance to meet with some of the fraternity members, and it’s nice that he got a bid. But, investigate all options before making a selection. You may like a different fraternity at a later date. My son did not pledge as a freshman, but when his fraternity came to campus at the start of his sophomore year, he truly investigated all the pros and cons before deciding to join.</p>
<p>Student prospective: </p>
<p>1) bring hand soap. Seriously, we used our shampoo.<br>
2) bring your own pillow, unless you like sleeping on a rock.
3) even though us students nag at you parents about trying to pack for us, slip in snacks. And drinks. We will definitely appreciate it.
4) leave room in your suitcase, students will walk away with enough free tshirts to last next semester.
5) tcby was a huge hit, so being a little spending money.
6) be prepared to not get your first choice classes.
7) much to my disappointment, you do not get to meet one on one with your counselor. :,(
8) swimsuit is a definite necessity
9) a towel for swimming is necessary (rec center was not handing them out to bama bound participants)
10) bring flip flops for the shower, they did not clean these
11) dorms were freezing! An extra blanket maybe. </p>
<p>You will meet so many people. It was so fun!</p>
<p>Rooms have NO CUPS…took a pill with water from the lid.</p>
<p>Vending is $1.50 and Pepsi products only. No coffee.</p>
<p>Thanks momreads, he is exploring several others but met with 2 during BamaBound who expressed interest in him. He’s still deciding whether he’s pledging or not but these past 2 days was very exciting for him.</p>
<p>NYbama, if you don’t mind me asking, how does fraternity pledging work? Is it an ongoing thing? I heard it can start as early as a year before the men actually arrive on campus.</p>
<p>No COFFEE!</p>
<p>Despite three spreadsheets, son did not get into honors econ, the class he needed the most, nor 2 other honors seminar classes that were his top picks, however overall the schedule he walked out with was okay. </p>
<p>There was a lot of confusion amongst the advisors on how many credits some classes were worth and also how many his scholarship covers, that should really be cleared up for future. I understand these advisors are students but we parents were also encouraged (and rightfully so), to step back and let the kids deal with this at Bama Bound, and so one would hope they would be advised correctly. We literally sat and watched the ‘advising’ session, which consisted of 9-10 Avanti leaders walking around talking to the kids and asking them if they had any questions, but weren’t really advising them. Everyone was expected to basically go in with the same list of classes and adjust from there. In some ways I think the kids that came in cold probably were less stressed as they just took the one from column A one from column B approach. I was glad that we had looked at the prof ratings because the math and and econ prof he are with look to have really super ratings (hence why I say maybe he should take the non-honors econ and try to work with the prof by contract).</p>
<p>I am going to start another thread on this as I feel he should stick with the schedule he has now (which overall is fairly good) and pursue honors by contract with the prof.</p>
<p>No coffee I could find in Ridgecrest, BUT there was BACON at the second day Parents Breakfast!!!</p>
<p>You can get coffee in the Ferg</p>
<p>@Upstate13- where is the “prof” ratings you mentioned?</p>
<p>nice little tool, an app too for your phone - just search up ‘ratemyprofessors’, this is a widely used tool for students, of course realize that you will have some disgruntled kids on there so it should be used with caution but if you see a prof who has consistently high (or low) ratings that is good info to have!!!</p>
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<p>Which college is your son in? When my D was there last year, there were some Avantis (students) helping out, but the “advising” was done by the regular advisors. D is in the business school, so that’s how it worked there, at least. That said, I thought the advising was poor. The advisor spent less than 3 minutes with my D (after having spent 25 minutes with the student next to her), but that was probably a good thing in that she was giving my D incorrect advice. I think it is critically important for the students to know their course requirements and to have spent some time with Degree Works and the catalog prior to registration. I just don’t think the Bama Bound advising is set up to deal with the non-run of the mill student who comes in with AP/CLEP/transfer credit, has a double major, is in a special program, etc.</p>
<p>FWIW, with the exception of EN 103, my D hasn’t taken a departmental honors course yet. She chooses based on the prof and what fits into her schedule, and no dept. honors courses worked out during her first year.</p>
<p>I agree, and we have spent a ton of time in degree works, but he isn’t sure yet if he will do a double major or university scholars, he has reached out via email regarding that too But no response yet (seems the prof who sent out the letters has been ill). I think he really just needs a session with an advising session on a more overall scale, and then he can go from there. </p>
<p>I would say that if he really doesn’t have to worry about getting enough honors credits he should stick with the good prof (not that the honors isnt)…</p>
<p>If he does decided to do the university scholars program the 500+ level courses do count as honors (something to keep in mind).</p>