Can anyone shed some light on what the changes are here? It looks like UA is limiting the scope of ‘benefits’ to the HC starting in the Spring.
We were at an admissions session recently and he mentioned that changes would be forthcoming in regards to Honors college and early registration perks.
Apparently it was becoming quite the thorn that Honors college students had registration access before seniors? (I have not fact checked it this is true…this is just what I recall him saying.)
Also, apparently they are also considering a change that requires students to have a certain amount of Honors college credits before they are allowed to use the registration perks (this would keep people from only being token participants in the Honors college just so they could use the early registration perks.)
With so many high stats students now at Bama, some changes were needed. I can imagine it was a problem for non-honors seniors not being able to get a needed class. The prior solution was that waivers were being given for an alternate class when a soon-to-be-graduating senior couldn’t get a req’d class.
That does look like a pretty substantial change. IMO, priority registration as it previously existed was the biggest perk the honors college offered, and that perk is not nearly as valuable now. That said, the new system seems much fairer for the student body in general, as it still affords some priority but doesn’t bump honors freshmen above non-honors juniors and seniors. I would think that honors college students who come in with a lot of credits will still fare well in registration, as those hours will bump them into a higher class - I know plenty of HC students who had Junior or Senior status at some point during freshman year.
So I guess the question is how hard is it to get the classes that you need if you are a “regular” student?
^
Bama doesn’t have any regular students. …it’s Lake Wobegon Bama-Style 
Anyone know who now has “priority registration” vs the regular “Honors College” registration status? (The new schedule has “priority registration” before all the others (along with grad students . . .)
FWIW, I do think the new system is probably more fair. Hopefully they’ll add enough sections and keep tweaking their system to maximize options for the maximum number of students.
Students who have priority registration would include athletes, students registered with the disabilities office and students who do co-ops.
Wow…different times based on 6 hour segments? Just crazy…
@MichiganGeorgia based on my son’s 7 semesters experience registering, I don’t think it’s difficult to get the classes that you NEED. He’s always been able to change classes later and find spots open in a variety of classes. But without priority registration it is much more difficult to get the classes you WANT - a preferred time, a preferred instructor, or a specific elective that is very popular (such as many of the kinesiology courses).
@jrcsmom - Can you tell me what your son is majoring in? Mine is looking at communication or secondary education.
@MichiganGeorgia, I believe he’s in engineering. Civil, I think. Hopefully you’ll get a definitive answer soon.
When as high a proportion of students are in the Honors College as there are at UA, is it really properly priority registration anymore, anyway?
It’s “priority” if you’re NOT in the HC!
yes, my son is a civil-e major with a spanish minor - he has had priority registration, but even when wanting to switch classes later, he’s never had an issue finding a seat in a gen-ed or elective class that would fill a requirement, but there are some very popular classes that it’s difficult for anyone to get a seat in…like the honors photography class that tends to fill up almost immediately
Just a quick hint in case people aren’t aware. Students aren’t allowed to register for classes until after they have visited their academic advisor and had a block removed. Getting an appointment with an advisor obviously gets more difficult the closer you are to registration day so get in early.
I don’t know numbers but I would speculate that a number of students must miss out on the classes they want because they didn’t visit the advisor before registration day.