<p>Hi,
I just registered for Orientation because I literally just found out a few days ago how to. I'm in Honors college and when I registered, I received July 17-18 Orientation. My question is, will it be too late for me to sign up for some classes? Will Honors seminars be full? Am I at a disadvantage here?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>There will be open seminars still but they may not be the ones that you wanted. My daughter had a late June honors orientation and she had a bit of trouble getting her classes that she wanted. Make sure you pick two or three in case they are full. They open up a few seats for classes at each orientation, but it still is a bit tricky with a later orientation. You will get classes and seminars for sure. They may not be at the times you desired though. Don’t be afraid of the wait list either. People really do get off the list and in classes from it.</p>
<p>I guess this is the down side of the large “public” vs. the smaller private. our D has a mid July orientation too. Our fingers are crossed that this only causes a first semester problem rather than a four year problem.</p>
<p>Yes, it is more a first semester/freshman challenge, which happens at all schools. Orientation is the only time where you choose your orientation date like this. Once matriculated, students are assigned dates to meet with their adviser for class sign-ups. The dates are done in order of most credits first. So, if your child is coming in with a lot of AP credits, that definitely helps. It gets progressively easier to get classes. It is entirely possible that for the spring semester sign-ups, if your student is coming in with a lot of credits, they could actually be doing sign-ups ahead of/same time as some sophomores (who come in with no credits and have only taken the minimum number of credits per semester).</p>
<p>Honestly, please don’t worry so much. I know it’s easy for me to say but I have a sloth and the only time he has ever had to take an 8 am class is when that is the only time it is offered (for a smaller upper level class). Every class he has waitlisted, he has gotten into. While there are the occasional classes he would like but can’t take, it’s more typically because of scheduling conflicts than because he can’t get in. Yes, of course, there are those that are full early on because they are popular electives, but it’s not a major problem. </p>
<p>The flip side of a large public v smaller private is the depth and breadth of the options available. In looking at schools with my younger one, I have actually taken note of the number and type of classes offered to fulfill gen eds and frankly, none compare to Maryland. Even comparing large public to large public, Maryland is definitely very generous in their course offerings. </p>
<p>Thanks…initially I had your take on things…really not worried. But I think this discussion got me going. D can handle an 8am class if that’s all it is. And agree with the overall breadth of offerings.</p>