<p>So I am not sure how all this works, but it is causing a few glitches. Perhaps some of you more experienced folks can offer some advice…</p>
<p>My D keeps getting notifications of actives that are for sophomores and juniors. (She came in with MAX AP and will technically be a junior at the end of this semester.) She keeps telling me “those messages aren’t for me they are for Sophomores.” Should/could she be attending these?</p>
<p>Is she missing out on activities for Freshman? If yes, is there anything she can do to get on that list as well?</p>
<p>If your D has the credits, then she can call herself whatever she is and participate in the things that require higher standing. My kids also were juniors after their first semesters. </p>
<p>The good thing about all of this is that your child will be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa much earlier…after 90 credits of A&S credits with high GPAs.</p>
<p>nicollec: the only issue my D had last year as a freshman was that they registration system wouldn’t let her register for an Honors Freshman Seminar for the Spring semester. A quick trip to Nott Hall took care of that problem. </p>
<p>Your D could go to the sophomore & junior events if she wanted, but she should also be getting honors emails for first year students. And emails about First Year Experience events. See here: [Student</a> Affairs | First Year Experience](<a href=“http://fye.ua.edu/]Student”>http://fye.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>REU: Research Experiences for Undergraduates</p>
<p>Feel free to attend events/organizations for those with sophomore/junior/senior standing. I’ve had senior standing since my second semester at UA. Apart from getting emails about graduation audits and accidentally being put on probation 3 times and suspended once from UHP because the computer system was convinced I was graduating the next semester and wouldn’t complete UHP requirements, having a higher academic standing has proved to be beneficial. I get even more priority for housing and registration and my college paid for my membership into a business honor society because I was a senior with a 4.0 GPA. </p>
<p>So many students are coming in with advanced standing that many student organizations are starting to ask for ones graduation year rather than class standing, which reduces the confusion caused by students stating their advanced class standing. Saying that I’ll graduate in May 2013 is a lot easier than saying that I’m a junior classified as a senior and as a graduate student.</p>
<p>Son came in as recent HS graduate with 90 semester hours/Junior status. The biggest issue we have faced is he wasn’t eligible for any of the Freshmen Learning Communities due to him having already completed most of the “attached” courses. I was concerned as I saw this as an opportunity to meet people with like interests. Fortunately he has met many new people and is quiet happy. It’s a small blip and one we are working through.</p>
<p>I am interested to hear more about the issues with this, son will be attending next year with many AP and CC credits, and will end up being junior/senior status as freshman too. What does he need to know/watch out for? I am glad to hear that he is making friends and happy!</p>
<p>I think most any issue can be overcome with a signature. </p>
<p>I don’t know how DE classes are handled but any AP class can be repeated. </p>
<p>Don’t know if Crimson’s issue was that her son had already taken all the FL classes as DE. But I would think many frosh honos courses could be taken since many are Bama Unique.</p>
<p>I am certainly no expert and can only speak about my son and his situation. Son took two AP classes as a freshman. As a sophomore he transferred to a unique HS which is on a college campus. For the next three years he took all college courses. UA accepted all his credits and he has not been given the option to repeat a class. (His HS transcript and his college transcript are basically the same thing and both were sent by the same institution.)</p>
<p>He had wanted to participate in the Pre-Law freshman learning community. Unfortunately the classes that were “tied” to this community were English 101 and some type of Government class…he had already taken both classes and therefore was not allowed to take the Pre-Law learning community class. It is unfortunate there is not another option or a way for him to take part in this class. From reading the description it stated they would discuss the UA law school application and have guest speakers (local attorneys) address the group…he would have benefited greatly from participating. With more and more students coming to college with college credits I see this as an issue that should be addressed. </p>
<p>As I said earlier, my son is extremely happy and hasn’t had one complaint about the University. (Okay, maybe he has complained about the food but we’ll let that slide.).</p>
<p>Crimson217, good point about addressing those needs with students coming in with large credits. It would almost make sense to have a seminar just for those students. </p>
<p>I loved hearing about the hs/college option you son went to. I wish that was available for my son, and other students locally. It’s such a good idea. We are seeing more and more students participating in the early college access programs through their HS in this area. It helps decrease HS boredom for bright students, and it helps prepare them for college. </p>
<p>One of the reasons that my son is drawn to UA is because they will give credit for so many AP/CC transfer credits. In the current CS program at UA, it currently looks like my son will only need 8 credits to finish out his freshman year, all of those are in UA specific courses that do not appear to have a transfer credit available. Most of them 1 credit courses! There are some questions about the transferability of courses not listed in the transfer equivalency system, mostly upper level math (Statistics, Calc 3, linear algebra, discrete). I assume that the college will evaluate those on a case by case basis. Even if he has to repeat a few courses, it won’t be the end of the world. He is still getting more credit for his AP and transfer courses at UA then he would at most other universities.</p>
<p>Son’s HS is an awesome school. They have been ranked the top performing HS in our state (designated by the Dept.of Education) for the last few years. Our intent on allowing him to attend (it was his idea- he signed up for the admittance exam and announced to us his intentions) was for the rigor and relevance of the course work, not to earn a large number of college credits. I can say he was well prepared for UA. He has been using Turn It In (anti-plagiarism) software for three years, he has learned to study and how to manage his time well. He seems to have adjusted well to moving away and being away from us…I feel it is because he isn’t stressed on the academic side. So far, the positives have greatly outweighed the negatives.</p>
<p>I have not heard of Turn it in…will have to ask son about it. Did you find he had taken any courses that would not transfer to UA? Particularly math?</p>
<p>From my experience, the only courses listed on the course equivalency tables are those that have already been taken at that specific college and transferred to UA. Many upper division and all graduate level courses will not appear on the lists because of this.</p>
<p>UA transferred my Business Law and Introductory statistics courses as electives rather than their UA counterparts, the former because it was listed as a political science course and the latter because they wanted me to take ST 260 at UA.</p>
<p>I’m a big proponent of taking actual college courses during high school as many top students can do the work with relative ease. UA is especially great for these students as it does not have a limit on transfer credits other than the UA course residency requirement, which is relatively small (12 upper division credits in a major and 9 upper division credits in a minor, IIRC). Even more, these students are eligible for freshman merit scholarships, which is not the case at many schools.</p>
<p>*Crimson217, good point about addressing those needs with students coming in with large credits. It would almost make sense to have a seminar just for those students. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>That’s a great idea. Such a class would probably need some kind of over-ride to ensure that only new students with lots of credits could enroll.</p>
<p>SeaTide, this is what I am finding as the transfer guide. Is it different than this? It might be a matter of me not understanding certian terms. </p>
<p>“A minimum of 50 percent of the coursework required to earn a bachelors degree at the University of Alabama must be earned at a bachelors degree granting institution (four-year college or university), and a minimum of 25 percent of the coursework required for the degree must be earned at the University of Alabama. Students must consult the Deans Office of the college granting the degree for the specific number of hours required for that degree”</p>
<p>REU: Research Experiences for Undergraduates</p>
<p>These are programs funded by the Nat’l Science Foundation (NSF). Various colleges have such funding (bama has some, too), and students can apply to any schools’ offerings within their major area. </p>
<p>Schools are actually encouraged to accept students from other schools for their REU programs because these are nationally funded.</p>
<p>These are 8-10 week summer programs …NSF provides stipend, housing, and travel money.</p>
<p>vilines, I forgot about those specific requirements for a degree. Majors and minors almost always have the requirements I posted above in addition to the requirements you posted for a degree. The 50% rule is a limit on the amount of courses that can be transferred from community colleges or other schools that don’t award bachelor’s degrees or higher. The 25% rule is standard amongst all colleges/universities and can often be satisfied by taking the UA-specific courses required for a degree. Graduate degrees can only allow 12 credits to be transferred in and some departments only allow 6 transfer credits to be applied to the degree.</p>
<p>Many students use these rules as a way to complete UA requirements at other colleges/universities over the summer. Provided that the other school is regionally accredited, as almost all public schools and most private schools are, UA will likely grant credit for the courses.</p>