<p>I know several of us have incoming freshman considering majors in CS. I decided to take a look and see where my S is in terms of AP credit, meeting reqs, etc. I had printed out a 2012 flowchart for CS a while ago so I used that. Then I went online to check something on the CS site and I noticed that there was now a 2013 flowchart available, so I downloaded that. I’m glad I did, because they have changed the freshman engineering sequence, at least for CS. It looks like they streamlined it and now instead of a bunch of 1 and 2 credit courses, there is a 3 hour course, ENGR 103, and then you choose either ENGR 111 or CS 121 (the intro overview classes), but not both. You used to have to take both. I think this will simplify things a lot! Everything else looks the same.</p>
<p>That’s interesting and a good change. My freshman son (CS) had 9 classes first semester - 5 of which were 1 credit. I don’t think they were particularly difficult but it was a lot to keep track of.</p>
<p>It looks like Engr 131, 141, and 151 are being rolled into Engr 103. </p>
<p>I haven’t checked, but this change will likely affect the other engineering disciplines, as well.</p>
<p>Thanks Lisa- this is really helpful. Now just have to figure out with the son’s AP credits whether he should retake some classes anyway, take the next course first semester, take it easy first semester or a combo of these. Thoughts?</p>
<p>It looks like everything hasn’t been updated yet, and the course catalog and engineering website are still showing ENGR 131/141/151. I’m assuming the change will apply to all freshmen in the engineering school.</p>
<p>tjmom - still not sure what we are doing about AP credits. S got a 5 on the Comp Sci, which places him into CS 260. Since a 4 gives the same placement and he feels like he knows what he’s doing, I think he will probably try CS 260. The only other issue is math - he is taking Calc BC this year. He got a 5 on AB, and based on his performance this year we are expecting a 5 on BC also. You only need a 3 on BC to place out of Calc I and II, so I am going to assume he is okay to do that also. He is interested in the STEM MBA program and/or the University Scholars BS/MS program, so we really don’t want to forfeit credits if we don’t have to. And if he gets into CBH that adds a whole other wrinkle! So confusing.</p>
<p>Looking at the CS flowchart, here is what I am thinking for first semester:</p>
<p>Alabama Action - 1
ENGR 103 - 3
ENGR 111/CS 121 - 1 (would love feedback on which of those to take, if it matters)
CS 260 - 3
If he does STEM MBA - a business course for 1.5
If he does CBH - CBH for 4</p>
<p>That puts him at 13.5 if he does both the MBA and CBH. Not sure if we should add another class - is that too light, especially since 1 credit is AA? Maybe he could add a UH freshman seminar - how hard are those? He should place out of EN 101 and 102 so he shouldn’t need those, but on the off chance he only places out of 101 then he would take 102 I guess. If he doesn’t do CBH he would probably take Math 301 instead.</p>
<p>So much to think about! Hopefully someone other than the incoming freshman parents will chime in here. :)</p>
<p>One other thought - are all of these classes offered both semesters? i.e. can you even take EN 102 in the fall?</p>
<p>My son will be studying CS, so thanks for the heads up. </p>
<p>One thing that was curious to me is AP Credit. AP CS is in JAVA and the intro courses at UA are in Python. I don’t think it’s hard for someone who knows programming to learn another language, and supposedly Python is easy to learn, but it seems odd to enable students to use AP CS credits to opt out of the intro course in Python and then have them take the second semester Python course.</p>
<p>It’s left me scratching my head if I should have my son take the credits and opt out of the into classes and learn Python, or just take the intro classes.</p>
<p>One other math question - looks like Calc III is not required for a CS major. Is there any reason to take it anyway, or should he just go to Math 301 (Discrete Math) after Calc II as it shows on the flow chart? I’m not at all clear on what math is important for a CS major.</p>
<p>Re: Python - I wonder if it is something they could at least start to learn themselves ahead of time? Again, completely clueless about this stuff (poli sci major here!) so I have no idea if that is crazy or not.</p>
<p>Lisa: The AA or OA 1 credit course will be completed before school starts. So your S could easily take another class.</p>
<p>If you are not sure whether to accept AP credits: email the professor and ask for this term’s syllabus. From that, perhaps you could ascertain whether or not your S or D could skip the class and go on. We did that for the Calculus 2 class. My D scored a 5 and could have skipped Calc 1 and 2. She chose to take Calc 2 and got an A+. It did help make her first term a little easier. Later she said she could have gone on to Calc 3 her first semester. It is your call of course. Just thought I would give my one data point.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: My D is an EE sophomore in CBH and STEM MBA and had 39 incoming credits from AP and dual enrollment. Absolutely loves her time at Bama. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>If your student is in the Honors College (and wants to stay there and eventually grad w/ honors distinction), you should always look to take any elective courses w/ UH designation + a designation needed for your major (i.e, Behavioural Sci or Humanities). By taking an Honors course that also fills an elective designation, you will kill two birds with one stone. </p>
<p>Don’t know what I mean? Look here for info on class designations for core curriculum in the College of Engineering: [Core</a> Curriculum – College of Engineering | The Office of the University Registrar - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/core-curriculum/engineering/]Core”>http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/core-curriculum/engineering/) . Click on the “Core Curriculum Course Listing” (an option in the column to the right). You can search for courses by their designation. If you look at HULFA tab, e.g., down near the bottom will be all of the UH (Honors) classes that also satisfy the HULFA designation as well. This comes in handy when you have limited flexibility in your schedule, as a lot of Eng’g students do. (Caveat: do not know when these course lists were last updated.)</p>
<p>Also, EN 103 (advanced english) is considered an Honors designated class.</p>
<p>OK, so in looking at the new Fall 2013 course listing on mybama, the Engineering classes are still showing up as the 1 and 2 credit ones (ENGR 131, 141, 142, 151). The new 3-credit ENGR 103 listed on the new CS flowchart is not there.</p>
<p>I guess it would be too type A to call and ask about this now?? I should note that I only knew about the Fall 2013 course listings because somebody ELSE, not ME, posted about them. :D</p>
I should note that I only knew about the Fall 2013 course listings because somebody ELSE, not ME, posted about them. :D</p>