<p>Sorry if re-post, but what exactly do parents do at bama bound orientation. I know my older son ALWAYS had me help “punch in” his schedule. AND help look for required classes and come up with a preferred schedule. (This was at Virginia Tech and we always registered from home) I think I saw in an earlier post that parents did not attend the actual registration for classes. Is that true? I know we could do the same thing as with my other son and have an idea of a schedule before the actual registration.</p>
<p>Also, how important is it to get registered for orientation now? My son hasn’t heard from 2 colleges that accept late and we’re still waiting on some scholarship news and offers from those schools. </p>
<p>One more question…is it important to go to one of the honors orientation dates rather than just general orientation? Jami Gates said there would be an honors college advisor at the general orentation dates although they did recommend the honors only dates.</p>
<p>Glancing through, there are only a few sessions that I think I absolutely NEED to go to (really I’m just the transport for D and I figure if I’m driving anyway I might as well attend.) There’s a session on tips for move-in and living in a residence hall, a session that talks about the options for the students schedules, a PA association breakfast, “staying safe” etc. </p>
<p>D downloaded the honors college selections the other day & I’ve told her that I’ll help her figure out some schedule options before she goes to Bama Bound. There’s one class that is fixed so that will make some decisions for her; there’s three others she knows she will take (well 4 if you count Alabama Action) and she needs to think about things like, getting from one class to the other with enough time. And we know she won’t be taking any 8 am classes unless absolutely necessary I know I won’t be with her to register but if I can help her talk things through before hand at least she can make her choices wisely.</p>
<p>My son could not attend the Bama Bound honors orientations (one, if I remember correctly was the day after the AP economics exams, while he was competing in a national academic tournament the weekend of the other.) We went in late June after graduation. We also did not register until mid April, after he made his final college selection.</p>
<p>But he was prepared for scheduling. He spent time on MyBama and studied the class schedule, and he had a preliminary list of what courses he wanted. Made those selections with no help, and then went over to the Honors College to let the powers-that-be give final approval. Then, about four weeks later, he decided to make a switch or two from our home computer.</p>
<p>I do recommend attending the meeting about moving in, although move-in was nowhere as crazy as we thought it would be, because he did Alabama Action, which means a student moves in earlier than other freshmen. Being at Bama Bound allows you to open an account with the Alabama Credit Union, which has a branch in the Ferg. You also can remind him or her to rent his or her post office box (my son was glad we did that when it was not so busy).</p>
<p>Opps! Sorry folks. Anyway, our son did not commit to UA until the last week of April his senior year. He had to attend the second from last Bama Bound Orientation alone. I saw no need to attend the Parent Orientation, maybe because I had already sent one off to college out of state. This is a personal choice. I did use the Parents Forum for freshmen students called Parent Connections. At the end of your childs first year, your no longer able to log in. Son was also offered a spot in the CBHP the week following his Orientation.<br>
The Honors College accommodated his schedule changes after he accepted the CBHP invitation. </p>
<p>If your son/daughter has or will have AP credit, they may consider retaking the college course IF it is a prerequisit for their major course of study. For example: My son is a Math major. He scored a 5 on the AP Calculus Exam. He chose to take Honors Calculus first semester instead of the AP credit. This provided a solid foundation for the following Math classes at UA. This also provided breathing room during the first semester transition on his own.</p>
<p>I know my older son ALWAYS had me help “punch in” his schedule. AND help look for required classes and come up with a preferred schedule. (This was at Virginia Tech and we always registered from home) I think I saw in an earlier post that parents did not attend the actual registration for classes.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s true that parents don’t actually attend when the kids actually use the computers to set up their schedule, but that doesn’t mean that a kid can’t show up with a paper with a possible schedule (with CRN numbers) and with 2nd choice, 3rd choice options if a 1st choice isn’t available. If a kid comes with a pre-plan, the whole registration process goes pretty quickly. The kid just puts in the CRN numbers and is done.</p>
<p>Of course, once a student has attended Bama Bound, he can change his schedule many, many times throughout the summer if desired.</p>
<p>Can students change their schedule during the summer without approval from an advisor? Doesn’t an advisor have to okay their schedule during Bama Bound?</p>
<p>Students can change their schedules without adviser approval. My son does it all the time. During the Christmas holidays, he saw an honors class that really interested him. So he e-mailed the professor to ask some additional questions. Liking the answers he received, he dropped one honors class for another. </p>
<p>As for okaying the schedule, like I said, my son went over to the Honors College and showed it to Dr. Sharpe for his approval. Then, he went to his major’s adviser about it. Ironically, while Dr. Sharpe thought it was all right, his major’s adviser thought in a different way. He wanted him taking a specific class, but there were no openings (remember, we went to Bama Bound in late June). So that adviser made a call … and somehow, my son got into that class.</p>
<p>My son made another change to his schedule when he got home. Why? Well, he decided that he had not had an 8 a.m. class in nearly three years and was not sure if he could wake up for it. … He started classes at 10 a.m. the first semester and 11 a.m. this semester.</p>
<p>So when he changed from his early morning classes, he didn’t have to email the professors or Dr. Sharpe to get approval? Or was that just a matter of changing sections of the same class? I can see not needing approval for a time change, but what about deciding to take a whole different class?</p>
<p>*Can students change their schedule during the summer without approval from an advisor? Doesn’t an advisor have to okay their schedule during Bama Bound? </p>
<p>So when he changed from his early morning classes, he didn’t have to email the professors or Dr. Sharpe to get approval? *</p>
<p>A person gets approval one time per semester. No, you don’t need to get approval to change your choice of classes. Kids change their schedules many times before a semester begins. Sometimes a student will make a few different changes within one day or even over a weekend. There’s no way that an advisor could be involved with each change. The same goes with deciding to drop a class after the semester starts. A student doesn’t need permission to drop a class. </p>
<p>Since the CBH program is sequenced, Dr Sharpe doesn’t need to be involved at all.</p>
<p>When son was accepted to CBH, Dr. Sharpe did write in his letter to be sure to register for the CBH course, so of course, that would not change. I was thinking more of what elective he may take or if he does wind up having to take that Eng comp course. Thanks for the response.</p>
<p>In my experience, I have only had to get an advisor’s signature on a form showing what courses I intended to take. I was then free to register for any section of the course that I was eligible for, which is most every on-campus section. Generally you are supposed to register for the classes on the preregistration form, but it’s okay to take other courses within reason. I have taken many courses I didn’t originally register for and have been fine.</p>
<p>For me, the registration process during Bama Bound seemed rushed as I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to take and was just choosing class sections that seemed good. Later in the summer after I had time to read reviews about professors and see the final exam schedules, I switched into classes and class sections I liked better. I do have a really good working relationship with my adviser, which always helps. In short though, you don’t need an adviser’s approval unless you are doing something major.</p>
<p>Sounds good, sea. Was thinking along those lines. Once you catch your breath and see exam schedules, distance between classes, length of class day, you may want to go in and do some tweaking. So, do you get an advisor at Bama Bound and their email, so you can email them with any changes to run it by them just in case?</p>
<p>My son did not have an adviser’s name or e-mail from Bama Bound. He just made his changes without any approval. (I should mention that he does plan to take an 8 a.m. class as a sophomore — and it’s by choice, too.) … Now, I know this sounds a little crazy, but do make sure your kid does schedule a break for lunch/dinner. Remember, schools have scheduled their lunch for the past 12 years. Now kids need to do themselves.</p>
<p>*Once you catch your breath and see exam schedules, distance between classes, length of class day, you may want to go in and do some tweaking. So, do you get an advisor at Bama Bound and their email, so you can email them with any changes to run it by them just in case? *</p>
<p>You are given your advisor’s contact email during Bama Bound. </p>
<p>If you’re not sure whether it’s better to take XXXX for an engineering elective instead of taking YYY, then certainly ask your advisor. </p>
<p>But changes like wanting to take ZZZZ to fulfill a Fine Arts req’t instead of taking WWWW to fulfill the same req’t isn’t something that the advisor gets involved with. </p>
<p>That may sound odd, but since those things are a personal choice and don’t really matter (except that for fulfilling a line item in the Core Req’ts).</p>
<p>Great tips from both moms. So looking forward to that personal choice of choosing courses. And yes, the lunch and dinner thing is something that does need to be considered when doing schedules. I’m betting lots of kids don’t take that into account during Bama Bound, and then come home and realize, Oh, gosh, I’ve got five minutes to get across campus, or I’m taking six hours straight of class, when am I going to eat? Those are the kind of things that will probably need tweaking after Bama Bound.</p>
<p>Exactly…or kids realize that they need to switch X class’s time with Y class’s time so that they’re not crossing campus extra times needlessly. :)</p>
<p>Tip…it’s best to schedule lunch breaks either before or after the traditional time because all the dining venues get crowded between 11:30-12:30. So, if your schedule starts early in the day, and therefore you ate breakfast early, you may want to schedule a lunch break right after your 10 am class ends. Conversely, if you’re a late riser, and you ate breakfast at 9:30, you might want to schedule your lunch break at 1 pm.</p>
<p>…or if you never ate breakfast before school, and didn’t eat lunch because of chem lab or club meetings that scheduled at lunch…you can realize that things won’t be quite so crazy in college </p>
<p>Do the kids pick their meal plan at Bama Bound too? I guess D needs to figure that out at some point although I’m pretty sure that she’s going to pick the smallest meal plan 'cause she’s loving the idea that she can cook for herself in her dorm.</p>
<p>If I remember right, the meal plan was billed to a student’s account if he/she were a freshman. Therefore, we went with the smallest meal plan of $1,200 or so plus $300 dining dollars each semester. Of course, you can make an adjustment if you need a larger meal plan, or if your son/daughter decides to pledge. As an upperclassmen, you have a lot more freedom in meal planning.</p>
<p>“Cooking” in the newer dorms is very limited. At least in Riverside, the suites only have a microwave, fridge, large pantry and sink in the kichen. The “community kitchen” on his floor had a convection oven but no stove top or broiler. My son is an athlete. There were times he would have loved to broil a piece of salmon or steak to heal his body. </p>
<ul>
<li>if your child is an athlete on a team roster, they should upgrade to the “Training Table” meal plan. This meal plan is more expensive but worth every penny!</li>
</ul>
<p>Momof3boyz: when she stayed in a dorm last summer, there wasn’t even a microwave option so the kitchen in Ridgecrest, with the option of the community kitchen is fine with her! I’ve already purchased her a little 1 quart crock pot so she can heat up the gumbo & sauce/meat balls from home :)</p>
I know I won’t be with her to register but if I can help her talk things through before hand at least she can make her choices wisely.</p>
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