I would note that this thread is about Alabama, not MIT. But, my point is made. Getting into MIT is getting across a threshold that Alabama does not have. Alabama is more egalitarian in that it allows less qualified (especially compared to MIT) candidates to try engineering. They may succeed; they may not. At least they can try. At MIT, they cannot get in the door.
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I would also add that kids mature at different rates. Some are super stars in high school and some figure things out in college. UA is not going to be the right fit for every type of student. However, from my observation they do a really good job of trying to retain students.
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I know others on the list think differently - that this is bad guidance - but we went to preview day at Col School of Mines and on the student panel they (the students) told the HS Seniors that any AP you took that were tied to engineering - mainly math and science - to forgo the AP credit and take it again.
My son had a WD first semester in calc 2. He didnât heed the advice. Got an A next time around.
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Thatâs fine. I am ok with a kid taking thermodynamics or fluid mechanics and deciding that engineering is not for him/her. However, like you stated in your other post, there is no logical reason why kids that are 700+ in SAT math with 5 on calc BC should be failing Calc 3 or getting C/D. Extend that logic to introductory chemistry and physics. Large public unis/public ivys are notorious for this and IMO this should not be the case. Maybe MITâs approach is the right one â only P/F in year 1. Maybe small classes is the answer. Maybe having profs that can actually teach and give a darn teach those classes and not the bitter ones that cannot get grant funding or grad TAs that are studying something completely unrelated to what they are asked to teach.
I would very much advocate for a program where kids are helped during this period of transition. If Alabama or Florida or whichever honors program is doing that then all the power to them. Thatâs where Iâd rather send my kid.
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On a few of our school tours, we heard from students that the advice going around is to take lower division weed-out classes at a local community college.
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My son who went the T-15 school made a A+& 5 on the AP calc exam⊠and was told to retake the class freshman year. He did so and made a B in the class. Said that the class was taught âtheoretically and abstract.â Any professor can make a basic class ridiculously difficult if so inclined.
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I am not a fan of failing kids just to fail them. There are a lot of professors out there that donât seem to understand that their terrible teaching may be contributing to some of these poor outcomes. If you have a kid that has gotten 5s on BC Calc, Chemistry, Physics C they are capable.
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My son is a freshman in the honors college, so not much experience yet. He has the first year honors class and a honors calc class this semester. Ironically, the honors class is the biggest class he has with about 100 students. He came in with 53 credits, so with that and honors was able to schedule for spring semester really early and got everything he wanted without difficulty. That is definitely a plus!
He thinks the calculus class is fine as honors. He did opt for Calc 2 as regular in the spring, because it is what best fit his schedule. There are fewer sections for honors, making it difficult.
He has all of his gen ed classes covered coming in, so isnât thrilled with having to take extra in honors. If he had humanities or social science to take, heâd be able to do those as honors and be good. So whether he stays in and completes it or not remains to be seen. Weâre unclear what it takes to stay in the honors college. What is progress? So, heâs signed up for the year 2 class next semester and figures that should buy him time for sure. He has the space in his schedule so why not. After spring though, itâll be harder to schedule these extra classes, so I just donât know if he will or if heâll decide heâs done and will just ride it out.
Heâs in the honors dorm and likes it well enough. Heâs engineering, so itâs pretty close to his classes and the dining hall, so will likely live there next year too, if he can.
Doing the math, honors is 22%-25% of the undergraduates, depending on whether you include part-time students or only full-time. Almost 20% of the business college is in honors. Lots of numbers here: Home Honors is under âotherâ.
So far, he hasnât found any other great reasons to be in honors. It probably fits him in many ways though. Low-key and not extra work just to stay in. Heâd rather get into the engineering classes and robotics team, etc. Heâs in the marching band, which kept him pretty busy this semester.
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Glad heâs finally there!! I know it was a long road for you 
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It was a long decision making progress for sure! He loves the marching band, so that has really made him happy with the decision to go there.
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I didnât intend to demean the UA honors program. It sounds like a good program for the students enrolled in it.
I was just stating my surprise that such a high percentage of students are included, and wondered how that might impact the students outside the Honors Program. But, that isnât a topic for this thread because this thread wants to know about the honors program for the students in it. And I didnât want to derail this thread by going down that trail.
My apologies if it seemed I felt the program was bad for the students in it.
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And gets watch every 'Bama football game. Iâd be happy, too.
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It doesnât change your argument (which didnât demean anything btw) but us news shows Bama Honors at 8266. Bama says undergrad is 38645.
So itâs 21.3%. I embellished apparently.
I will say this about Bama and other schools who have seen similar growth and interest.
Ranking aside and I donât know where they come up with all the funds to support - they clearly know what they are doing and are winning in their agenda of what theyâre trying to accomplish.
They also have sub programs within their Honors College for those who want them.
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I think that the Honors college and sub-programs offer a way to stand-out as an undergrad. Other similar programs at higher-ranked universities (per USNEWS) are much more âexclusiveâ and therefore limiting. Alabama offers opportunities which future employers/grad schools will appreciate. Few will get into the T-20 schools, but the experience and difference-making at UA will absolutely help down the road.
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My kid was also in the Engineering UF weed out classes. He was a lifetime straight A kid, 1570 SAT. That Calc. weed-out class was brutal. It cost him the first grade in his life less than an A. He was shocked. He worked his ass off but it did not help. Many students changed their major or dropped the weed-out classes and took the courses, summers, at a different University. There were two classes like this where the test questions had nothing to do with the book, lectures etc.
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My DD is in the Randall Research program, which is housed within the Honors College. As a result, all of her Honors requirements are fulfilled by the Randall Research program. Having said that, she has loved having the ability to takes Honors sections of her other courses, and she took 3 honors classes this past semester. It provides much flexibility during registration, and it keeps her in classes with more motivated students. Also, the class sizes are much smaller. During my DDâs first semester at UA, her largest class was 26 students, and she had 3 classes with less than 20 students!
Other benefits are access to Honors housing. The honors dorm is extremely nice, and it doesnât appear to have the same shenanigans as some of the other dorms. Itâs also very quiet. Early class registration is another perk.
The biggest downfall for those not in any of the programs housed within the Honors College is the required classes. Many students do not like the required sequence.
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Son has been accepted into University Honors. He applied to EPIC but no decision yet. We put in the enrollment deposit and housing deposit to ensure that he can choose his room â wants a single in honors (Ridgecrest) or in the engineering dorm. Reading the Facebook posts it seems that honors housing is not as much in demand as regular housing, which I find odd because so many kids are in the honors program. But whateverâŠ
@FSUdad93 I hear you regarding weedout classes. My son is a bit of a slacker. I am worried because one has to keep a 3.5 while living alone and adjusting to college life for honors and scholarship.
Is linear algebra recommended before Calc 3?
What are the weedout courses? Here at NCSU, they are Calc 1/2, Physics 1/2 and Chem 1/2. If you survive those, Statics is the final cull course.
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Depends on whether you mean:
- âNatural weedingâ â where some students leave the major because it is too difficult for them.
- âIntentional weedingâ â where (at least some of) the schoolâs engineering departments have limited capacity, and they admit more interested frosh than they can teach to graduation, so they require a secondary admission process that âweeds outâ some of the students even though they may be doing well enough by typical (employer) standards (3.0+ or 3.5+ college GPA).
âNatural weedingâ occurs everywhere, but is more common at colleges with relatively low frosh admission standards and not a high population of strong students relative to the size of engineering departments. âIntentional weedingâ appears to be most common at the more competitive state flagships that do not admit frosh by (engineering, at least) major, since they tend to have plenty of strong-enough students who will not leave due to ânatural weedingâ and who may overflow the engineering departmentsâ capacities (Texas A&M, NCSU, Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are examples).
Alabama presumably has plenty of ânatural weedingâ but does not appear to have âintentional weedingâ for engineering majors.
Note that engineering majors are not the only ones subject to âintentional weedingâ. Nursing majors at many colleges are subject to âintentional weedingâ. Even those with direct admission may be subject to high college GPA requirements (e.g. 3.5) to stay in the major.
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I have only 1 semester experience, but Iâve read the calc, physics, and statics are tough. But, at Bama Bound, my son was advised not to take honors calc and not to take Engr 103 the first semester as those would be very difficult and time consuming. He did both and was totally fine and had lots of free time still. I think there is such a range of student background and capability, that itâs very difficult to guess which classes might be hard for your child just based on what others experienced.
Iâm not sure Ridgecrest or Paty has singles. I know Riverside has single and double suites. My son is thinking about that for next year.
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My daughter took Linear Algebra before Calc 3. Her original plan was to take Calc 3 and then Linear Algebra. However, they had a firm 18 hour credit limit for first semester freshman. Calc 3 would have put her at 19 credit hours so they would not allow her to register for it, so she registered for Linear Algebra. She had no issues with Linear Algebra and will be taking Honors Calc 3 next semester. For what it is worth, my DD loved her Honors classes; she took 3 last semester as a CS major. The only honors class they told my DD to avoid is Honors Chemistry.
Side note - I have heard that Calc 2 is one of the weed out classes at UA.
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