how do they expect kids to register...?

Colleges & Universities College of William and Mary
1

<p>From what we can gather, W&M will begin on-line registration for classes this week. How do they expect the freshmen to register with absolutely no advice from them. My son doesn’t even know what he will get credit for yet from AP’s.
He got 5’s on all 5 tests he took, including French, which he plans on doing as one of his majors. He has no idea what to take for his first French class. Ditto for Computer Science, he got a 5 on the AP test, plans to major in it, but has no idea which class to take.</p>

<p>I know he did some sort of online survey to get an advisor, but as of yet, we have not heard from him/her. </p>

<p>Am I being paranoid?</p>

2

<p>There is an e-mail address he can use to let the College know that no student mentor has contacted him yet. There are also instructions on the student’s web site for seeing AP credits, but it doesn’t seem like this info has been entered yet.</p>

<p>That said, I agree the info is spotty…I guess they have to do the best they can looking at the GERs, freshman seminars and requirements for potential majors. There is a registration info group that might help answer specific questions. If anyone else can shed light on this, please do!</p>

3

<p>You can only register for 11 credits or something before orientation and once you’re there, you meet with an academic advisor and neaten everything up (in addition more classes and spots are opened to freshmen at this point, seems to be the story I’m getting). The first day of open registration is after we arrive anyway…I think? If you’re pre-registering for Monroe/Sharpe you don’t HAVE to, but if there’s a class you know you want to take that’s filling up/you have to work around your existing Sharpe class schedule, you may want to get those ducks in a row. But basically I think there will be help and it’s not going to be too late at orientation if you don’t have special needs in mind. </p>

<p>The dates on the original stuff was wrong…as of now, Freshmen who are in Monroe get to start registering next week (the 28th or 29th or something). Sharpe can start Aug 1st. The first day of open registration on the sheet I’m looking at now is Aug 28th, and that would be after we arrive on the 24th or 25th.</p>

4

<p>I suggest you browse through the Undergraduate Course Catalog available from the Registrar’s Office: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/registrar/catalogs.php[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/registrar/catalogs.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It will explain what credit will be granted for each AP test. It also outlines the progression of courses in each department. If your son got a 5 in French, he has received credit for FREN 206 and FREN 210. If he got a 5 in CompSci, he has received credit for CSCI 141 and should proceed to CSCI 241 and 243. I don’t know the progession of the French department’s courses, but CompSci has a nice website that details all of that, including a nice prerequisite graph: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/computerscience/undergrad/undergrad_curriculum.php[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/computerscience/undergrad/undergrad_curriculum.php&lt;/a&gt;. Transfer credit from AP exams should also be listed in Banner on your Self-Service Transcript, so you can verify it by checking there.</p>

<p>Student mentors aren’t always the greatest. I was assigned to a guy studying abroad who had internet access once a month. Why he was even chosen as a mentor, I don’t know, but be prepared to do a lot of the research yourself. There will be a chance to change courses during add/drop (the first 7 or 8 days of classes), and each freshman is assigned a faculty advisor who they are required to meet with prior to add/drop. The faculty advisors are assigned based on indicated areas of academic interest, and are most knowledgable about courses in their department, however most are able to provide good general advice as well. You can’t, however, go in there completely unprepared; you need to have done the research yourself and have a plan in mind. They’re more than happy to guide you and offer advice, but they won’t hold your hand.</p>

<p>In general, your first semester should consist of a freshman seminar, an intro-level course or two in areas that are your intended major(s), and one or two GERs. You don’t have to take a freshman seminar first semester, they do offer some during the spring as well; in the event that all the interesting ones are full you should pick up an additional GER or just a class that interests you. I would recommend against overloading, too. 13 credits is the recommended 1st-semester load, but most well-prepared students can handle 15 just fine.</p>

<p>Lastly, you will not get into most of your first-choice classes during the initial freshman pre-registration period. Competition is too fierce. However, you will have a solid shot at all your classes during add/drop. Work out your first-choice schedule as if registration barriers don’t exist, and then create a few backups by substituting one or two classes at a time. You’ll eventually get more or less what you want. You can always email professors as well; many are willing to grant an override to allow a student into an otherwise full course, especially at the intro levels.</p>

<p>Also, princedog, the registration schedule for freshmen is as follows (taken from the Registrar’s page for new students: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/registrar/newstudentinfo.php[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/registrar/newstudentinfo.php&lt;/a&gt; )</p>

<p>Pre-registration period (freshmen limited to 11 credit hours):
July 30: Murray Scholars
August 1: Monroe and Sharpe Scholars
August 6: New Transfer Students
August 13: New freshmen, including William and Mary Scholars</p>

<p>Pre-registration ends for everybody on August 22. Then, open registration (also known as add/drop) begins August 28 and ends September 7. Students will be required to meet with their advisors before add/drop to get their registration PIN. During add/drop, students are limited to 18 credit hours unless an overload request has been approved.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the question, namtrag, and the excellent advice, java. Daughter was asking the same questions yesterday. As I was napping and not really in the mood, I offered my opinion and was basically on target. She spent the rest of the afternoon, studying the catalog of classes and lining up interests in her major, GER’s and a freshman seminar (s). Seems pretty hit or miss but so long since I went to school.</p>

6

<p>Great posts, thanks for the help.</p>

<p>The schedule my S tentatively wants is:</p>

<p>Arabic 101 and lab: 4 hours
French 305: Advanced Writing, 3 hours
Math 211: Linear Algebra. 3 hours
English 150: Freshman sminar, 3 hours
Military Science: 1 hour
Computer Science 241: 3 hours</p>

<p>Total: 17 hours</p>

<p>Sounds pretty tough to me, but he seems to think he can do it</p>

7

<p>Has anyone yet to be paired with a mentor? Daughter states she hasn’t heard a thing.</p>

<p>Looks like tough schedule to me, but your son is most likely capable. Kids today, at least mine, seem way more motivated than I was at their age!</p>

8

<p>Yes, momray, he is a little more into than I was. I even bought him “Arabic for Dummies,” and he is trying to learn some before he gets to school. I just hope he can get in the class, I have a feeling it’s a real popular thinig to take right now.</p>

9

<p>Daughter got an email from her mentor basically saying to email him if she has any questions, but I think that’s it. She knows what’s going on but she’s been remiss in keep us in the loop. </p>

<p>A question…we couldn’t find any information about whether a 3 on the AP Spanish test will do anything for her. She was pretty excited to get that 3 since she thought it was a difficult test. </p>

<p>She figured out the she’ll have 30 credits (without the Spanish) going in.</p>

10

<p>Momray–My daughter has been paired with a mentor but most of the advice she has asked for, and gotten, has been pretty general. They’ve exchanged about 3-4 e-mails over a couple of weeks.</p>

<p>atrmom–the best info about AP credit is from the hard copy 06-07 course catalog D picked up on accepted students day. There is one course’s credit for a 3 on sp lit, but not on language.</p>

11

<p>smdur1970, that’s what I thought, but DD is convinced it’s otherwise. Oh well, she’ll figure it out soon enough.</p>

<p>I just can’t believe we’re only a month out!</p>

12

<p>Namtrag, what math did your son do this year? I am not sure whether to take linear algebra or what. I was in HL IB methods but we learned all the prob/stat 4th quarter and I was dealing with a difficult personal issue, so I didn’t learn any of it and got a 4 on the exam which is short of credit. But I am solid on all the calculus which is through BC calc. I’m just not sure you need a certain score as a pre-req. Which would kind of suck because I don’t think I need to repeat calc, I just need to obviously take statistics at some point (which I plan to do). It was a good portion of the exam so it really hurt my score; I was pretty accurate on the calc and advanced algebra and 3D vector stuff I think.</p>

13

<p>He had ap stat in the spring. He had AP calc in 11th grade. He has scored 5 on both AP tests. He is pretty sure he can hack linear algebra.</p>

14

<p>Just for the record, I have noticed an asymmetry in student choices and regrets about first semester. Quite a few regret taking too many hours. Very few regret not taking enough, and it’s easy to see why. You only have to average 15 credits per semester to graduate on time – and that would be without any AP credits at all. SO: here’s the tradeoff. In return for taking lots of tough hours in the first semester, you get an increased chance of having difficulty but the same probable graduation date four years later. (Very few students use AP credits to graduate early, for good reasons. It really is a four-year experience; employers prefer that extra year of chronological age even if you could graduate early; etc.)</p>

15

<p>Just figured I’d let you guys know that they have posted AP credit on Banner, so now you know exactly how many credits you have and what classes you’re exempt from. Also, when you log in to my.wm, on the front page, it says that they’re making a video to help kids register. The video should be up by the end of the week, it says.</p>

16

<p>Yep, thanks, I just checked with my S, and he has 27 credits, yippee!</p>

17

<p>OMG i have to register classes online? Im in korea right now and had no idea this was going to happen. Is it too late to register for classes by aug. 02? If i miss this part will i be in big trouble? I feel so lost right now:(</p>

18

<p>See post 4 for registration schedule…you have time. Are you accessing “myWM” for info and deadlines?</p>

19

<p>Daughter received all her AP credits AND did receive word from a mentor on classes and registration. And the biggest WOW, actually asked my opinion on appropriate schedules; possible majors/minors, etc.</p>

20

<p>A question to W&M students who have gone through freshmen registration: Are the classes that they have listed right now on the Banner “Look up Classes to Add” feature the only ones that will be available when it comes time for freshmen to register? Or do they start opening up more spots in those classes when it comes time for freshmen registration?</p>

<p>Because I was using the feature to look up classes to add, and there are almost no spots available in the Arabic 101 classes. If those are the only spots available, it seems very doubtful that I will be taking Arabic next year.</p>