<p>zebes,
Sorry I can’t answer that question, I really don’t know how the honors vs. non-honors registration works. All I know is that both sons so far have gotten into the classes they wanted/needed. But that could be because they weren’t trying to get into certain classes. I just don’t know because we’ve never had the experience of not getting into a requested class.</p>
<p>However, from what I understand the honors students ARE given priority getting into the honors classes themselves. IOW, a regular student can take an honors class, but honors students have first dibs. Before registration, my sons get an email asking them to reserve their spaces in the honors classes.</p>
<p>Many students feel like they have had a hard time getting the classes they want- not because the class was totally closed out- but because the TIME they wanted to take the class closed out. I’ve never heard of anyone not being able to get into a required course, but I have heard of people having to take it at an earlier time in the day than they wanted, or having to wait until a space opens up.</p>
<p>Students are given staggered registration times (so they don’t all pile onto the computer and jam everything up), and sections of classes open up in a staggered fashion as well. So say you want to take Calculus 101…it doesn’t matter that you were assigned a registration time a week later than your buddy, because they only open up a certain number of Calc 101 sections per registration cycle. My son was told during freshman orientation/registration that the only time he could take his Chem lab was on a Friday night from 6:30 til 9:30. He did not want that section, to say the least! So he kept trying to “ping” into a different section until he was successful. The following week there was another orientation/registration. Those kids would have been offered new sections of the same Chem lab- sections which were unavailable during my son’s registration process. Does this make sense? I’m not sure I’m explaining it very well.</p>
<p>I don’t want to get into a “big schools are better/small schools are better” argument. Big schools are not for everybody, but neither are small schools. It all just depends on the type of school that a student wants to go to. Personally, I went to a public university (UNC- GO HEELS!) and loved it. Yes, I had the big auditorium classes. Yes, it was sink or swim at times. Yes, it could be impersonal. But I would have hated a small school. I would have loved UF as well; that’s just the type of person I am (and obviously my kids feel the same way). That’s what is so beautiful- all the wonderful choices that are out there to fit all our different learning styles/comfort zones.</p>