We are just back from the first NSC and I wanted to share a few tips and other information:
1. Initial registration is a breeze and moves quickly. We arrived at 8:00am and got through quickly.
2. Keep in mind, you will be walking A LOT!! It was quite hot and humid so dress comfortably. Folks are wearing shorts and T-Shirts.
3. Longest line was for the ID card. Don't even bother to try and get in line in the morning. They shut down the ID cards when the mandatory sessions starts and many folks waited a long time just to be told to come back later. My S slipped out of the last mandatory session a few minutes early and got his ID in a short period. When I say last session its the last mandatory session in the morning of the first day.
4. They ask you to go to a computer lab to activate your Login ID on day one. The lab is quite a walk and come to find out, you could do everything needed on your laptop via the Howdy portal. You are not actually activating your login, but granting access for your parents and setting up the maroon code notification.
5. Bring a laptop computer. You will want to look at classes before registration and its easier to sit at a table with your own laptop.
6. The days are long and you do have lots of information repeated several times. Just FYI.
7. Make sure your student looks at the class schedules before arriving. My S built several schedules before we even arrived. It is helpful and keeps him/her from scrambling before registration.
8. My S is in Engineering. You do not actually get to meet with an advisor one-on-one. They have student advisers that talk to all of them at the same time.
9. About AP credits!! My S has several AP credits and wants to use one math and one physics credit. He spent time taking the online common tests and is very comfortable with his decision. Keep in mind, you are allowed to use the credits, but they tote a standard recommendation of "don't use them". Also, they will not let you register for the next classes until you have the AP credit. For those going to NSC's before the AP scores are posted in July, you will NOT be able to register for the next level class without the credits. For instance, my S is going to use a credit for Math 151 and also one for Physics 218. He could not register for Math 152 or Physics 208 yet. He will have to work this out with his senior advisor after the AP scores are posted. For now, he just registered for Math 151 and Physics 218. By the way, the student advisers had no idea on this issue. My S had to call the Math department.
Those are the big things.
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