Freshman English is different than high school and students struggle with the newness.
Even AP English students often struggle in Freshman English. The reason for these struggles is that students are being asked to do something new. Although students are usually told that college will be very different, they find that instructors in many of their general education classes ask them to use a similar approach as they used in high school. Students are asked to study and learn information and show they have absorbed the material.

Freshman English is different. In Freshman English, students learn to become knowledge producers rather than knowledge absorbers. Students are asked to develop their own analyses of texts and construct their own coherent arguments based on those analyses. As the University of North Carolina's Writing Center handout on college writing points out, "Although college instructors still expect you to know the facts, they really care about how you analyze and interpret those facts and why you think those facts matter" (UNC-CH). This process is quite new for most students, and so they struggle.

If everyone struggles, why worry about my struggling?
Yes, it is true that almost everyone struggles with the complex readings and lengthy writing assignments in ENGL 110 and 111. These courses require substantial engagement with challenging texts and thirty pages of revised writing. However, those students who are strong readers and writers only have to overcome the barrier of being asked to write a new kind of essay.  Students who are struggling with new ideas in addition to struggling with their reading and writing skills find themselves overwhelmed. In order to overcome their struggles, students need to have strong verbal and writing skills, so the first thing students should ask themselves when deciding to bypass English 104 is: "Am I a strong writer, and can I handle difficult readings?"

Doesn't taking English 104 put me behind?
Not really. In most cases, we find that taking 104 puts students ahead. Students often look at the class as four extra credits that can be avoided by taking 110 or 111. However, Freshman English has an important ripple effect on students' academic careers. Freshman English is the first contact students have with the kind of work that they will be asked to do in their advanced courses. The analyzing, reasoning, and arguing skills we develop will be the tools to create a foundation for students' academic work. Students who overcome their initial struggles and succeed in Freshman English are more likely to be able to handle the demands of these more advanced courses.

Furthermore, students who choose 104 over 110 or 111 should struggle less initially. English 104 is not quite as demanding a class. Then, the ripple effect kicks in. Students are more likely to be successful in 110 if they have 104 in their background, and, as has already been pointed out, students who succeed in 110 have an important skill that will help them succeed as they pursue their degrees.

Will a course in "Basic Writing" really prepare me for this new kind of writing class?
The title "Basic Writing" is a bit of misnomer.  There is nothing basic about this course. It is not a class in grammar and mechanics. The biggest differences between 104 and other FE classes are the lower page requirement and smaller class size. Since students don't have to do as much formal writing, the class moves at a more deliberate pace. Since the class is capped at fifteen students, instructors can give more individualized attention. Other than that, the class is not substantially different. Students are still asked to read challenging texts, analyze these texts, and develop thoughtful papers based on their readings.

I scored above a 440 on my Verbal SAT, doesn't that mean I should be in 110 or 111?
Not necessarily. Students who score between 440 and 540 are asked to self place.  In other words, students in this range need are asked to evaluate their own skills. And, although SAT scores can be an indicator of students' verbal abilities, they actually have little correlation with how well a student reads or writes. What is more important is how comfortable a student is with college-level academic writing. If the student has experience with the advanced reading and writing tasks described here and feels confident about her ability to participate in the discussions and writing that surround this work, we would recommend ENGL 110 or 111. However, if the student feels that he needs more time to practice and develop these skills, ENGL 104 might be the better place to start.

Finally, it is up to the student. Students must begin to think about their own writing and reading skills and consider what course best suits their needs. We recommend that they consult the course descriptions and contact a Writing Coordinator if they have further questions.

UNC-CH Writing Center. "College Writing." 9 May 2006. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/college_writing.html