Hi guys! Congratualtions on your acceptance! I am a current sophomore at Boston University and I was accepted into the Jan-London Program this time two years ago! I can answer pretty much any question you may have on the program below!!
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Hi!
I was wondering what the GE course load is like? I noticed that is seems to be obscure history and social studies, but I am hoping to go down the pre-med track and the course load does not necessarily appeal to me.
Also, can we go through multiple study abroad programs following the semester in London in our sophomore, junior, and senior years?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions!
@sarahjanel Hey! I can try to give you as detailed descriptions of the course work as I can
Freshman Year Boston Semester:
rhetoric: readings a lot focused on transcendentalism
humanities: course centered around things like the odyssey, antigone, the tempest
social science: focused around the history of Britain
Freshman Year London Semester:
rhetoric: focused on WWI and WWII
humanities: focused on art history
social science: focused on WWI and WWII
Sophomore Year First Semester:
natural science: basic biology class
humanities: philosophy and ethics
social science: 2 part history class focused on the histories of Russia and China
Sophomore Year Second Semester:
natural science: continuation of basic biology
humanities: continuation of philosophy and ethics
social science: american foreign policy
These classes will satisfy your general education requirements for going pre-med. If you were to have get into CAS for pre-med, you would’ve had to take these classes anyway. No matter what, you are going to have to do a core curriculum of general education courses at any school you go to. No school is going to just let you jump right into your major. CGS just segments it so you get all of those classes done in your first 2 years. The only downside in my opinion is that you don’t get to pick the classes that satisfy these requirements. If you were in CAS you would have the option to pick a topic that interests you most in each of these areas, but you would still have to take these classes.
Second, yes you can study abroad again as long as it fits in your schedule. I am highly considering going to australia for my second semester junior year.
Does admission into the Boston-London program through CGS mean that you would not have received regular admission into a school of your choice i.e. CAS? In other words, is this program an alternative to being rejected and therefore of lower status than regular admission?
@sarahjanel essentially yes, but it’s not really of lower status. No one in CGS is looked down upon, no employers know it is “lower status”, you just get a BU degree. The reason you are in CGS is because admissions did not see you qualified for CAS but still thought you had potential to do great at BU
Being able to study abroad freshman year doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me! Thank you so much for providing insight @laurrodes
@sarahjanel of course! It was the time of my life! I wish I could go back. I loved being in the January London Program
Hi Laurrodes,
I was wondering if the CGS Boston London is worth attending without aid? How difficult would it be for me to transfer into SMG after the two years? Will I be able to keep up with those who got in from the start? Thank you!
@prospectivestud Hi! I can’t answer the aid question for you, it is all about what your family is willing/can afford to spend. That is an individual choice. But transferring into the business school is extremely easy. You will be able to keep up, it won’t be much different than starting in Questrom. You are taking classes in Questrom the whole time you are in CGS. Questrom has its own core program of liberal arts classes that its students have to take before graduating so they will be doing them too. You won’t be behind.
@laurrodes because the cgs is much cheaper than regular tuition in your freshman year, did you see a raise in your financial aid at the same time that your tuition raised in your sophomore and following years ? thank you
@justthankful i don’t think CGS is cheaper than regular tuition. I am pretty sure you pay exactly the same as everyone else
I spoke to admissions counselors , it is also readily available on the applicant link that the tuition is 33k for this program. Could this have been a change from pervious years ? She assured me this wasn’t added onto the 67 k but is the separate and full tuition
@justthankful I am not sure, when I went last year it was 33K per semester. One semester in Boston, one in London. Total was around 66K
33k is the tuition for the spring semester; but then you pay another 33K for the summer (6 weeks) in London. To me that part seems outrageously expensive. That is the price for most school’s study abroad programs for an entire semester (12weeks).
What negatives are there from going into this program ?
We having been doing a lot of reading and evaluating on the BU CGS website as well as blog posts and reviews.
Overall, for the right kid, I think it is a good program. But here are my concerns, as they relate to my kids…
- Everyone takes the exact same classes; with the same group of 80 students. The schedules are populated by the administration, with students not having any choices, except you do get one elective. Sounds a lot like high school.
In our case, my kids are 3.95 students with 7 APs and all honors courses including Calc at a rigorous private prep school. They are terrible SAT test takers (1300); hence I believe the CGS choice.
They have read/analyzed most of the books in the CGS Humanities program. They have completed both AP Human Geography and AP US History (4&5s), as well as both Honors Biology and AP Bio (test this May); but will have to take it again… no choice!
- Arriving at college in January has definite drawbacks. Sure you will make friends, but for girls, it can be difficult to break into already formed cliques. And taking classes for Fall '17 will be an added expense.
- The London program is extremely expensive - about the same as a normal full semester study abroad program at most schools - including the BU programs.
- You are guaranteed acceptance into CAS; but not to other schools. I called there yesterday, and got a very vague answer that "most" kids get into the program they want, but not all.
All that being said, we have not crossed it off our list just yet…as my kids love BU. We are trying to justify spending 70K each a year to basically repeat HS for two years. For reference, their other accepts include: Fordham; Syracuse; Penn State; Holy Cross (waiting on GWU).
I believe the program was originally intended for those students not quite up to the rigors of BU classes (back in the early 80s, it was seen as a way to get the athletes to succeed academically). And for those kids, I think it can be a good fit, especially with the Advising and small classes.
@flute1298 with enough general ed credits could it be possible to get pass at least a semester of sophomore year and save 33-70 k
@flute1298 I just want to respond to a few of your points with some student insight!
- Yes this is correct, everyone takes the same classes and you are put onto teams so the same people will be in your classes. You do not get a choice in the classes. Honestly I don't see why this is that big of a draw back for people considering that if you are in any of the other schools (questrom, CAS, COM, etc.) you will have to take gen ed classes as well. The only difference is that CGS does not give you a choice as to which you take. I am not really sure how much that matters because I don't feel like having choices is that big of a deal considering they fall under the same categories of classes (humanities, rhetoric, natural science, social science). CGS just guarantees that you get all of these classes done during your first few years which is actually very helpful.
- I totally get this. I was so concerned about coming to school in january, but it really was not bad. The CGS program is about 300 kids large so the Facebook group is really active during the gap semester. Honestly I met a bunch of friends on the Facebook group during my gap semester and also at orientation they group you with other january london freshman and you meet people that way. Another great thing is that BU does their formal recruitment for sororities during the spring semester so any girls who want to make friends quick should definitely sign up. (and for those who do not think they're a typical sorority girl, I didn't either, it is much more relaxed at BU and the girls are really awesome, I regretted not rushing during my freshman year and rushed my sophomore year).
- I cannot speak much to this but I personally have never heard of anyone not being able to transfer into the school of their choosing if their GPA met the minimum requirement (2.0) and I know a lot of people at CGS. I would not worry about this at all or have it weigh into your decision.
Finally, I clearly am an advocate for CGS. It makes a large, overwhelming school feel small and the program is an amazing experience that you won’t get anywhere else. It also looks really good in interviews when I tell people I studied abroad my freshman year, it is always a topic and proves I have a global outlook on the world!
@justthankful - I believe you are locked into CGS for your entire sophomore year…again…no exceptions; at least that is what I was told.
@laurrodes Thank you for your response, and trust me, the only reason we are giving this a second thought, is because of how much you like the program and want to defend it.
To respond to just number 1; I have a hard time paying for classes in college that my girls have already successfully completed in HS. They will have passed AP Lang with a 5; I anticipate them completing AP Bio and Lit with similar scores.
At least with gen ed, they can broaden their horizons…take Chemistry, or British Lit…or any of the hundreds of other courses offered. Instead, they will have to basically repeat their senior year (which they currently carry a 4.20 GPA).
But, sincerely, Thank you for your feedback. It makes a difference!
@flute1298 if you have any credits that will count as an equivalent for the classes CGS lets you get out of them and you are able to take another elective in your major (AP lang would get them out of rhetoric class, AP bio would get them out of natural science, etc) but I understand your hesitations! I really hope your girls end up where is best for them and where they are happiest!