<p>I was looking at Penn State for my daughter. However, I was taken aback by the huge liberal arts graduation requirements. You need to take 15 liberal arts courses (45 credits) PLUS three courses in foreign language. This is almost two years of required courses.If you will be disturbed by the large gneral education requirements compared to other schools that have lessor requirements, you may wish to reconsider Penn State.</p>
<p>taxguy, while 45 credits seems like a lot (especially for an art degree, which is what your daughter is pursuing, right?), a lot of those liberal arts requirements can be "piggybacked" so that one class counts for several requirements. for example, an art history class might count as a gen ed requirement for humanities as well as US cultures. or in another way, a class that is already required for the major may also count for gen ed.</p>
<p>also, AP credit helps a lot. i already completed my humanities and science requirements for gen ed with my AP credit.</p>
<p>i don't know if that helps at all--</p>
<p>(whoops, accidently posted before i was done writing...)</p>
<p>what i meant to say was that on paper, 45 credits seems overwhelming and like you'd never get to take any classes for you major, but it's all in how you schedule.</p>
<p>also, not all majors require proficiency in a foreign language.</p>
<p>but i hope that gives some insight into the gen ed game; it's definitely not as overwhelming as it looks.</p>
<p>Courses that meet the requirement of the art or design department don't seem to qualify for gen eds.See the following URL: <a href="http://psych.la.psu.edu/undergrad/LAPolicyAug04.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://psych.la.psu.edu/undergrad/LAPolicyAug04.pdf</a></p>
<p>This is also very different from what is found in other institutions, where some of these courses such as art history would count. Also, the courses are so arranged that double counting courses for several gen ed requirements seems impossible. </p>
<p>Also, I called the admission's office. They confirmed the additional "foreign language requirement" for graphic design students (three courses). However, the admission's gal that I spoke with didn't seem too sharp; thus, she may have been in error.</p>
<p>oh gosh, you're right on with some of those admissions people-- i had my own nightmare with a few of them regarding my status in the art college. <em>rolls eyes</em>... and you're right about GD students needing a foreign language component-- i was just making a general statement when i commented on that (for anyone else reading the thread), as quite a few of the majors don't need a language.</p>
<p>i checked out that link, but i've never seen it used before to explain general ed requirements-- perhaps because it's put out by the college of liberal arts and not the university in general? going by the bluebook (catalog of majors university wide):
<a href="http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/%5B/url%5D">http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/</a>
the GD major lists "ART H 111 GA(3), ART H 112 GA(3)" under prescribed courses. while the courses are required for the major, the "GA" means that they also count for art gen ed credit. there are a decent amount of other courses required for the major under "additional courses" that also count for gen ed; it's all in how you schedule :)</p>
<p>as for double counting courses, it's not as hard as it looks... for example, i'm taking a course on women writers this upcoming semester. it satisfies 3 credits for my humanities, US cultures, and international cultures gen ed requirements. </p>
<p>hopefully that helps a bit.</p>
<p>Portrqaittheartist, no matter how you cut it, you still have to take 3 foreign language courses, 3 science courses and two math courses plus the additional courses in social sciences and humanities and English. This is a lot of required gen ed courses even if I can double count two courses in the humanities. </p>
<p>It is too bad that Penn State isn't going with the trend towards reducing the required liberal arts course requirements or at least allowing for less categories and more flexibility.Why an art student needs three foreign language courses, three science and two math is a mystery to me. I do, however, believe in strong writing and reading courses.</p>
<p>Don't even get me started on the unnecessary amount of liberal arts courses in college. I am looking at both Penn State and the University of Oklahoma for my degree in atmospheric science/meteorology. I counted 12 liberal arts courses required by PSU for a met. major, and 10 from OU. PSU isn't the only one.</p>
<p>Setzwxman, I would bet that you need more than 12 courses at Penn State to fulfill the liberal arts requirement plus language requirement. If it were only 12 courses, I would be thrilled.</p>
<p>I checked Penn State's Blue Book (listing of all requirements for undergraduate degrees in each major: <a href="http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/%5B/url%5D">http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/</a>)</p>
<p>If you look closely near the top, you'll see that 15 of the required 45 credits of general education are included in the requirements for the Graphic Design major. Quoting:</p>
<p>GENERAL EDUCATION: 45 credits
(15 of these 45 credits are included in REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR) </p>
<p>So you only need to worry about 30 credits. Also, some of these classes are very useful: speech communication, technical/business writing, and freshman composition make up 9 of the 30.</p>
<p>As for the foreign language -- if you've taken four years of the same language in high school, you'll pass out of say, Spanish 001 and Spanish 002. As a result, you'll only have to take Spanish 003 (4 credits) and be done with what looks like a 12 credit requirement.</p>
<p>what if your an engineering major? are you stuck with 45 credits taht will make you graduate in 6 years?</p>
<p>College of The Art Institute of Chicago has 42 hours of liberal arts credits also for a BA....plus the discipline and studio credits.</p>
<p>girlfriendmb, Don't forget a possible 3 course language requirement.</p>
<p>At Penn State in engineering, you have 45 credits of Gen Eds to fulfill.</p>
<p>Now, you need at least 6 credits in math, and at least 9 credits of sciences. Needless to say, as an engineering major, you'll be taking far more then that as part of your major -- so you don't need to worry about those fifteen credits (you're major requirments will take care of them).</p>
<p>Engineering majors also have to take economics as part of their major, so that's another three credits of gen eds that you get for free from your major.</p>
<p>Finally, since engineering majors will eventually receive bachelor of science degrees, they do no not need to worry about foreign language proficiency (unless you enjoy languages).</p>
<p>You might actually enjoy your other general education classes. You can take a class in something you've always been interested in. They also help to break up the monotony of problem sets that comes with a technical or scientific education.</p>
<p>You absolutely do not have to take 3 foreign language courses. Pretty much every high school requieres you to take several years of one anyway. Most people come into school at the third level and are done after that first semester. Anyway, I almost did not come here b/c I did not want to take German and now is it my minor, so you never know....</p>
<p>Maf5000, I am confused. You mean to say that because my daughter took 4 years of high school Spanish, she doens't have to take a foreign language at Penn State?</p>
<p>She would take one semester of it. She would automatically start at Spanish003 and would be finished after that semester.</p>
<p>taxguy, please be aware that I was not talking about gen eds, nor was I talking about the amount of credits. Look at this checksheet for the meteorology majors: <a href="http://www.met.psu.edu/dept/courses/ChecksheetUP.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.met.psu.edu/dept/courses/ChecksheetUP.pdf</a>. Categories I consider liberal arts are: Intercultural/International Course (1), EMS Writing Intensive (1), Humanities (2), Soc Sci (2), Arts (2), and Communications (3), which show that I miscounted the first time--it appears to really be 11 liberal arts classes.</p>
<p>Setzwxman, using your own sheet, I counted 42 credits. Also, no where was there shown a foreign language requirements. Is Foreign language not required for your major? If so, that would be strange to not require it for you but require it for graphic design students.</p>
<p>It says on the application that foreign language classes are only required if you have not taken 2 or more years of the same foreign language in HS.</p>