<p>Hello! Im currently a junior in high school and was wondering was the BU CGS college exactly is. I know that its easier to get into than the actual university, but I was wondering how you could get in. If you apply and dont meet their standards but meet CGS’s standards do they just defer you to it? or do you apply separately? </p>
<p>@starzup100 </p>
<p>When you apply to Boston University and have a specific college within the university in mind (COM, SMG, CAS, etc.), it is best to apply to those. However, when you apply and click the “Interest in CGS” box, you are saying that you are willing to go to the College of General Studies if you do not make it to the original school of your choice. What admissions officers do is that the individual colleges see the student’s application and if they do not reach the standards of the college, but see potential in the student, they will defer the application to the CGS admission officers. If the college of your choice denies you but CGS has accepted you, it is possible to go CGS and then later go to the college of your choice (some colleges/programs a LOT harder than others, some easier).</p>
<p>Either way, CGS feeds into the different colleges after sophomore year, but will require more work and perhaps more credits to complete a school with the necessary credits to graduate. </p>
<p>The programs at BU CGS are not necessarily for students deferred from other programs. The important thing to consider is that every application coming through admissions is very different and the decision made regarding your admittance to a certain program is on a completely personal, one-on-one basis. That being said, I went through the program and I definitely don’t think it is safe to assume that it is easier than the rest of the university. </p>
<p>The courses that I took at CGS are interdisciplinary, discussion focused courses focusing on various topics in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and rhetoric. I was thoroughly challenged in these courses because the professors knew me by name and were the ones that were grading my papers, exams, etc… In all, the courses are going to be very different structure and function than a lot of the courses you will take outside of CGS. I can confidently say that my courses in CGS challenged me a great deal and when I earned a good grade, I felt like I deserved it and was very proud of that good grade.</p>
<p>Currently, application for CGS is to one of two programs: the September program and the January program. The September program requires you to matriculate to the university in September and you complete four semesters of courses (in the areas that I mentioned earlier, as well as one elective per semester) before continuing on to the school/college that houses your major. The January program requires you to matriculate in January, completing your first semester of classes in the spring followed by a summer session at Boston University’s London campus! You then return to Boston in the fall of your sophomore year to complete two more semesters of courses before continuing onto your final destination. You can learn more about the specifics of both programs here: <a href=“http://www.bu.edu/cgs/academics/programs/”>http://www.bu.edu/cgs/academics/programs/</a></p>
<p>If you are in the Boston area, you may schedule a visit that includes a meeting with an academic advisor at CGS, a classroom visit, and a prospective student lunch with a student that has participated in the CGS programs. I hope that you consider CGS; it’s a great way to spend your first two years at BU!</p>
<p>There are many, many threads on CGS in the Boston University forum - probably the second biggest question after “Chance me” threads. As a parent of a kid who went to CGS/COM and is graduating a semester early, I like to monitor these threads as there is a LOT of misinformation. If you see someone who says “it’s easy” or “it’s not REALLY Boston University” or “It’s silly” there is a 100% chance they weren’t in it, and often they didn’t go to Boston University at all. Threads like mp’s above are a true story of what it is like. Looking back over the BU journey, DD would tell you that she is extremely happy she started with CGS before COM, as it is actually more rigorous in terms of reading and writing, which are ciritical skills for upper division work and life. Think about it - where would you do more writing and discussion - a 200 person lecture hall, or a class with 15 people? Her favorite classes were the ones where they had a weekly “large lecture” that was rotated between several excellent professors on one day, and break out discussions of 14 or 20 students on the other days that week. </p>
<p>I’m not sure I entirely agree with the above assessment’s of CGS speaking from the perspective of a current non CGS student with some friends in CGS. I’m not willing to call it easy, as even the less demanding schools/majors at BU are going to be tougher than at your average state college, but it is certainly one of the less difficult paths you could take. Likely comparable to the coursework of many pre-professional majors such as the bulk of them in COM, many in SMG, as well as the more traditional liberal arts majors in CAS.</p>
<p>However if you try and compare the rigor of the CGS curricula to say, any engineering major, any of the quantitative majors in CAS, and like finance/accounting in SMG, it really is less work and less difficult work at that. </p>
<p>I think it’s good for students who didn’t manage to demonstrate through their high school performance that they have not quite achieved a high level of proficiency at well, general studies, and is likely why admissions places them there.</p>
<p>But if you’re ready to specialize you probably should look at other schools in the university, I’m currently on track to complete a double major as well as a MA degree before graduation, and something like that would be impossible starting in CGS.</p>
<p>@FlamFlex I will disagree with you on several fronts. CGS is actually a Liberal Arts College and although you may think its “easier” its actually just different. Just like you could say arts majors in CAS have it “easier” there is always a degree tougher than yours.</p>
<p>The first 2 year’s curricula in CGS mimics that of Harvard FAS ( Faculty of Arts and Sciences) <a href=“What is the FAS? – Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences”>A Hopeful Start – Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. If you don;t know what that is, then look it up. Same thing is said for those who attend Harvard university " FAS is easier". Same degree different learning. Other Liberal arts schools have similar programs and are way harder than BU . </p>
<p>Haverford and others LA focused schools (Oberlin, Swarthmore, Elon, Hamilton) look for different types of people, as does CGS. Look at threads of denied students’ stats who said they would go to CGS, I bet there are quite a few that did not get deferred to CGS and may have had better Stats than you did even. Most likely the university thought it was not a good fit for that type of person.</p>
<p>My DD applied directly to CGS because she did not know what she wanted to do and was an excellent writer, but yes she HATES math, and it was one BU College in which she could enter the school, excel and then hit the quant courses after establishing a strong undergraduate foundation. BTW she got accepted to William and Mary were her brother goes and it has the same Liberal Arts foundation, you apply top your college only AFTER 2 years, just like CGS and I tend to believe its a tad more difficult than BU</p>
<p>I am a huge proponent of a good Liberal Arts foundation. It serves one well in the workplace, but would not be something mathematically/scientifically focused student would enjoy, but would be of value for sure</p>