Boston University Freshman

<p>Hi, I am an incoming freshman in Boston University and I plan to attend CAS.</p>

<p>However, I have three small doubts about undergraduate studies.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If i attend CAS may i also take courses from different colleges? such as engineering? </p></li>
<li><p>May i take concentrations (majors) or minors from different colleges besides CAS too?</p></li>
<li><p>The courses that I plan to take have lab, experiment and lecture. May I pick only one of these three or am i required to take all three types of classes?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>well, the reason i have so many doubts is mainly because i am not attending orientation. so i have to register for my classes soon. any help is welcome. thank you for your attention!</p>

<ol>
<li>Yes</li>
<li>Yes</li>
<li>All 3 components</li>
</ol>

<p>I thought orientation was mandatory?</p>

<p>There are always special cases.</p>

<p>so even if i go to CAS i can major in electrical engineering?</p>

<p>You can double major yes, but it’s difficult because you must fill the requirements for both colleges.</p>

<p>Honestly, it would be better if you switched into ENG, and did your major in Electrical Engineering and THEN BUCOP into CAS and then picked up your second major. It would be ton’s easier and the ENG advisors are used to students doing this. If you wish to double major preferably enter the college of the major you would rather stick with if the double major does not work out.</p>

<p>I say to do Engineering first because basically, if you fall behind on one course, it basically will screw up your whole entire schedule. This is because engineering courses have so many pre-req’s and some of them being very obscure classes. The courses you will need for CAS, have very few requirements (maybe one course) and it’s easier to catch up on it.</p>

<p>Also if you wish to double major I suggest, you take a Language SAT, as it will reduce the amount of classes you have to take drastically. (Or at least place into a lvl 2/3 language course, or hell even level 4 if you can) Also if you have AP credits use them, because if you wish to do Electrical Engineering and a CAS major (not sure of what you want as you didn’t specify) you will not only have to fulfill the Divisional Requirements of CAS but AS WELL as the requirements of ENG as well… (I just found that out and I was bummed…). </p>

<p>The normal amount of credits for a regular degree is approx around 128 credits. But then you have the extra humanities and languages from CAS which adds on another 32 credits, including the pre-reqs for classes and future classes you want to take? (This is why when you double major you pick a major that overlaps) So by time you graduate you will have around a total of 192 credits which is around 6 years of school work? (But you can do this in 4 years! with lots of hardwork, summer school and money to pay for overloading LOL… or if you have a GPA of a 3.3 overloading is free.)</p>

<p>oh no, i dont mean double majoring. i was accepted to CAS but i decided that i want to major in electircal engineering. ONLY electrical engineering (single major). so will i have to transfer to the college of engineering or may i major in engineering from CAS (even though CAS doesnt have that major)?</p>

<p>Ok, well I will tell you this, no you cannot major in Electrical Engineering while in CAS. You will have to switch into ENG. Since you are an incoming freshman, you can call them and ask to see if they will transfer you into the College of Engineering. (This is what I did, make sure you call before your orientation. It will make things ALOT easier.) If your grades allow it, the switch will be easy. If you aren’t able to switch during the summer you will have to transfer during the school year which will be a bit tougher, but still easy nonetheless. Basically take the courses that you will be able to apply to your engineering degree while still in class, untill you wait for the semester to end and you will be able to transfer. (To do this, you go to the CoE and get all the necessary paperwork file it, and you will be alerted of your status before the upcoming semester.</p>

<p>oh thanks! this was really helpful! is this applicable only for major or for courses as well? may i take courses of engineering in my first semester even though i am in CAS to find out which major interests me more? </p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>I doubt they would ban you from taking classes. Almost all of the classes engineers take as freshman and sophomore years are all in CAS anyways. The only “engineering college” courses that freshman take is EK 130 or 131/132, which are the intro to engineering courses. I am not entirely sure you can take these courses as the spacing for the courses are generally limited (so you will get last dibs).</p>

<p>Ok, what is your other Major first of all. Because depending what AP credits you have, Engineering will have a very strict guideline. But yes you can take courses from ENG(as TheMan777 said), as people in CAS are allowed to have a Minor in “Fill in the Blank” Engineering.</p>

<p>question…i heard that either the core program or the divisional program for CAS does not accept AP credit…is this true?</p>

<p>ok, well, i am currently enrolled in CAS and i am trying to decide whether to major in engineering or physics. but i dont want decide too soon and later on regret about it. and since the first few semesters of engineering and physics are basically the same, i figured i could wait till my second semester to decide. so, i was wondering whether i could take the introductory engineering course or computational engineering course in order to find out whether engineering actually suits me and if its interesting for me. now, could anyone tell me if its i should attempt to take an engineering course in my first semester even though i am in CAS or if its really unprobably that i’ll be able to take one due to limited seats. and if so, is there any other way i may find any more information about engineering while i am at CAS. so taht i can decide whether i should take physics or engineering as a major.</p>

<p>thank you for ur time!</p>

<p>Well… most ECE’s end up dual majoring with Physics haha, because of all the physics they will take. Honestly I would suggest just taking the EK 127 class, (it’s a introductory programming course. And even if you don’t end up doing Engineering it will be a lot more useful to you than the EK 131/132 courses.) Honestly, I think you should email the college of engineering as well as the department of physics. They will both GLADLY tell you everything you need to know.</p>

<p>oh thanks for the input! it has been really helpful! i am actually going to call them. i find phone calls much more efficient than emails. well, i saw the ENG EK 127 and it seems pretty interesting! however, do you think they will have enough seats for people outside of CE? </p>

<p>well thanks anyways!</p>

<p>Since your a freshman it doesn’t matter about how many engineers there are. Not all the engineer’s take it during the first part of the year, some take it the 2nd part. Just hope when you go to orientation the spot will be open for you. You can actually go on Studentlink and plan out your schedule.</p>

<p>oh yeah i know that. i actually plan to register by phone later on this month. but could they kick me out of the class in order to allow some engineering student to attend it?</p>

<p>No… they can’t kick you out of a class… you get the spot you get it. That’s how it works.</p>

<p>oh ok, thanks!</p>