<p>I was admitted into CGS instead of CAS under a BIology major. BU was my first choice school. I intended to go to medical school and follow the premed track. From my research i see that the CGS kids work a lot harder in classes they do not choose and are not as well prepared for the mcat when they transfer into the normal colleges. My other choice is Umass amherst on the premed track. What would you recommend i do?</p>
<p>I’m on the same page as you, i’m finishing my first year as cgs premed and feel like I made the wrong choice. I love BU not so much cgs</p>
<p>Hi Bma747 -</p>
<p>In my experience (I am in my last year of undergrad and was in CGS for 2 years) I know and have worked with many others who are also premed track and have made it work. While CGS is a challenging school, it’s also very rewarding and allows you to complete the liberal arts requirement in a set, core curriculum. Realize that even though you were admitted to CGS rather than CAS, you will still be in CAS your junior year and can be pre-med the day you set foot on campus. </p>
<p>I think it’s tough as a lot of students (myself included) apply to the other professional schools at BU and are taken aback by the acceptance to a different program, but I urge you to take a look at CGS’s program, even call if you need to, and see how you feel about the program. Let me know if you have any questions!</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply aochi2!.. i had a few questions im hoping you could answer for me. Do you think you’ll be at a disadvantage when taking the Mcat? As in do you think the classes you took in CGS have prepared you enough?. Also ive heard numerous times that CGS is similar to another 2 years in high school with classes 9-3 every day is that true? Also, do you think the workload is unreasonable? Did you ever wish you hadnt gone into CGS?</p>
<p>I was wondering about some of the same questions too Bma. Are classes every single day at a set time, like high school? And are you with the same group of kids for the whole 2 years or do they mix it up?</p>
<p>Classes are definitely NOT 9 to 3 everyday and it’s nothing like high school but I understand your concern. I picked out my schedule when I came to freshman orientation, and it was just like any other college schedule (i.e. 4 classes, 3 of which were my CGS core, plus an elective of my choice), and each day varied… some days I’d have to be in class 3 or 4 hours and other days, just one. It’s exactly like any other college schedule :-)</p>
<p>-I don’t think you’ll be at a disadvantage at all with the MCAT… I can think of 4 or 5 people off the top of my head who are in medical school who are CGS alumni. Personally I am not a pre-med student, but you won’t find MCAT prep in frankly most 2 year liberal arts programs. If anything, it will teach you study habits and test taking skills that will help you when you are preparing for it later on.</p>
<p>-The workload is good, challenging… but certainly not unreasonable. Expect to do just as much reading/writing as any other student, the difference being that you’ll get a professor discussing these topics with you in a smaller setting as opposed to a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Fellow. I was definitely not a student who read the assigned reading when I was in high school and CGS pushed me to find a way to enjoy reading while also taking away all the important information.</p>
<p>-I originally wanted to be in the communications college but was referred to CGS, and I was a little apprehensive about it at first but after learning about the program I realized it is really no different (and in many aspects, was advantageous) than any other college’s liberal arts program. In hindsight I wouldn’t have done these past four years any other way.</p>
<p>thanks aochi2 for your information, it is very helpful. One of the concerns my D has is would she be with the same small group of students for the whole 2 years? The info we have read so far is kind of vague, stating that she would be in a group of 100 students team taught by 5 professors. How exactly does that work?</p>
<p>She won’t be with the same group for both years. Freshman year she will pick a team of students to be on (doesn’t matter which one as the core curriculum is the same for all students) and that team will have about 100 students. The courses are Humanities, Social Science, and Rhetoric - each team has one professor for each of these courses and there are no intermediaries (i.e. no graders or teaching fellows). So for example, her social science professor would do a lecture one day for the entire team (so ~100 students) and also runs the discussion sections during the week (~20 or so students). I hope that makes sense. It’s kind of a mix of both large and small classroom sizes.</p>
<p>She will select a new team for her sophomore year, where she will be with all new students and a new staff of professors for her core courses.</p>
<p>Thank you, yes it does make a little sense, I’m sure we will get the whole picture when we visit next week.</p>
<p>May I ask how have you liked it in CGS? Did you like being with the same students for a whole year and the way the classes were taught? Also did you have classes every day M - F or do you have any days off? And finally, how was the workload, did you find it easy or challenging?</p>
<p>I was very skeptical going into my first year but I loved it! I met some of my closest friends in CGS and being in that smaller setting really worked for me.</p>
<p>Personally I had classes M - F but certain days I’d only have one or two classes. It worked for me because I am not a morning person and found a schedule with classes that started at or after 10 AM. It was definitely manageable.</p>
<p>The workload is challenging, but really rewarding. Failing to do assigned reading will catch up on students really fast, but professors do their best to work with students to make sure that they are engaged and comprehending the subject matter. It’s challenging and there is a fair amount of work, but I found it was never busy work andI learned a lot of solid study habits out of it. :-)</p>
<p>You said that youve had friends that have completed premed through cgs, other than the summer courses, did the have any other problems that you know of??</p>
<p>I know the workload is heavy but that’s mainly because the premed track can be rigorous (for CGS and non-CGS students alike). Aside from that I know of no issues that they had encountered!</p>