<p>I have heard conflicting things about CGS, ranging from wonderful to comparable to kindergarten. my dd is strongly considering it, even tho she is qualified for CAS admission. she likes the small classes and close interaction with professors. can anyone share their experiences with the program? if you attended, would you choose it again?</p>
<p>-I’m not a BU student and I don’t go to CGS. Just stating an opinion/thought. </p>
<p>I think that CGS is really a school that accepts less competent applicants in order for BU, a large private university, to make money off the tuition. It’s debatable - CGS does offer financial aid but CGS reminds me of NYU’s (large private uni, similar to BU) liberal studies program. Which is very similar to CGS - 2 years of general reqs and then a choice of going to one of NYU’s colleges. The liberal studies program also accepts less competent applicants. </p>
<p>If you D is qualified for CAS, then she should apply to CAS. </p>
<p>It’s just an opinion/thought. Don’t flame me kthanks.</p>
<p>I think if she decided on what major or area she wanted to pursue by, say late freshman or early sophomore year, she might find it frustrating to stick with the CGS curriculum for 2 full years. She would also have more variety of courses to choose from in CAS.</p>
<p>I am not sure that “making money off of tuition” is the sole reason for CAS’s existence considering how many applications BU gets. The stats for CGS students are lower than CAS but not by a lot. The CGS FAQ page link at BU is not working but you can get info about CGS on Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Alright it’s not the sole reason (what I said earlier sounded pretty extreme) but it’s possibly a factor of why BU has CGS in the first place? For the most part many colleges want to increase their ranking and to do they have to accept less applicants. CGS is known for accepting less competent students…?</p>
<p>According to Wikipedia, CGS students are in the top 20% of their high school class and have a B+ average. This sounds pretty darn competent to me. Calling students “less competent” is sort of unfair, but this reputation is something your daughter may have to put up with if she chooses CGS.</p>
<p>It’s still possible to get to know professors in CAS.</p>
<p>Really not sure how CGS plays in to ranking. I think low yield(few accepted students choose to attend) is a big reason BU’s ranking isn’t higher.</p>
<p>(Oops above, post #3 I meant CGS’s existence)</p>
<p>I didn’t attend CGS, but two of my best friends attended it at the same time I went to BU.</p>
<p>Back then it was actually called CBS (College of Basic Studies.) They used to joke that CBS stood for “Charlie Brown School” or “Couldn’t Bribe Silber”.</p>
<p>In all seriousness though, one thing I can tell you is they always seemed to have a lot more work than I had, which included lots and lots of reading outside of class. They had a big Capstone project to complete at the end of sophomore year that I remember was pretty stressful for them. They both garduated with BU degrees from CAS (called CLA back then) and both ended up doing just fine for themselves.</p>
<p>With that said, I don’t know of anyone who would chose CGS over CAS. If your daughter can get into CAS, I would recommend that route. Every professor has office hours, and most professors are very good about making time for a student who wants help; I wouldn’t let accessibility to professors be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>Best of luck with your decision!</p>
<p>DD just completed her program in CGS, and is moving to the College of Communication in the Fall. When asked, she always says the same thing. Wonderful program if you are interested in anything except math and science. Much more personal attention, which translates extremely well to upper division coursework and life skills. Think about it…would you think a professor with 200 would read three or four essays a semester and make thoughtful comments? She didn’t feel restricted by her CGS coursework, as she elected to overload each semester after the first one. She has already taken three courses in her major and three or four other classes outside of CGS. She entered CGS with strong writing skills, and now is fast and effective when asked to present material in writing. It is almost always people who don’t attend that make silly disparaging comments.</p>
<p>The Capstone project was what she dreaded most, but they stop classes a month early, and you get a great experience in building a complex document presenting reasoned arguments as a team of ten that you do not select yourself. Sure seems valuable to me!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the helpful feedback! It seems like the most positive reviews of this program are from people who actually attended, or whose kids did. negative comments mostly from people without firsthand knowledge of the program.
It seems like a perfect way to make a bigger university into a much smaller place for an incoming freshman. I love the idea of getting more personal attention and oversight, and think this will set her up for success in the future.<br>
shoot4moon - it sounds like my d is very similar to yours in terms of interests and strengths, so thank you for your insight.</p>
<p>The feedback on college confidential isn’t all the feedback that you should just consider. Only 3 people gave you their opinions on CGS. Only 3 people yet you generalize that the most negative comments are from those who don’t have firsthand knowledge of the program. </p>
<p>This link is pretty informative and discusses many aspects of the CGS program (pardon that it’s on reddit if you’re not familiar with the site/format)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.reddit(dot)com/r/BostonU/comments/nqgwp/the_controversy_of_cgs_what_should_bu_do/%5B/url%5D”>http://www.reddit(dot)com/r/BostonU/comments/nqgwp/the_controversy_of_cgs_what_should_bu_do/</a></p>
<p>^ If the link doesn’t work, replace (dot) with an actual dot. If you still have trouble accessing it I can pm you the link.</p>
<p>The pros and cons of CGS are discussed by people with “firsthand knowledge” in this link.</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.reddit(dot)com/r/BostonU/comments/1cbwtu/i_am_a_cgs_student_ama/%5B/url%5D”>http://www.reddit(dot)com/r/BostonU/comments/1cbwtu/i_am_a_cgs_student_ama/</a></p>
<p>And this link is a CGS student answering questions about CGS. Another person with “firsthand knowledge”.</p>
<p>I was considering all of the feedback I had received from a wide range of sources, certainly not just the few cc responses, but I do appreciate your input and will check out the link you sent. I will let you know if I have trouble with it – thank you!</p>
<p>I’ve been a professor at CGS for 2 decades. Shoot4Moon’s advice is the most reliable posted here. One thing I’d add is that while the CGS student body was once made up almost exclusively of “referrals” - - students who didn’t get into their first choice of programs at BU - - it’s about 50/50 now. And I’d also mention that when CGS students go on to other programs as juniors and seniors, their grades in their majors are higher than those students who didn’t attend CGS. </p>
<p>However, students who are sure that they want to major in sciences (esp. pre-med) and those who intend to go on to the School of Management, have a difficult time completing all their academic requirements in 4 years, because the requirements in those programs are heavier than they used to be.</p>
<p>Thanks for the compliment! Just so you know where I am coming from, DD looked at lots of colleges, and BU was far and away her favorite. She has always loved history, she adores art, and she fell in love with the ambiance of Boston. (Oh, and the distance from home 
- she is 3001 miles from home, but who’s counting…</p>
<p>She was deferred from CAS in Early Decision, accepted at other schools that were terrific, and then was admitted to CGS. She was thrilled to get into BU, but went back to see if CGS was a good fit for her, given that financially it was more expensive than some other good schools that gave her lots of merit aid. DD has very finely honed intuition, and after 5 minutes of Dean Wells, she was all in. It took a very, very short time to realize that CGS was a much better fit for her than CAS. With no disrespect to CAS, where she has taken coursework, she is very well suited for courses where the lecture part is given quickly and efficiently, with plenty of time for mind-bending, participatory discussions and and an investment in honing writing skills from technically good to persuasively excellent.</p>
<p>And I have to tell you, I read the reddit thread you suggested above. I started smiling halfway through, and by the end was laughing at the coincidence. I bet you 10 bucks it’s my daughter!!! What are the chances???</p>
<p>Haha I wouldn’t be surprised. The reddit BU subreddit is pretty much made of BU students. CGS is one of the topics that they like to discuss about. </p>
<p>There are many different aspects. Many pros and cons and there are many pros and cons for other programs and colleges out there too.</p>