<p>CGS is a topic that has, in general, been beaten to death on CC.</p>
<p>However, the following is a specific point that to my knowledge has not been discussed in the past.</p>
<p>I believe that CGS is ultimately a rigorous program and there appears to be value in retaining it institutionally. At the same time, it does seem a little unfair that no distinction is made for rankings/ statistical/ reporting purposes between CGS students with significantly lower admissions stats and other 4 year degree students, and to a lesser degree, inequitable that no real distinction is made with respect to the degrees ultimately granted. </p>
<p>In order to acknowledge the value of the CGS program but address these inequities I’ve suggested, why does BU not adopt the NYU model of granting general studies students terminal associates degree and reporting incoming freshman stats for 4 yr. students only, so that incoming CGS student profiles need not be factored into the “general” incoming students admissions stats for 4 yr students, which appears to be the reporting norm? Or, why not Northeastern U’s model of reporting only freshman fall admit stats, excluding January admissions stats so that the reported acceptance and sat/ gpa figures appear more competitive (implicitly, January admits have lower stats and have higher acceptance rates).</p>
<p>I know; rankings are crass, bunk but they are a fact of life, and in BU’s case, rankings and reporting methods have appeared to have created a perception (erroneously I’d suggest)that it has institutionally declined in quality over time relative to other institutions. </p>
<p>It is intiguing to me that statistics can be parsed as they are to create perceptions that in relaity do not exist.</p>
<p>so i am a senior at a small private schoool in the suburbs
basically i am not sure what i want to major in so i applied to CGS at BU
i got in… but now i have some questions
both about CGS and just in general, so any help would be great</p>
<p>1) i have no idea what i want to major in and i am only given 1 elective a semester to explore other majors.so say i spread out my electives to do one involving a diffrent major every semester. then would i be way behind if i finally picked my major and it turned out i hadn’t taken any electives in that major or only one?
2) i was also wondering if i can study abroad the summer before junior year since by then i would have picked my major or do i have to wait until i actually start taking classes involving that major?
3) can i do double majors/minors after CGS? will that take more time since i might not have enough electives to fill the requirements for the 2 majors i might take?
4) do you have advisors that help set out a path of what classes you should take and so on or no?</p>
<p>I read your thread before we went to the open house, and decided to write one of my own afterward - look on todays date. I believe it answers a number of your questions. Advising appeared very strong, as the profs really get to know the students and their strengths/weaknesses. There is a summer abroad progam in London that looks very fun between frosh and soph year - our DD is going to do that to maximize electives as well as experience another culture. They were very accomodating - why don’t you call them?</p>
<p>Basically CGS screws everyone over for Grad school applications. CGS admits bring down the average admitted stats of BU by a lot and give us a much worse ranking than where we should be. Everyone else still has to work hard for their grades, but they’re viewed in an “inferior” context by grad school admissions because of our *<strong><em>ty ranking. I’d definitely be in approval of anything that gets their *</em></strong>ty stats of our balance sheet.</p>
<p>Explain how CGS screws everyone over…Oh that’s right, rankings. The one thing an idiot like you shouldn’t be worried about is rankings. Here is a novel approach, go work hard and earn your way into graduate school and don’t worry about anyone else except yourself!</p>
<p>The hardwork is what I can do, what’s in my power. Everyone who’s determined to make it can put in the hard work. What I’m complaining about is that not all hard-work is equal, as your school ranking does come into play. With college admissions becoming more competitive every year to get into top programs, this is an issue that concerns me. Because even though I may work my ass of the same amount as an Engineer from UC San Diego, and we have identical GPAs, stats, work experience. He’s going to win out just because BU has the crippling leg that is CGS which lowers our ranking. Face it, CGS is a cash cow, that’s all it has been and ever will be.</p>
<p>I would think that references, interviews, and work experience/internships would be far more meaningful than rankings when it comes to grad schools. I also would be surprised if individual programs (e.g. engineering) are not individually ranked by grad schools. Why would they care what nursing majors rank if they want an engineer.</p>
<p>In terms of the cash cow comment, I can’t imagine how that would even work mathmatically.</p>
<p>Psych 101 at CAS - 150 students in a section of this 3 unit class - teacher TBD
$50,000 divided by 5 (assumes that every student takes 15 units) = 10,000 per student
x 150 students = BUs gross income of 1,015,000.</p>
<p>Humanities 101 at CGS 25 student max in a secion - 3 unit class
10,000 per student x 25 = 250,000.<br>
Subtracting the PhD’s salary (all courses taught by a PhD), building and admin expenses, etc I would wonder if your argument should be</p>
<p>HEY! BU’s CGS program costs the university too much money and sucks cash from Engineering!</p>
<p>As for me, I would rather pay 10,000 per class (assumes no aid) for a professor to teach me and 25 other students, get to know us well, write recommendations, make suggestions on a personal level on suggested paths, etc. than 10,000 for a chair in a lecture hall and some bubble tests. I would love to see some statistics on graduating GPAs and 10 year success rates of these students - I bet they would be striking.</p>
<p>I think what Niklask means by cash cow is that there is an assumption that most students in CGS are not good enough to get in CAS/SMG whatever and as such aren’t good enough to qualify for aid and are paying full freight to go to BU. As with most assumptions…this is entirely not true. There are students who are paying the full cost of BU out of pocket in CGS…there are also students doing the same in every other school at BU. BU is very open about their financial aid, and most people get aid almost entirely based on a combo of need/merit. If BU wants a student, they’ll give them the aid. Doesn’t matter what college they’re in.</p>
<p>While the fact that CGS does bring down our overall numbers, I think the idea that this is the sole reason behind our lower ranking is preposterous. NYU has an almost identical program to CGS and is higher in the rankings. It is maddening to try and figure out what’s really behind USNWR rankings, and blaming CGS won’t get you very far.</p>
<p>Take away CGS and you take away many of the most amazing and hardworking people I met at BU.</p>
<p>After reading this discussion board I see that there are many questions and concerns about the College of General Studies program at BU. As a current senior who started off in the College of General Studies and continued into the College of Communication I believe I can give you great insight on what the program is all about. </p>
<p>Every student at BU, regardless of what college they’re enrolled in, is required to complete core liberal arts requirements. So every student is going to take humanities courses, social science courses, writing courses, and natural science courses at some point during their time at BU.CGS is a structured way of taking care of those core liberal arts classes within the first two years as a student at BU. After sophomore year every student is guaranteed a spot in one of the other colleges or schools (there is no transfer process) as long as they uphold a specific g.p.a. (which is very manageable, I think it’s something like a 2.3) and takes any introductory courses that are required for their program. Each semester students have the opportunity to take an elective in one of the other schools or colleges. So they may choose to take a requirement class as one of those electives. </p>
<p>CGS students are in no way behind other students at BU. A majority of freshmen and sophomores are taking care of their core liberal arts classes anyways and are only enrolled in a couple classes for their major/program. And CGS students have the opportunity to be in classes with other students in their desired program when they take an elective. I really enjoyed taking care of my core liberal arts requirement so I could focus on my classes for my major my junior and senior year. As a second semester senior I have completed all my required classes for my major and minor and a majority of my classes this semester are elective classes. Students who wish to study abroad once they continue into their desired schools and colleges also have the opportunity and the time to do so. </p>
<p>CGS students are not separated from other students in anyway. Yes, the three CGS classes students are enrolled in each semester are taught in the CGS building and students take them with other CGS students. However, students taking their elective classes in the other schools and colleges. And CGS students live with other students and are involved in various organizations and activities that every other student is involved in. CGS students are BU students. </p>
<p>CGS offers the opportunity for students to develop close relationships with their professors and other students in the program. Every professor at CGS has a doctorate and there are no teaching fellows or teaching assistants. CGS professors challenge students and want to help them succeed. Because of the academic foundation I received at CGS I was comfortable reaching out to my professors in the College of Communication when I continued on. The CGS program offers students the opportunity to feel a sense of community at a very large university. Between the small community at CGS and the various resources available through BU it really is the best of both worlds. My BU experience would not have been the same without CGS.</p>
<p>Thank you BU Terrier - I was incredibly impressed with the program at Open House - your words confirm any niggling doubts and make me even more pleased that our daughter is attending CGS. You have a lot on your plate - we appreciate you taking the time to do such a great post.</p>
<p>Your math has one variable in it that throws everything off entirely though. I would be very curious to see the administration release the Financial Aid spread for each college as a percentage. I’d be willing to bet that you’ll see a much smaller portion in CGS. You’re 50,000 for Psych 101 doesn’t really apply because a lot of those students would be on financial aid thereby having the cost per student go down considerably. Consequentially, the students in Humanitys 101 in CGS will each be paying more due to having less financial aid. Where those numbers end up balancing out I have no idea as BU won’t release the financial aid statistics divided by college due to repeated attempts in previous years (hmmm I wonder why).</p>
<p>NiklasK, your numbers are off too. CGS is a smaller school and therefore is contributing less to the overall tuition pool than CAS/SMG/COM. You’re assuming that CGS has mostly students who don’t pay, which just isn’t true, especially given the number of minorities and athletes in CGS (sorry if that offends anyone, but traditionally both of these groups are given fin aid). Some people in CGS pay for the entire 4 years out of pocket, I’d be willing to be a huge number of students in any of the other schools do too.</p>