<p>Can anyone give me some info on the College of General Studies @ BU. My D would love to go to BU, but falls at the low end of the freshman profile range so gaining admission???. </p>
<p>Then she noticed the College of General Studies and her SAT/gpa place her at the top of the range in that College. As best I gather this “college” does not confer a degree, but allows admission to those who might otherwise not qualify for BU and after completion of 2 years in GS you can then move on to another (degree conferring) college at BU. Am I understanding this correctly?</p>
<p>Now, presuming that I’ve got the academic component of this correct so far, is a student admitted to College of GS otherwise a part of BU same as any other BU student as far as housing, aid, etc. or are they somehow segregated, do they have to wear a scarlet letter or their SAT on their sleeve???</p>
<p>My D presumes there is some sort of stigma.</p>
<p>Alright, first of all, your D should apply to whatever school she wants to get into, and on the chance that she gets rejected from that college, she will probably be accepted to CGS (assuming her stats are as you say).</p>
<p>CGS students are housed along with all the other students, though their building is separate. As for the stigma, there definitely is one around BU, though mostly just for a certain group of students. Their argument is that they do less work than the other students and graduate with the same degree, and also that they bring down the overall average GPA and SAT score for BU as a whole.</p>
<p>On the other hand, they will probably be the second largest college for freshman and sophomore year (they are for my class by far), and they are not so terribly judged by most of the people at BU. Also, my roommate and high school friends sister was in CGS, and from what both he and she say, its quite a challenging program and nothing to look down upon.</p>
<p>thanks so much for your responses and the link above. Interesting situation, but I guess in any school you have your factions, your cliques, your greeks vs. independents, etc. etc. Doesn't sound like much more than that, if there is anything to it at all from what I'm seeing here as far as School of GS.</p>
<p>By way of example, I guess, my S goes to Pomona College and there is always talk of how the students from the different schools in the Claremont consortium treat each other and he swears he never sees it.</p>
<p>Well thanks again and I presume my D won't be dissuaded. BTW, she has an unweighted gpa of 3.5 with several honors and AP classes, 1900 SAT and lots of school EC and community service, so am I correct in seeing where she'd fall in the mix in any event?</p>
<p>I agree she should apply for "regular" BU colleges and if she doesn't make it BU will offer her a spot in CGS. There is a little bit of the "Crayons, Glue Scissors" stigma mentality, according to my S, but the fact is that the CGS kids must complete their last two years at "regular" BU meaning they have to be able to do that level of work so they deserve the degree. NYU has a similar program. Its probably more common in huge schools like BU.</p>
<p>Across the BU colleges you'll note a wide range of students from the super achievers in the University Professors Program, Honors Program, 7 yr BA/MD program and so forth. Some kids are more academically prepared than others for many, many reasons not the least of which can be that they are late bloomers. So good luck to her. In these crazy times with admissions there is no "sure bet" but she certainly has a decent chance, more so if she is from an underepresented state or country or can take another stab at the SAT and bring up the score a little. Her Honors/AP work and GPA will help. I think she looks like a good candidate for CAS.</p>
<p>Yeah, she'll prob. get into CAS anyway. If not, she'll be tops at CGS. She has much better stats then I have. </p>
<p>The Crayons Glue Scissors isnt a big deal. Ive heard that only a few people are jerks about it. The one I like better is College of Great Sex :D</p>
<p>"My D presumes there is some sort of stigma."</p>
<p>Im a frosh here at BU and am now in SMG. I have only been here for a month and the stigma IS rather noticeable. Im on the SMG floor and there is def a sort of elitism felt amongst many of us. One thing that bothers me, is the fact that many kids DO in fact look down to the CGS'ers... BU is very segregated at least academically. Well at least SMG is. So the stigma is based more on "perception" than any real proof. </p>
<p>If i were going to CGS , id want to live in West Campus, so i could be with more CGS'ers.... Im not an upper classmen, but i doubt anyone really cares whether or not you "were" in CGS after you switch to another school...</p>
<p>BU is a phenominal place. If you feel its a fit, then come here regardless of whether you're in CGS or not. </p>
<p>I do sense that many CGSers feel a need to prove themselves when asked "which school are you in".... so its really why i dont ask most ppl.... </p>
<p>also i think many of the kids in other schools.. SMG to use as an example do feel that CGS kids dont get worked as hard... honestly i have no clue whether this is true... but from what ive gathered so far.. many of us in SMG feel as if SMG is quite intense.. and see alot of our friends from CAS and CGS go out all the time while were in hours and hours of team meetings getting ready for the next presentation... </p>
<p>basically, i dont think the label is that big of a deal.. but if you could... i def would try and get into west campus housing..... where the stigma is much less existent</p>
<p>I really hope this doesnt turn out to be a big deal. I'll almost def. be at CGS for the next two years. I'm now pretty positive i'm going to dorm at West.
Why do others see us as retards or w/e? We still got in, we get the same degree, we just took a different path. Sure it isnt as selective, but it doesnt mean we arent smart. The whole reason i'm applying early to BU is because of CGS... Ugh.</p>
<p>Don't worry about it. Remember, to use another stereotype, SMG is management / business types so they're the ones you'd expect to act that way. ;-). </p>
<p>Or think of it like this: you like acting or playing music but you're not in CFA so those people then look down on you. There's always some of that. This isn't a perfect world.</p>
<p>Yes don't worry about it. Anyone that thinks a 100 point or so difference on an SAT test is the sign of intelligence or lack there of doesn't understand it. CGS is full of many late bloomers that may have gone off track in HS or gotten over involved in sports, a relationship, or activities that led to less concentration on academics. They still have decent profiles and are smart. All colleges have some people that love to sterotype. The Uni. kids may get a little of this for being geniuses. 95% of students won't care since friendships are typically made on personality and social interests.</p>
<p>There was a kid on here last year, both parents as professors at BU, he should be a F or S now, and he said that by the time CGS kids get to their Jr yr and have to compete in the same classes as other BUers their records are "indistinguishable" from each others so the investmnet of that two yrs must bring these kids up enough that they are doing the same work. There is no question their Freshman load may be a little lighter but for that matter the SMG kids seem to have a more intese work load than CAS but probably far less so than the 7 yr MD candidates. Lots of diversity across the board in this regard and thats a plus for BU.</p>
<p>Yes don't worry about it. Anyone that thinks a 100 point or so difference on an SAT test is the sign of intelligence or lack there of doesn't understand it. CGS is full of many late bloomers that may have gone off track in HS or gotten over involved in sports, a relationship, or activities that led to less concentration on academics. They still have decent profiles and are smart. All colleges have some people that love to stereotype. The Uni. kids may get a little of this for being geniuses. 95% of students won't care since friendships are typically made on personality and social interests.</p>
<p>There was a kid on here last year, both parents as professors at BU, he should be a F or S now, and he said that by the time CGS kids get to their Jr yr and have to compete in the same classes as other BUers their records are "indistinguishable" from each others so the investmnet of that two yrs must bring these kids up enough that they are doing the same work. There is no question their Freshman load may be a little lighter but for that matter the SMG kids seem to have a more intese work load than CAS but probably far less so than the 7 yr MD candidates. Lots of diversity across the board in this regard and thats a plus for BU.</p>