<p>I looking to enter the college of Arts and Sciences. Are there set core requirements, like for Columbia? Is so what are the classes. I couldnt find this on their website.</p>
<p>The College of Arts and Sciences awards one undergraduate degree, the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Summary of Requirements</p>
<pre><code>1. First-year writing seminars: two courses. (See John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, p. 590.)
Foreign language: Option 1: Passing (a) a nonintroductory foreign language course of 3 or more credits at Cornell at the 2000 level or above or (b) any other nonintroductory course at the 2000 level or above conducted in a foreign language at Cornell. OR Option 2: Passing at least 11 credits of study in a single foreign language (taken in the appropriate sequence) at Cornell.
Distribution: nine courses (may overlap with courses counting toward a major).
Breadth: two courses (may overlap with courses for distribution, major, or electives).
Major (see individual department listings for major requirements).
Electives: four or five courses (at least 15 credits) not used to fulfill other requirements (other than the breadth requirements) and not in the major field.
Residence: eight full-time semesters, unless a student can successfully complete all other requirements in fewer than eight semesters and meet the additional criteria to accelerate graduation. (See Acceleration below.)
34 courses: a 3- or 4-credit course counts as one course. A 2-credit course counts as half a course; a 1-credit course does not normally count toward the requirement; a 6-credit language course counts as one and one-half courses. (See Courses and Credits for some 1-credit courses in music, dance, and theatre performance that can be cumulated to count as one-half course.)
Credits: a total of 120 academic credits, of which 100 must be taken in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell. (See Noncredit Courses below for courses that do not count as academic credits or courses.)
Physical education: completion of the university requirement (passing a swim test and two 1-credit nonacademic courses). Note: Physical education credit does not count toward graduation or toward the 12-credit minimum required for good academic standing each semester.Application to graduate. (See Graduation.)</code></pre>
<p>To summarize:
1. 2 writing seminars
2. Foreign language: you can either pass a 200-level course or, if you start a new language, you have to take 11 credits worth of that language.
3. Distribution: 4 science courses + 5 humanities courses (Cultural Analysis, Historical Analysis, Literature, Knowledge Cognition and Moral Reasoning, and Social and Behavioral Analysis). Out of your 5 humanities courses, you must take courses in 4 of those categories with no more than 3 from any single department.
4. Breadth: one course that focuses on a time period before the 20th century and one course that focuses on an area of the world other than the Western World
5. Electives: At least 4 courses that aren't used to fulfill your major requirements or any of the requirements I have just listed (except the breadth requirement)</p>
<p>It's all very simple.</p>
<p>Sounds good, thanks!</p>
<p>Cornell's requirements are nothing like Columbia's Core Curriculum, so whatever floats your boat.</p>
<p>Can one of the intro ROTC course, markmenship, navigation, mountaineering, replace one of the PE credits?</p>
<p>Hey, norcalguy, do you mind letting me know where you found the core program? I'm looking for one for CALS.</p>
<p>CALS does not have a core program; required course will differ by your major.</p>
<p>It's worth mentioning that if one was interested in a Chicago or Columbia-style Core, all of the courses required to pursue one are freely available at Cornell. And you will have the added bonus of being in class with only students who are interested in the subject matter.</p>
<p>great point cayuga...</p>
<p>although some of these core courses available at cornell might be renowned as an easy A and not have many students who love the subject...</p>
<p>keep in mind that at least in CALS you can often use AP credit to fulfill those requirements, if that is something you're interested in. CAS could look into this possibility as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
although some of these core courses available at cornell might be renowned as an easy A and not have many students who love the subject...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Such as?</p>
<p>Last time I checked, Great Books, Intro to Western Civ, Intro to Political Philosophy, and Calculus weren't exactly known as gut courses.</p>
<p>Thinking back, I should have applied for CAS instead of CALS. As a IB student, I think I definitely fit CAS more than CALS.</p>
<p>thanks chendrix!</p>
<p>Norcalguy's detailed description is excellent. </p>
<p>His summary may be misleading for some people, though, because it leaves out the requirement that some find the most unpleasant to fulfill -- the 100 credits in CAS requirement.</p>
<p>Unlike the major, electives, courses, and credits requirements, this one CANNOT be fulfilled with AP credits. There is an astonishing variety of excellent courses in parts of Cornell outside CAS, and this requirement limits the number of them you can take (unless you take more than the usual number of credits per semester, which is not the greatest idea because it requires more than the usual amount of work).</p>
<p>My daughter is a Cornell sophomore who curses the 100-credit requirement every time she picks a class schedule for another semester. There are so many non-CAS courses that she would like to take now that she is done with most of her major and distribution requirements, and it irritates her to have to mostly choose CAS courses instead.</p>
<p>Do you really have to pass a swim test? I never learned how to swim lol.</p>
<p>Yes there is a swim test. If you don't feel comfortable trying the swim test, or you don't feel like you can pass, you can sign up for the Beginning Swimming Physical Education class (P.E.).</p>
<p>You can also try swimming this summer so you can practice before the test.</p>
<p>The test is conducted in an olympic sized pool. It is one length on your front, one length on your back, and one length however you want.</p>
<p>you are right Marian I can see why that would be annoying...</p>
<p>some courses are cross listed but not very many...</p>
<p>Here are the core requirements for the college of engnineering if anyone wanted to know:</p>
<p>Cornell</a> Engineering : Degree Requirements</p>
<p>And as for that swim test question, all your answers in this thread:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/311579-swimming-test.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/311579-swimming-test.html</a></p>
<p>yes, rotc can be pe. look here for more info: [Physical</a> Education, Phys Ed, Cornell University](<a href=“Physical Education | Cornell University”>http://www.pe.cornell.edu/physed/)</p>