<p>I have a lot of questions about BU going on in my mind after I received their acceptance note on the applicant link…</p>
<p>I saw that there are some requirements such as four semesters of a foreign language and another four years of math and so on for freshmen. But it says that one may have already satisfied the requirement if he/she has a SAT score of 580 or above or an AP score of 3, 4, or 5.
So does that mean if I have a 800 in math 4 for AP Stat, and 800 for Korean I don’t need to take those courses?
I’m clearly confused…</p>
<p>And about this Boston University Writing Assessment (BUWA) that is supposed to be going on during the orientation sessions, is it hard? And what is it like?
Because if it is like those SAT Essays, I’m pretty sure I may end up in extra classes despite the fact I got in as an English major; my head fails to function correctly when there is a time restraint squeezing me while I’m struggling to write something…</p>
<p>And what are the normal stats to get a scholarship? Does BU offer many? </p>
<p>Oh! Sorry for so many questions but two more (not as important as those above) questions:
What exactly is the Core Curriculum?
How does one’s time have to be to be on the women’s cross-country team?</p>
<p>for foreign language, and im pretty sure for math too but not positive so dont quote me, yes you can test out of your foreign language requirement. i had a 620 on the french sat II and, for my one semester in cas, i had no language requirement. schools like sargent and engineering also don't have a language requirement. so if you get the ap score or the sat II score, your requirement is automatically fulfilled. the BUWA is really simple, you read a couple dumb passages and formulate a response on what you think about the passage and you pull from your own experience. almost everyone gets placed into wr100, so that you do one semester of wr100 & one of wr150. if you do extremely well, you can be automatically placed in wr150 and be done after one semester. if you do poorly, you'll be placed in wr99, or even wr98, and have to work your way up to wr150. but just as a side note, it is VERY rare to not be placed in wr100. to get any lower, you literally have to write nothing at all or write something completely incoherent that makes no sense whatsoever and have no grammar skills. don't stress, you can't study for it, you just have to take it for an hour and a half and then be done with it.
in cas and most other schools (but the requirements vary for each school and major), you have humanities requirements and social science requirements & natural science requirements to fulfill for graduation. core curriculum is a set course structure for these requirements, so its basically core humanities 1, core humanities 2, etc. the other route, which i chose, is divisional studies. for divisional, lets say you're a human physiology major in sargent like me and need 3 humanities and 2 social sciences. you choose from the list in the undergraduate manual of WHATEVER you want. examples of humanities classes are: archaeology, art history, linguistics, religion courses, classical studies courses, literature courses, etc. and examples of social science courses are psychology, sociology, womens studies, etc. i much preferred divisional studies because i took classes that i had an interest in and thoroughly enjoyed them, seeing them as an opportunity to have a break from gross anatomy and cardiopulmonary pathophysiology (which was an AWESOME class but took some work!). anyway, im ranting, but there's so many different options for what you can do. lots of people choose core because they don't know how to choose a humanities or don't want to choose one. but in the humanities ive chosen, ive had fewer or no papers to write :-). women's cross-country=no clue, sorry bout that one.</p>
<p>Thank you so much!
I probably wouldn't have studied for BUWA, but worried over it on the plane going to BU...=P
I actually have two questions...sorry!
: If I already fulfill the foreign language and math requirements, do I still have to take the foreign language and math course if I sign up for core? Because it sounds like a fixed schedule.
: And what do you mean by you didn't have to take a foreign language class for one semester? You had to take some foreign language classes later on?</p>
<p>I'm sorry for so many questions; As much as I liked AP Stat, I am hating Calculus - I plan to never see the subject again if I can... And Spanish isn't much of an encouragement either...(I wanted to continue Japanese but the school I transferred to in 10th grade unfortunately does not offer the subject)</p>
<p>sorry for being unclear! but if you test out, you don't have to take ANY foreign language (or math I believe) at all, no coursework. but core is only set up for humanities and social sciences, and i don't believe natural sciences are included and that you have to pursue those requirements on your own but don't quote me on that (someone else might know better). but you will find many people who loved using core to fulfill their requirements. i, personally, will always be a fan of divisional studies, especially since you have a choice in what you pursue and can see the course descriptions online ahead of time and go on ratemyprofessors.com to learn more about individual professors. with core, it's a set schedule that many people prefer. here is a website with everything about cas requirements and all that can fulfill them that i just found: College</a> of Arts & Sciences - BU 2008-09 Undergraduate Bulletin let me know if i can answer anything else for you, either in this forum or through pm!</p>
<p>Hang on...things are a little mixed up. If you did get an 800 on an SAT II in Korean, you're good to go, you've fulfilled the requirements. The math requirement is a little confusing. Getting an 800 on the math part of your sat doesn't necessarily mean you are done with math. You will still have to take 2 math or computer science classes here at BU to fulfill divisional studies requirements. If you do core, your math will be included in your science classes (sort of) so you don't have to take any math classes. If you get a 4 on an AP test though, you could potentially be done. I'm not sure if a 4 counts for 2 classes or 1. If it's 2, you're done with math. If it's 1, you'll haveto take one more.</p>
<p>And Core does include natural sciences. You can pick and choose from Core classes if you want to to fulfill divisional studies requirements, but if you take all of Core you'll have all your general education requirements. You take a Humanities and Natural Science class your first semester, a humanities and natural science course your second semester, and in your second year you'll take a humanities and social science your first semester and the same thing your second semester.</p>
<p>Yea BUBailey sounds like he knows much more about core than I do, since I did choose the divisional track. But yes, I am currently a senior at BU and will be attending the medical school here (so yes, 8 full years of Boston University...and I couldn't be happier).</p>
<p>ohh...i'm a bit confused;
so i guess i'll just tell you my stats on math:
i have a 4 on ap stat, got a 800 on the math portion of the SAT reasoning and got a 700 on the SAT 2 level 2 math
then i probably have to take just one math course, no? if i do can i take a math course on statistics instead of calculus? (i strongly dislike calculus...)
and so because i have a 800 on SAT 2 korean i'm done with korean? i can still take japanese if i want to though, right?
thanks to both of you!!
and aliangel 8 years? wow...</p>
<p>for math-
you'll get four credits for statistics-
<a href="http://www.bu.edu/admissions/files/library/media/advanced_credit_guide.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/admissions/files/library/media/advanced_credit_guide.pdf</a>
and you need eight credits (two classes) to fill the requirement in the computer science/math area.
so you could fulfill the other requirement with a computer science class, another statistics class, etc.
the sat thing, as far as I understand, is to make sure you are proficient enough in basic math that they don't have to tell you how to fulfill your math requirement. (so basically, if you got a 400 on your math sat they don't want you taking two computer science courses to fill the math requirement- they'd rather you be proficient in precalc-- I think they say something like if you don't have an sat of 580 or higher, you have to choose 2 classes out of these)</p>
<p>And yes you can take japanese. College is a great opportunity to learn a new language. I'm in SMG and don't have a language requirement but am taking Chinese anyway. It's pretty awesome. Often, even if you have your language requirement fulfilled, your language classes might fulfill some other requirement such as a certain elective. I highly recommend taking a language even if you fulfilled you requirement =D.</p>
<p>thank you so much!
awonderfulwhim: so i guess i just need one more course :D
odin64x: yeah, i think japanese will be interesting to learn especially since i need a change after learning spanish...
aliangel: maybe i'll go to the japanese house :D</p>
<p>AliAngel: How is the physiology program there? You have been accepted to BU Medical and what are your GPA, MCAT and ECs like? Does BU Med prefer students from their undergrad/is it popular for students to be go from undergrad BU undergrad to BU Med? Sorry for all the questions but Im a junior in high school and plan on going pre-med and studying something like physiology so the physiology program there is right up my alley.</p>
<p>dommaster: physiology program, once you get past the awful boring classes like chem and physics, is amazing! 2 of the most important classes in human phys have changed my life: one being gross anatomy, the other cardiopulmonary pathophysiology (long name, but leavis is the best professor ever!). my stats wouldn't really be applicable since i was accepted to an early acceptance program, mmedic. in that regards, just through early acceptance alone, bu's med class already consists of about 30-40 bu undergrads before they even look at other applicants. and after that they still accept around 6-10 more from regular undergrad, of course depending on stats. but if you wanna go pre-med and you're 100% positive, look into bu's 7 year and mmedic programs. i can give u mmedic info if u wanna pm me. b/c premed isnt a major, just a concentration, it doesn't get too much attention from potential applicants. however, our premed program and human phys major is absolutely incredible and very highly regarded due to the difficulty and faculty staff and the increasing caliber of the students. our human phys program is one of the only undergraduate ones that includes cadaver labs as part of the anatomy course. ur a junior so u have time, but definitely look more into the program and search around bu's site, but here's the website for the human phys major: Health</a> Sciences | Academic Departments</p>
<p>I was wondering if someone could explain what divisional is? How is it different from core? Also, can I take an economics class for the math requirement? I'm not a huge math/natural sciences fan so I'm trying to figure out what would be best for me if I attend BU.</p>
<p>I read about that but didn't know it called mmed. Thanks for all the info AliAngel. I'll PM you if I have anymore questions. Good for me to start learning about these programs now.</p>