<p>Has anyone out there from BC done the Pulse Program and can tell me a little about what it was like? I was one of the few freshman chosen to be in the class for this coming year and i was very excited at first but now i am a little hesitant. Does the volunteer aspect of it take up a lot of your time? I dont what to limit myself in terms of what i will be able to do as a freshmen because of the time i have to volunteer for the class (10 hrs per week). I might even be doing a sport. do you think I should go through with taking Pulse?
Thanks!</p>
<p>PULSE is awesome, but I would not recommend doing PULSE and a sport; the time commitments of both would make for a stressful semester, particularly for a matriculating Frosh. Moreover, as a Frosh, you have last priority for placements (I think).</p>
<p>Bluebayou, did you do Pulse? is it a huge time commitment? Even if i dont end up doing a sport, will it hold me back from doing other things because of the time constraints? dont get me wrong, i love volunteering and that is what attracted me to the pulse program but i want to get involved in other ways too and i dont want to invest all of my time into one thing. and i dont want it to detract from my social life.</p>
<p>College:</p>
<p>I’m just a parent. But everything depends on you. PULSE is a good time commitment, but then you ‘only’ have four classes. Adding in a sport Frosh year would be tough for most students, but some could handle the load and still maintain solid grades. It really depends on you, your major, your EC’s, and what you want out of college. Only the rare individual can do it all.</p>
<p>In all honesty, this is something best discussed with your adviser or OL rather than on CC. Send them e-mails for their input. I have not taken it, but from what I have heard Pulse is a significant time commitment but the vast majority of students say it is well worth it. Like Perspectives, most students say that the workload is closer to 1.5 classes than 2, which makes the service component less of an issue. You may not be able to get back into PULSE as a sophomore. People usually love their placements and say that they are very fulfilling, although I have heard of a student or two who disliked their assignment. PULSE is supposed to be one of those signature, life impacting programs that BC has to offer. It is not something that should be turned down without serious thought.</p>
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<p>Anything is possible I suppose, but my D had registration on the last day, second to last time slot and said that plenty of PULSE courses were open for rising Sophs. (I think she got her third choice.) My point is that taking PULSE as a Frosh on the extremely rare chance it won’t be available as a Soph just doesn’t make sense to me. (Indeed, the OP found a PULSE opening with his/her lowly Frosh reg time There were plenty of Frosh who took PULSE last year, but two I heard about of ending up dropping their club sport due to academics. They also said that PULSE placements for Frosh were last priority, and compounded by thier sports’ workout schedule.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m actually going to be a sophomore next year taking PULSE. Pretty much all I know about it I learned at an information session last spring and it really eased a lot of my concerns about the commitment.</p>
<p>They emphasized that it is a lot different than the other offerings for philosophy and theology at BC because it does not require a lot of difficult reading or research. They made a big deal out of the fact that you will not have to write a single research paper the entire year. Instead the class focuses a lot on personal reflection and experience, but does require a decent amount of writing in that area. During the presentation they said most classes require at least one 15 page paper per semester. in my opinion Pulse is only worth two classes because of the service component, which makes the total “class time” over 15 hours a week.</p>
<p>The way they explained that it works is you must have two 6 hour blocks per week where you will commit to some sort of service in Boston or the BC area. Choosing a placement is a long process which involves meeting potential placements at a fair at the end of September and then forming a relationship with a few which you really like. Then they said that both parties will come to a mutual decision as to where you will be placed by mid-October. So to me it doesn’t seem like anyone really gets the last priority or anything. Rather, it’s all about fit and what you want to do.</p>
<p>I don’t think Pulse would hinder your social life or take away all of your free time. I know a few people who did it last year when they were freshman and absolutely loved it and still had time for activities and other things. I’m even considering overloading and taking a fifth class next semester.</p>
<p>And to comment on the difficulty of getting into Pulse as a rising sophomore: it all depends on your registration time. This past spring all sections of the class were filled by 10am on the second day of registration. I registered in the last hour on the first day and only had two options. I know there is usually a huge wait list to get into the class, as large as 60 people for the upcoming year. Definitely think about it and way your options. If you are an organized student who isn’t a severe procrastinator I think you could easily do both Pulse and a sport.</p>