<p>Hi,
i am admitted to UMD-CP as letters and science major. i want to apply for business major but i still need to take one last gateway class to apply.
however i am taking only one gateway class over the fall, i have space for 3 another class to take. apparently i have fulfilled all my requirement but upper level business classes. according to website, i have to be in business major to join those classes(eg, BMGT - 350,380,367). i talked to adviser and he said if there is space available, you might get in.</p>
<p>i was wondering if someone knows that what are the chances to get in upper level business classes as non business major? do people normally get in? or i would have to waste my semester and take business classes once i get admitted in business school? any idea?</p>
<p>First off, you really don’t want to start your first semester with a 300 level class. It’s an upper level class for a reason - not saying it’s impossible to do well, just saying the work load/expectations are going to be more demanding than a lower level class and you need time to adjust to college level work. </p>
<p>Especially if you are trying to get into Smith, you really don’t want to take a class where you know there’s a strong likelihood it will be a struggle to get a good grade. There are many a tale of overconfident freshman, who come in with close to a 4.0 uw GPA, lots of AP classes/credits and are completely thrown off (as in their first C or D ever!) by the level of college expectations. AP level classes really are not all created equal and not equal to college as much as they say they are. Give yourself at least one semester to adjust not only to college level academic expectations but also the chance to adjust socially. It’s a balancing act … you need to learn to walk before you can run. I have a friend whose daughter is really smart and she complained to me that her daughter “was allowed to take a 200 level class as a freshman” and she was very upset because it was the first time her daughter not only did not get an A but was struggling a lot. Just because you are allowed/get permission to do something, doesn’t mean you should do it. </p>
<p>Remember, there are more than just gateway classes for your major that are required. If you have indeed met gateway reqs for transfer Smith, and AP’d out of ENGL101, take a look at all the other gen ed requirements for graduation. This is a perfect opportunity to take some more interesting gen eds. Yes, there are some really good ones that are full, but take a closer look and you will see that there are also some really(ok relatively) interesting gen ed options that are restricted to incoming freshman/transfer students and some that are restricted to students with less than 60 credits (so freshman and sophomores only). Need an example? Let’s take oral communications requirement. Most people take COMM107 (Oral Communications Practices and Principles) which is a crap shoot of being more or less easy/painful. As an incoming freshman, you have the option of JOUR130 which is Self Presentation in the Age of YouTube that fulfills the oral comm gen ed req. Sure, it’ likely full by the time you register because it’s a small class, but my point is there are lots of decent classes reserved for incoming freshman. </p>
<p>Use this freedom in your scheduling to knock out as many gen eds as possible. The upper level classes that are restricted to majors often have limited times that they are offered. So, the more freedom you have in your schedule later on (because you’ve knocked out all your gen eds) will benefit you in the future as well because there will be far less time conflicts that you have to deal with. </p>
<p>@maryversity Thanks for reply.
it looks like i have missed to write crucial information that i am transfer student from community college(currently junior standing at UMD, not freshman). i have associates degree and according to college i do not have to take any gen eds classes( only need major requirement and one upper level class outside of business school- i intend to do study abroad in winter to full fill that requirement)</p>
<p>so basically i am left with ECON - 201 and And BMGT upper level classes to fulfill my degree requirement. i Certainly understand what you mean when you said it could be harder to take upper level classes and need about semester worth of grace period to get adjusted. however, i started umd in spring 2014, so its already been 1 semester for me at UMD and looks like i got the hang of university classes.</p>
<p>i see that you mentioned about taking interesting classes, that is my plan if i don’t get in upper level business classes( would be not useful towards my degree but it will full-fill mu curiosity/interest part)</p>
<p>so my original question still remains about possibility to get in restricted BMGT classes for non business major?</p>
<p>Oh, ha ha, that is def a crucial difference! Ok, so given that, you prob do stand a better chance of getting the permission if there is space in the class, but I think a lot depends on the actual class you are looking at. They may be more stringent about adhering to that restriction for certain classes…worse they can do is say no. So, no harm no foul in the asking… </p>
<p>Thank you @maryversity </p>