I heard that we need to sign up for classes at an orientation later around June. How does the sign up process work at BU? And what types of classes do people such as business majors(myself) take? Are most of the classes usually General Ed classes, or are there some that may be associated with whatever major you selected(in my case I chose general management). I was thinking that if I decided that I want to change majors next year, would my class selection this year affect my ability to change majors? Thank you!
For the most part, your classes Freshman year won’t be in your major. BU requires a broad liberal arts base, so even if you change your major later, you’ll be OK. You may take 1 class per semester Freshman year that directly relates to your major–for COM kids, for instance, as a Freshman you take History of Journalism, ie: JO 101, but nothing more advanced than that.
I’m assuming not that much has changed from when I was there (I’m not that old!), so you’d sign up for classes using an online reg system. There will be peer advisers to help you choose.
My personal recommendation is to be strategic with your freshman classes. BU is pretty hard and a lot of kids fail their first semester/year b/c they’re not used to it. It’s wisest to take a mix of classes (some lecture/test based, others with several papers to distribute grade weight, etc.), with just a few that would represent a challenge for you. I took a WR course whose subject appealed to me, which made the class more fun. If there’s a particular subject you’re not as good at, maybe don’t sign up for that requirement until 2nd semester or sophomore year–once you’re on campus you can get a feel for which classes are the “good” ones to take & incoming freshmen tend to get worst pick of classes.
And my pro-tip for a fun science requirement: take ES140: Natural Disasters. Hands down one of my favorite classes I have ever taken.