College Profiles - Boston University

Overview
A private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located on the banks of the Charles River, Boston University is an energizing community. As a major research institution, the University fosters creativity and innovation. As an undergraduate institution, its faculty comprises some of the world’s foremost experts who are dedicated to the art of teaching. Of the classes held in the freshman and sophomore years, the vast majority contain fewer than 30 students. Together, the eleven undergraduate schools and colleges offer more than 250 major and minor areas of concentration. Students may choose from programs of study in areas as diverse as biochemistry, broadcast journalism, business, computer systems engineering, elementary education, international relations, physical therapy, and theater arts.

Location and Community
Boston is an international center of cultural and intellectual activity, with a concentration of facilities for higher education unrivaled throughout the world. Home to many fine museums, baseball’s Fenway Park, an active theater district, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the city has a vibrant energy all its own. Because 1 in 5 residents is a college student, Boston is also the ultimate college town.

Academic Life
A Boston University education combines the elements of a traditional liberal arts education with training for the professions. In addition, highly qualified freshmen and sophomores may be invited to participate in honors programs in the College of Arts and Sciences or the School of Management.

Students are taught by faculty members who distinguish themselves by their ability, experience, research, and publications. In addition to fulfilling their classroom responsibilities, faculty members are accessible as academic and career advisers who assist students in obtaining internships as well research opportunities.

Boston University has forty-four programs that take students around the world. Internships, fieldwork, and study-abroad opportunities are offered on six continents within twenty countries, including the U.S. The University has a series of programs and internships in Auckland, Beijing, Dresden, Dublin, Geneva, Haifa, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Sydney, and Washington, D.C., in art/architecture, business/economics, human health services, journalism/communications, and visual/performing arts, to name a few. Fieldwork programs may be found in Belize, Ecuador, and Spain, with study-abroad options in Auckland, Burgos, Dresden, Grenoble, Haifa, Madrid, Niamey, Oxford, Padova, Quito, and Venice. Summer study programs exist in Australia, China, Egypt, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Peru, Senegal, Spain, and the United States.

Boston University operates on a calendar of two semesters and two summer terms. Students generally take four courses each semester; thirty-two courses are required for graduation. Most degree programs are built around a core of humanities and social and natural sciences. Concentrations require eight to thirteen courses. Electives generally total 30—40 percent of the courses taken, allowing for interdisciplinary study.

Majors Offered:
Boston University grants the B.A., B.S., B.S.B.A., B.S.Ed., B.A.S., B.L.S., B.A.A., Mus.B., and B.F.A. undergraduate degrees. Of the University’s seventeen schools and colleges, eleven offer opportunities for undergraduate study. The following information indicates the range of undergraduate programs available.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences may concentrate in American studies, ancient Greek, ancient Greek and Latin, anthropology, anthropology and philosophy, anthropology and religion, archaeology, art history, astronomy, astronomy/physics, biochemistry, biochemistry/molecular biology, biology, biology with a specialization in ecology and conservation biology, biology with a specialization in marine science, biology with a specialization in neuroscience, chemistry, chemistry with a specialization in teaching, classical civilization, classics/philosophy, classics/religion, computer science, computer science and mathematics, earth sciences, East Asian studies, economics, economics/mathematics, English, environmental analysis and policy, environmental earth sciences, environmental science, French/continental European literatures, French language and literature, geography, geography/human, geography/physical, geophysics and planetary sciences, German/continental European literatures, German language and literature, Hispanic/continental European literatures, Hispanic language and literature, history, independent concentration, international relations, Italian/continental European literatures, Italian studies, Japanese language and literature, Latin, Latin American studies, linguistics, mathematics (including statistics), mathematics/philosophy, modern Greek, music (nonperformance), philosophy, philosophy/physics, philosophy/political science, philosophy/psychology, philosophy/religion, physics, political science, psychology, religion, Russian/continental European literatures, Russian language and literature, Russian/Eastern European studies, and sociology. Special curricula include seven-year programs in liberal arts and dentistry and liberal arts and medicine; the Modular Medical Integrated Curriculum; a dual-degree program; and various combined B.A./M.A. degree programs.

The College of Communication offers major programs of undergraduate study in film and television, journalism (including broadcast journalism, magazine journalism, news-editorial print journalism, and photojournalism), and advertising, mass communications, and public relations.

Majors in the College of Engineering include aerospace, biomedical, computer systems, electrical, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering.

Areas of concentration in the School of Education include bilingual education; early childhood education; deaf studies; elementary education; English education; history and social science education; mathematics education; modern foreign language education; physical education, health, and coaching; science education; and special education.

The School of Hospitality Administration offers a rigorous program in the management of hotels, restaurants, food and beverage service, travel and tourism, and entertainment.

Concentrations in the School of Management include accounting, business law, entrepreneurship, finance, general management, international management, management information systems, marketing, operations and technology management, and organizational behavior.

The College of Fine Arts offers programs in the School of Music (conducting, music education, musicology, performance, and theory and composition), the School of Theater (acting, design, stage management, production, and theater arts), and the School of Visual Arts (art education, graphic design, painting, and sculpture).

Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences offers programs in athletic training; exercise science; health science; human physiology; nutritional science; and speech, language, and hearing sciences as well as a five-year combined B.S./M.S. degree program in occupational therapy, a six-year B.S./D.P.T. program in physical therapy, and a six-year B.S. in athletic training/D.P.T.in physical therapy program.

The College of General Studies offers a two-year liberal-arts-based program that features a core curriculum and intensive team teaching. It is designed so that students continue on at the junior level into select schools and colleges of the University.

The University Professors Program allows exceptionally able students to seek degrees in areas that combine, bridge, or fall between established University disciplines. Students follow a core curriculum for two years and then design their own course of study for the remaining two years.

The Metropolitan College Science and Engineering Program offers a four-semester program for those students who need additional preparation for studying the sciences or engineering.

Facilities and Resources
Two of the newest facilities on campus are the Agganis Arena and the Fitness and Recreation Center, which opened in the spring of 2005. They are part of Boston University’s John Hancock Student Village, a multistage venture that will also include four high-rise dormitories. A new life science and engineering facility, with 187,000 square feet of laboratory and research space for the biology, bioinformatics, chemistry, and bioengineering departments, also opened in 2005. Boston University’s Photonics Center features classroom and laboratory space for the College of Engineering as well as labs designed to support industry partners who seek to develop new photonics-based products. The School of Management building represents one of the most technologically advanced educational facilities in the country, with more than 4,000 data and communications ports and a dedicated career center and management library.

Through the Office of Information Technology, students have access to public computing facilities equipped with workstations, terminals, and laser printers as well as a high-speed campus network interconnecting all computer resources and linking them to the Internet. An 890-seat proscenium theater, studio space for visual arts students, practice rooms for music, and a 575-seat music performance center are indicative of Boston University’s support for the arts. More than 2.2 million library volumes and 4 million microform units are contained in Mugar Memorial Library, where the Twentieth-Century Archives are held, including the papers of Martin Luther King Jr., Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Frost, and Bette Davis.

Campus Life
The campus community supports nearly 400 different student organizations, ranging from ice broomball teams to performing arts groups, community service activities to student government, and clubs with cultural and professional as well as academic affiliations.

Off Campus/Study Abroad
Boston University is a community of doers, a place where students seek experiences in the world around them to enhance their classroom learning. Our students don't just study abroad, they pursue internships in other countries. They don't just read about marine biology, they take to the waters off coastal Massachusetts to gain first-hand knowledge. Our students work as journalists in Washington, D.C., and attend lectures given by many of the world's top scholars and leaders.

BU programs offer an unmatched variety of study, fieldwork, and work abroad opportunities for students from all majors and interests, combining intellectual development with practical experience in life and work. We have more than 4,000 active internship sources worldwide and customize internships for students.

All Boston University Study Abroad courses may be used to fulfill degree requirements, and most financial assistance received may be used for students' time abroad in BU-sponsored programs.

Diversity
With students from all fifty states and more than 100 countries, Boston University has one of the most culturally diverse student bodies in the United States.

The goal of the Howard Thurman Center for Race, Culture, and Ethnicity is to enhance the academic success and personal development of all University students. The Thurman Center offers programs and resources that encourage African-, Hispanic/Latino-, Asian-, and Native-American students to develop a sense of community on campus.

Among the programs that the Thurman Center offers is Common Ground, a year-long community-building experience beginning as a component to University Orientation and continuing throughout the academic year with receptions, seminars, discussions, and presentations. Students from all races, religions, and ethnic groups are welcome to participate.

International Students
As a Boston University student, you will be part of a truly international community of students and scholars. International students are eligible to apply for admission to Boston University as undergraduates if they have completed the equivalent of the United States secondary school education (approximately 12 years of formal education starting at age six) and have the appropriate diplomas or satisfactory results on leaving examinations. When international students submit an application, they must include official secondary school academic records of the last four years of study, as well as a copy of the results of any terminating or qualifying examinations taken or certificates obtained. All documents written in a foreign language must be accompanied by a notarized English translation.

Sports / Varsity Athletics
There are so many sports and recreation resources available to you all around Boston University. Varsity sports...we've got them. Intramurals...we've got them too. Boston University offers 24 NCAA Division I varsity sports, 13 for women and 11 for men.

Expenses
Tuition is $35,330; estimated room and board costs are $10,480. University and college fees are $462. These costs are exclusive of books, supplies, travel, and personal expenses.

Financial Aid / Scholarships
The Office of Financial Assistance offers both financial and advisory resources to students and their families who request help in meeting the expenses of attending Boston University. Information, counseling, and referrals are available to all families, regardless of income level or financial circumstances. In addition to providing both need-based and merit awards to many students, the office serves a much larger constituency of students and parents. Financial assistance officers review with students and their families the available means of financing an education, whether through the University or through external funding sources.

Financial aid can take several forms and may be awarded in a variety of combinations. Types of aid include scholarships and grants, state and federal grants and loans, and federal Work-Study and other part-time employment. When applying for financial aid, students should understand that University and federal student aid funds are limited. The University is unable to meet the full calculated need of every student offered admission. Those students with the strongest academic records are given priority for receiving available funds. In addition, as part of Boston University’s commitment to excellence, the University recognizes academic achievement through a number of merit award programs.

Admission Requirements / Application
The Board of Admissions considers each candidate individually. Primary emphasis is placed on the strength of the secondary school record, but required test scores (SAT or ACT), character, breadth of interest, school recommendations, and other personal qualifications are also carefully evaluated. Students planning to take the SAT are required to submit the new test with the writing section; students taking the ACT are required to submit the version with the optional writing section. Results of previous administrations of the SAT or ACT that do not include the writing section will not meet the standardized testing requirement for admission. Freshman applicants to most programs are also required to submit the results of two SAT Subject Tests. Secondary school graduation or an equivalency diploma is required of all candidates; for the College of Fine Arts, an audition or a portfolio is required. For certain programs, interviews and additional SAT Subject Test scores are required.

Students with earned credit from other colleges may be admitted. Applicants are considered for September or January entrance. Transfer students are not eligible for admission to the Accelerated Liberal Arts Medical or Dental Programs, the College of General Studies, or the Metropolitan College Science and Engineering Program. January admission to the College of Fine Arts (Schools of Theatre and Visual Arts) is also not available to transfer students. Boston University does maintain programs of early decision (binding agreement), early admission, and deferred admission.

Boston University admits qualified students regardless of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability to all its programs and activities.

Boston University requires the Common Application and the Boston University Supplement. The deadline for applications is January 1. Applicants for Early Decision I must apply by November 1, and applicants for Early Decision II must apply by January 1. Accelerated program applicants, Trustee Scholar nominees, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship nominees, and Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship nominees must file by December 1. Candidates for financial aid should complete the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Financial Aid PROFILE and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in time for the analysis report to reach the University by February 15. Transfer students applying for September admission should submit their applications, CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE forms, and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms by April 1 or by November 1 for January admission.

Office of Admissions
Boston University
121 Bay State Road
Boston, Massachusetts 02215

617-353-2300

admissions@bu.edu

http://www.bu.edu