Fall Freshman Scheduling Information
Freshman Scheduling
In late May, we begin to build schedules for freshmen. All freshmen will be scheduled into approximately 15 credit hours (this number may vary based on major requirements). The courses you may find on your schedule are described below.
Schedule Availability
Schedules can be viewed online on June 18. You should have received your student email and online access information in a mailing from the admissions office shortly after we received your deposit. Please note that scheduling for freshmen is an ongoing process throughout the summer. As we receive course request forms or as seats become available in closed courses, we may make adjustments throughout the summer. You can monitor these changes online via the STINF student records system. All schedule changes are usually completed by the beginning of August.
Advisors
All freshmen are assigned advisors by their department or, if undeclared, by the office of academic advising. If you do not see an advisor listed on your schedule, don't panic! The assignment of advisors is often not complete until August. Should you have schedule questions over the summer, contact your major department office or the Academic Advising Center if you are undeclared.
How Can I Change My Schedule?
First semester freshmen can only change their schedules with the help of an advisor or their department. Courses placed on a student's schedule are there because they can be used to satisfy graduation requirements. An advisor's help is needed to ensure that new freshmen do not drop courses they need to help them graduate in a timely fashion.
Courses in which Incoming Students are Scheduled
Major Courses
All departments submit a list of courses required or recommended for first semester freshmen in their majors. Before we schedule any general education courses, we make sure that each freshman gets at least 1 course within their major program. We then fill in with additional required and recommended courses as space and schedules permit. If you are an undeclared student, you will not receive any courses in this category.
General Education
If there is any room left on your schedule after adding courses described above, we will fill in with courses that satisfy requirements in our general education program. We try to spread the courses over the 3 basic subject areas: Arts and Humanities; Social and Behavioral Science; Natural Science and Mathematics.
Developmental Courses
Based on high school grades and test scores, the admissions office may ask you to take placement tests in writing, reading or mathematics. If the test results indicate that you need to develop stronger writing skills you may be scheduled into Writing 2 for the Fall Semester; Composition 1 will then be scheduled in the Spring Semester. If the test results indicate that you need to develop stronger math skills, you may be scheduled into Intermediate Algebra in the first year as a prerequisite to any of our college-level math or computer science courses. Developmental courses count in your grade point average but will not count towards the 120 credits of college-level work needed to earn your degree. Students who take developmental courses based on testing results perform better throughout their college career and are more likely to graduate on time than if they skip the course. If you were asked by Admissions to take a placement test and have not yet done so, please contact the admissions office as soon as possible to reserve a spot for their next testing date. If admissions asked that you take the test but you do not, you may automatically be scheduled into a developmental course.
Composition I
About half of the incoming freshmen will be scheduled into Composition I for the Fall Semester. If you do not receive Composition I in the Fall then you will have this course scheduled for the Spring Semester (unless you are exempted as noted below).
- If you scored 540 or better on the verbal SAT, you will not receive Composition I in the Fall semester. Students with high verbal SAT scores should receive an invitation from the English Department to take a test that can be used to earn credit for Composition I. High scores on the BU placement test or on AP English tests may qualify you for Composition 1 credits. If you do not earn credit based on the BU test or AP scores, then you will be scheduled into Composition I for the Spring Semester.
- No students will be scheduled into their second required writing course until their sophomore year.
Science And Math Placement
If you are a science, mathematics or computer science major that requires chemistry or calculus-level mathematics, you will receive information about taking a placement test in Chemistry or Mathematics. Please be aware that your final placement in chemistry and math will depend on the results of this placement test.
Students who do not place into Chemistry for Sciences or Calculus I have the option of taking prerequisite courses such as Pre-Calculus or Introduction to Chemistry in the summer before their freshman year starts so that they have a better chance of graduating on time.
Special Course Requests
Spoken language, music performance or music lesson courses will only be scheduled if you send in a special request form. Should you wish to continue studying a language or start a new language, please return the language request form as soon as possible. If you wish to schedule a performance class (such as chorus or orchestra) or take music lessons, you need to send in the music request form as soon as possible. If you did not receive the request form by mail, you can request online:
University Seminar
We offer a 1 credit seminar to every incoming freshman that provides students with skills that help them succeed in college. Some majors or special admission programs require university seminar (Majors in the College of Science and Technology, Elementary Education, Summer Freshman, ACT101 and EOP programs). Students in these programs will have the seminar placed on their fall schedules. For all other students, you may request the 1 credit seminar using the form mailed to you or information is available online. We strongly recommend that all freshmen take this course since our data indicate that students who do generally perform better throughout their college career.