Undergraduate Curriculum

The Questrom Undergraduate Program

Real Business Problems and Real Intellectual Engagement

Beginning with your first day at Questrom, you will tackle business problems, work in teams with classmates from around the world, and interact with managers and alumni. Throughout your first year, you will learn about how businesses and markets operate and the importance of their roles in society. In your second or third year, you will write a full business plan for a product that you and your classmates will research and propose. In each of your four years, the undergraduate program will support your ability to explore ideas within Boston University, to understand fields of business at Questrom, and to achieve depth of knowledge in at least one business field of your choosing.

Professional Preparation

Along the way, you will complete a series of career support courses (a ‘careers journey’) that will train you to explore internship and job opportunities, help you develop professional networks, and prepare you for internship and job interviews. Nearly all of our students obtain meaningful work experiences during their time as undergraduates. The collaborative aspects of our coursework and our focus on student extracurricular activities help our graduates become exceptionally professional. Over the past few years, 99% of Questrom graduates have reported obtaining a job (or a position in graduate school) within six months of graduation. When you complete the Questrom BSBA degree program, your business expertise, professional skills, and ability to collaborate will give you substantial advantages relative to your competition in your ability to contribute to the workplace.

Course Requirements

The requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree appear below. This is a sample curriculum and your actual path will depend on your concentration, your minor, study abroad, and transfer credits.

Students who begin as freshmen will engage in a year-long foundation program through SM131, Business, Ethics, and the Creation of Value, and SM132, Measuring Financial Value.  These courses are organized by cohort, so that students will have an opportunity to develop personal and professional connections with colleagues and to thrive during their early academic experiences.

Other early-stage curriculum requirements include Microeconomics (EC101*), Calculus (MA121 or MA123) Writing Seminar, (WR120), Probabilistic & Statistical Decision-Making for Management (QM221), advanced quantitative methods (QM222 or BA222) and The Dynamics of Leading Organizations (MO221).  These are typically taken during students’ first or second years in the program.

After completing these courses, students are eligible to take the cross-functional CORE sequence of courses in Sophomore or Junior year.  The sequence includes Finance (FE323) Marketing (MK323), Operations Management (OM323), and Business Analytics (QM323).  These courses are all taught in a single semester by a coordinated team of faculty and they are paired with a signature experience in which students are placed in teams that design a product from scratch, conduct market research, plan operations and manufacturing, analyze financing, develop a business plan, and, ultimately, pitch their business idea to colleagues, faculty, and experienced professionals.

A number of required courses can be taken flexibly, i.e., anytime after their prerequisites have been satisfied.  These include Managerial Accounting (AC222), Information Systems (IS223), and Law (LA245).

Following CORE, students’ only required Questrom class is the Undergraduate Program’s capstone course (SI422).  This is typically taken in Junior or Senior Year.

Along the way, students take the coordinated Career Journey sequence of courses (ES110*, ES210* (transfer students take ES215 instead of ES110 and ES210), and ES310).  Students may choose to complete at least one concentration. They may take four courses in their consent at any time in the curriculum, though many concentration courses have prerequisites that arrive in the curriculum during sophomore and junior year.

Lastly, like all Boston University students, Questrom students must complete the innovative HUB courses in general education.  Many of the Questrom required courses satisfy HUB requirements, but Questrom students will typically take eight non-business courses, five of which are required to come from the College of Arts and Sciences, and three of which may come from any school other than Questrom, and two more of which may come from any BU School, including Questrom.  In total, Questrom students complete at least 133 credits during their time at Boston University.

Required Courses 

Foundational Courses (* indicates Gateway courses)

*SM131

*SM132

*EC101

*MA121 (or MA123)

*WR120

QM221

QM222 or BA222

MO221

SM275

Core

FE323

MK323

OM323

QM323

Floating Requirements (which can be taken anytime after the Gateway Suite)

AC222

IS223

LA245

EC102

Capstone & Concentrations

SI422

Plus four concentration courses

Career Journey

*ES110

*ES210

ES310

* transfer students take ES215 instead of ES110 & ES210

BU Hub Requirements, Courses Outside of Questrom, & Free Electives

This is Boston University’s novel program in General Education (link here).  Many Questrom courses count for HUB credit.

5 Courses in CAS 

3 Non-Questrom Courses

2 Free Electives that can be taken anywhere at BU, including Questrom 

Concentrations, Dual Degrees, and Minors