Welcome! You are starting on the path to complete your bachelor’s degree in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS). As your interests develop, you may decide to pursue additional academic or co-curricular options. There is a wealth of opportunities at Boston University. However, for now, you are selecting courses only for your first semester.
Here you will find the following information. Please be sure and read through it all.
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CAS Degree Requirements
Course Planning Recommendations
Registration Instructions
Summary of CAS Degree Requirements
By the time you graduate, you will need to have completed at least the requirements listed below. All degree requirements are laid out in the BU Bulletin
- Your BU Hub requirements (26 units), which are your general education requirements
- Your Second Language requirement
- Your Major requirements (some of these courses will also meet BU Hub requirements)
- 128 credits (typically 4 courses per semester for 4 years)
Course Planning Recommendations:
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- A typical semester schedule is comprised of four academic courses
- You should take a Writing course as one of your four courses
- WR 120, CC 101, or EN 120 are excellent options for you if English is your first language.
- If English is your second language, you’ve received information about the online Writing Placement Test. You’ll start in either WR 111, 112, or 120 as determined by the test.
- If you are enrolled in the Kilachand Honors College, your required KHC courses will cover this writing requirement.
- If you have not yet fulfilled your Second Language Requirement, you will want to take a language class as one of your four courses. If you have fulfilled the requirement, you may want to continue studying that language, or you may want to try a new language.
- You should take the major course(s) or prerequisites recommended for students pursuing your major. You will be able to consult with an academic advisor in your major department when you are here for the semester.
- If you are Undeclared and have not yet decided on your major, we recommend reading through the requirements of the majors you may be considering and also browsing the Hub courses by subjects of interest for possible courses to explore.
- If planning to pursue the Pre-Health track, please read the information in the Pre-Health Planning Guide. It is also important that you attend the Pre-Health Perspectives presentation at Orientation.
- You may want to include a CAS FY 101 First-Year Seminar into your course schedule. This course is a unique, seminar-style course (1 non-academic credit) that provides the opportunity to explore issues relevant to new students at Boston University and deep connections with your fellow peers, an upperclassman mentor, and a staff or faculty member. If you can’t find an open FY 101 section that fits with your schedule, please fill out the FY 101 Waitlist Form.
Registration Instructions
After August 1st, you will be contacted by an academic advisor who has reviewed your schedule and will engage you in an email confirmation and/or conversation about anything that may need adjusting.
- Registration is accessed through the Student Link Home Page: www.bu.edu/studentlink
- Click on Academics
- Click on Registration
- Type in you BU login name and Kerberos password
- Click on Continue
- Click on Reg Options, Fall 2018
- Enter Academic Advising Code “062018” where it asks for “AAC”
- Click on Unlock
- Click on Register for Class
- Enter your course selections by College/Department/Course (see more information below) and click on Go
- Select the section or sections of the classes you want
- You will be asked, “Are you sure you want to register for the selected classes?” Click on OK. Your classes will be displayed.
- To add more classes, click on Reg options and repeat above steps
Registration Helpful Tips and Information
Some courses will require multiple sections or components (for example: a lecture section and a discussion section). There will always be a note above the course listing with a graphic of a blue pushpin or thumbtack. The note will tell you what components you need and any special instructions that go along with that.
The button labeled “Continue Search From” at the bottom of the screen when searching for a course means there are more courses on the next page; clicking that button will show you more courses.
Course Codes for the Student Link
Looking for a type of course? Use the following “College” and “Department” codes:
African American Studies: CAS AA
American Studies: CAS AM
Anthropology: CAS AN
Archaeology: CAS AR
Astronomy: CAS AS
Biology: CAS BI
Chemistry: CAS CH
Cinema & Media Studies: CAS CI
Comparative Literature: CAS XL
Computer Science: CAS CS
Core: CAS CC
Earth & Environment: CAS ES and GE
Economics: CAS EC
English: CAS EN
First Year Experience: CAS FY
History: CAS HI
History of Art & Architecture: CAS AH
International Relations: CAS IR
Linguistics: CAS LX
Mathematics & Statistics: CAS MA
Neuroscience: CAS NE
Philosophy: CAS PH
Physics: CAS PY
Political Science: CAS PO
Psychological & Brain Sciences: CAS PS
Religion: CAS RN
Sociology: CAS SO
Women, Gender, and Sexuality: CAS WS
Writing: CAS WR
School/College Codes
College of Communication COM
College of Engineering: ENG
College of Fine Arts: CFA
College of General Studies: CGS
College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College: SAR
Questrom School of Business: QST
School of Hospitality: SHA
Wheelock College of Education & Human Development: SED
Language Course Codes
American Sign Language: SED DE
Amharic: CAS LD
Arabic: CAS LY
Chinese: CAS LC
French: CAS LF
German: CAS LG
Greek-Ancient: CAS CL
Greek-Modern: CAS CG
Hausa: CAS LA
Hebrew: CAS LH
Hindi-Urdu: CAS LN
Igbo: CAS LD
Italian: CAS LI
Japanese: CAS LJ
Korean: CAS LK
Latin: CAS CL
Persian (Farsi): CAS LZ
Portuguese: CAS LP
Russian: CAS LR
Spanish: CAS LS
Swahili: CAS LE
Turkish: CAS LT
Twi: CAS LW
Wolof: CAS LW
Xhousa: CAS LM
Zulu: CAS LD
For most languages above, the following course numbers are used:
First Semester= 111
Second Semester= 112
Third Semester= 211
Fourth Semester= 212
Example: If you are looking for the first semester level course in Spanish on the Student Link, you would look for “CAS LS 111”.