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Need advice: Transfer
Hi guys!
I'll be in the Faculty of Arts this Fall 2010 in my first year and i want to transfer into the business administration. (since i didn't make it directly through high school) I did a lot of research around the website and I know that I'll eventually need to complete the 9 course requirements (category 3 http://business.sfu.ca/bba/apply/cat3.php) for them to even consider me into the faculty.
So i need help on how i should be scheduling my course. Like:
Should i take 4 or 5 courses first term? (Because i know BUS 2xx courses require 15credit hours prerequisites)
Should/Can i try to take all 9 courses in my first year?
How should i balance this requirement with my WQB?
Reason I'm asking is because I know getting into BBA is competitive and I really don't know what i will do if I don't make it in because I would have spent my time doing BUS courses. =\
Also, How hard is it to maintain a 3.0+ GPA?
Thanks.!
I'll be in the Faculty of Arts this Fall 2010 in my first year and i want to transfer into the business administration. (since i didn't make it directly through high school) I did a lot of research around the website and I know that I'll eventually need to complete the 9 course requirements (category 3 http://business.sfu.ca/bba/apply/cat3.php) for them to even consider me into the faculty.
So i need help on how i should be scheduling my course. Like:
Should i take 4 or 5 courses first term? (Because i know BUS 2xx courses require 15credit hours prerequisites)
Should/Can i try to take all 9 courses in my first year?
How should i balance this requirement with my WQB?
Reason I'm asking is because I know getting into BBA is competitive and I really don't know what i will do if I don't make it in because I would have spent my time doing BUS courses. =\
Also, How hard is it to maintain a 3.0+ GPA?
Thanks.!
Comments
This was the best decision i've personally made. You can. Should you? I don't know what your study habits are and what you are and are not capable in doing. Here is what I took in my first 3 semesters at SFU.
Sem 1.
Math 151 - Q
Chem 121 - B-SCI/Q (if i recall correctly it fell under both)
Eng 105 - W
Sem 2:
Math 152 - Q
CMNS 110 - Hum
Bio 101 - Sci
Sem 3:
Bio 102 - Sci
Chem 122 - Sci/Q
and I think i took Either Humanities or another English
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What this means to you? Balance it out. Take courses that you know you enjoy but make sure you don't fuck it all up by just taking courses that have little to nothing to do with your degree of choice.
I personally was happy with the way I did it. Hard, but not impossible.
3 semesters might be a good idea. but i don't know if i wanna be doing that every year. Most people on average take 2 semesters with 4 courses?
The Breadth part of WQB is pretty much telling you to take courses unrelated to my degree of choice. Especially B-Sci. I honestly do not know what to take for B-Sci. Labs are my weakness. help?
I guess my biggest concern is choosing the most appropriate electives at the right time and fulfilling 120units. =\
In Business a 3.0 GPA is definitely possible to maintain, but you still have to put a good effort in. A 3.0 is a B average, and since every business class is curved, you're looking at a B- or C+ if you're right at the peak of the curve (that is, you are right around the class average or median, not too sure which of the two they go by, but they are often very similar).
Sure, you can take all 9 courses in your first term, but that is really not realistic. In total, to do all of my 9 business requirements, it will have taken me 5 terms. The first term I took no requirements, the second I took an English class that counts towards it, this term I am taking ECON 105 (Macroeconomics), ENGL 102W (Poetry), BUS 251 (Financial Accounting) and BUS 272 (Organizational Behaviour). I say to do that aforementioned schedule your first term: MATH 157, ECON 103 or 105, ENGL or PHIL (I recommend English by far), and an elective. Since both ECON classes fulfill quantitative requirements, and ENGL (if you chose that over PHIL) classes offer Writing credits, don't worry about those. You would still need an upper-division writing credit, but that's third or fourth year. Again, maybe cut out an elective and just do the three if you really aren't sure, but if you truly are willing to put some effort into your work, then 4 should work fine for you. Just some advice, schedule classes where the final exams don't fall on the same days. You technically can, as long as they aren't at the same time, but a spread out final schedule is preferable, as it gives you adequate time to prepare for each exam in between the others, so you aren't cramming for three finals that fall within 24 hours of each other.
Just so you can compare, here is my schedule so far and my schedule up until I finish my BUS requirements.
Term one:
POL 100 (Intro to Politics and Government)
HIST 110 (Intro to the History of Science) (Note: It's a science breadth, but I don't think it's being offered in the fall)
CRIM 101 (Intro to Criminology)
SA 150 (Intro to Sociology)
Term two:
CHEM 111 (Introductory Chemistry and Lab)
ENGL 105W (Issues in Literature and Culture)
POL 241 (Intro to International Politics)
HSCI 160 (Perspectives on Global Health)
Term three:
BUS 251 (Financial Accounting I)
BUS 272 (Organizational Behaviour)
ECON 105 (Intro to Macroeconomics)
ENGL 102W (Intro to Poetry)
Term four (Fall 2010):
MATH 157 (Calculus I for Social Sciences)
ECON 103 (Intro to Microeconomics)
CMNS 110 (Intro to Communication Studies)
CMNS 130W (Explorations in Mass Communication)
Term five (Spring 2011):
BUS 237 (Intro to Information Systems)
BUEC 232 (Data and Decisions I)
CMNS 220 (Understanding Television)
Elective or CMNS 221
Going to do co-op in Summer 2011 most likely.
Feel free to ask more questions, that's what this forum is here for! I'll go check your other post and see if there's anything I can help with that.
Yes, most people take four courses on average. Generally it is recommended you start with three or four, and adjust depending on how you find it. I know a lot of friends who do five a term, but with all my volunteering on campus I generally find that four is the perfect amount.
As for breadth, it's easy to fill. B-Soc are easy to fulfill, just take things like Criminology, Political Science, Psychology, Health Sciences, etc. Barry Cartwright is a fantastic prof for Intro to Crim (CRIM 101) and he is teaching it in the fall, so maybe that would be good to take as an elective. Just be warned it's a fair amount of memorization, but in lectures you just fill in his lecture outlines word for word and he tells you which slides will be tested on, so you only have to study those specific slides. B-HUM is done with the ENGL/PHIL requirements for Business. Quantitative is filled with ECON 103 and 105. Writing is filled by an English class lower-division, and by BUS 360W in your upper division requirements. So it's just B-SCI to worry about. I've already completed mine in my first two terms, by doing History of Science and Introductory Chem and Lab. You hate labs though, so try to avoid Chem/Bio classes. I would take Kinesiology classes if I were you. KIN 110 and 140 are very popular, so are often hard to get into, but if you can they are fairly easy B-Sci courses I've heard.
And regardless, you are required to do at least 50 Non-BUS, Non-BUEC courses to get your BBA, so I wouldn't worry about not filling your requirements.
As for the actual chem stuff, be aware that for chemistry and other science majors the stream is:
CHEM 111 -> CHEM 121 -> CHEM 122/126.
There is CHEM 120, but because it lacks the lab, you will be stuck at CHEM 122 and be able to proceed no further. So I suggest that if you're a keeping-your-options-open person, take 121 and 122/126 to fill in first-year science credits.
That, of course, is my biased opinion, since I'm a chemistry grad student. ;)
CHEM 192 has been mentioned here as good for the B-Sci credit. And I heard that PHYS 190, which is like Intro to Astronomy, is not really much about astronomy at all, but rather about the physics of how the planets and that move, which sounds awful if you don't like sciences.
That's why I think avoiding Chem, Bio, Physics, and MBB would be good. But hey, everyone can make their own decisions. :tongue:
It was all about concepts - how do we find out how far away other stars are? How do we classify stars? How did the solar system evolve? What happens inside a star?
That last is particularly cool. There's some mad convection zones in the sun :P
PHYS 190 sounds interesting. I just might consider it. Hopefully if there is any math, it isn't too overwhelming.
I also found this link http://www.sfu.ca/ugcr/For_Students/Q_and_Breadth_Science.html with a bunch of B-sci courses. Which ones do you guys recommend? I do see PHYS190 on there.
Also, I noticed many courses aren't offered in Spring/Summer... So instead of English, Math and Econ on my first term as i would plan, would it be a better idea to take courses that aren't offered in the spring/summer first? Or is it not that big of a deal.
3 courses first term, and if everything is good, i ll take 4 courses in the 2nd term.! sounds like a plan?
@Desolate - Wow, you've taken 12 courses in a year. 0.o.What'd you think of ENGL 105? We'll need two english courses and I figured ENGL101 would be nice. but is 105 interesting?hard?
Criminology sounds interesting too. (stupid question but would people laugh if i told them i took a course like this since they know i won't be a cop or lawyer or anything like that..?)And i think Econ 103 and 105 both fulfills the B-Soc as well as the Q requirements. No need for CRIM?
Since i'll eventually be needing 50 non-BUS/BUEC courses, that really means I'll be taking courses completely unrelated to my field. and a bunch of "Introduction to..." 1xx courses? what about the 2xx courses? I'd just like to know so I can be sure I'm not doing something really stupid.
Oh and how's ur plan on getting into business? If worst comes to worst, and i have to stay in arts, Majoring in Economics is probably be the way to go right?
And I don't know where you got your information from. Most classes are offered fall and spring, it's the summer term where there is a smaller selection. MATH 157, ECON 103 and ECON 105 are offered all three terms. All of the 100 level English classes are offered in the Fall and Spring, and most are offered in the summer (except for 105 I think). So don't worry about classes not being offered, especially with 100 level classes. It's once you get to third and fourth year classes where some are only offered once a year.
And yeah, that sounds fine. Better to start with 3 and be safe rather than sorry.
And yeah, I will have finished 12 courses after my first year is over (once this term is finished). ENGL 105 it depends on the professor. RateMyProfessors.com is handy to get a general idea of what a prof is like, but remember that some people that post on there are the ones who get bad marks, and bash the prof, so some of the responses may be biased. ENGL 105 was amazing, I had it with David Coley. He was absolutely hilarious, and we read some interesting stuff. Got a B+ overall. Your mark primarily is due to your TA's marking, so in English it is mostly a crap shoot. My TA was pretty terrible, but I made up for it by doing well on the final. So yeah, difficulty and content depends on the term and the prof, so I recommend checking out the English departments website and checking out course outlines before deciding on a class to take.
And no, people wouldn't laugh. It is a very interesting class, you learn a lot about misconceptions about crime and theories of crime. Barry Cartwright is hilarious and makes the course pain-free, and it is still one of my favourite classes. If anyone asks, just say you were interested and it's an elective. Then again, you don't have to, because I overlooked the fact that both ECON courses are B-Soc as well. Thanks for catching that. So technically you don't have to do more Social Science courses, but since you have to do the 50 units, if CRIM sounds interesting, go for it.
Yes, you will be taking unrelated courses. Some are taken up by breadth requirements and some of the lower division business requirements (ENGL/PHIL, ECON, MATH). It will also be filled up pretty fast if you plan on doing an extended minor, minor, or joint major with Business and another program.
My plan for business is just to try hard. I want to get into business really badly, so I'm just working hard in my classes and if I fall a bit short of the 3.0 requirement, then I'll retake a course or two. I have a 3.33 GPA for my lower division requirements so far (just ENGL 105W), and as of right now, if I maintain my current performance, I'll get an average of around 3.30 in my four lower division requirements this term. So I'm off to a pretty good start. Starting for Fall 2010 though they are putting in place a maximum two course repeats, so just be aware of that. Work hard, go get help from the prof or your TA, form study groups with other students. I'm sure you'll do fine!
Getting into the habit of using the TA as a crutch can be a bad idea, though, because there's a limited amount of time to help everybody who comes to an office hour or a tutorial. But if you really don't understand something, we'll help you get started. That's what we're paid for. :)
Again, thanks guys for taking the time to type all that out.
And i got my information from this pdf. http://students.sfu.ca/forms/scheduleofclass.pdf . I looked at the Courses offered for Spring/Summer 2011. none of CRIM were there. PHYS190 wasn't there either. And some info rather than Lec or Tut, they have Sec or Sem. and some teacher's names are "Sessional". what do they mean? I'll be creating many backup schedules..haha. (my enrollment schedule isn't till July 14th. )= )
I noticed you get LABS for phys190. How do you do labs on astronomy? =\
you guys are great help. But would there be any reason for me to contact an academic advisor? I mean, I basically know the requirements to get into the business administrations and the WQBs. What would they tell me that i wouldn't already know? And if i should, Who do i contact/call for an appointment? They do appointments only right?
Astronomy labs = look in a telescope and see pretty things :P
Like NukeChem said, sessional are instructors who are brought on last-minute to fill in gaps in the schedule. Having one could be good if they want to make a good impression and put in some effort, while others lack knowledge in the area and you'll learn very little from.
If you know you want to transfer into business, I don't think you'd need to talk to them right now. Mostly they just are for getting your mind set on a certain path if you cannot settle on one choice, and helping you figure out your degree requirements. If you're feeling stressed about anything, you should definitely talk to them. They hold drop-in hours at Student Central quite often. Just explore the website and you'll find a lot of information. http://students.sfu.ca/advising/academic/index.html
for example, i do
Fall -4 courses
Spring - 4 courses
Summer - 2 courses?
possible? (just asking if its possible but i likely wont do that)
one thing that im still concerned about is the 50 non-related courses to my program (business/econ)...there's only so many 1xx courses u can take and 2xx courses usually have prerequisites. wouldnt it be stupid taking the stranger courses like chem192?
also, what's SA 150 like? are there a lot of writing involved? what exactly do they talk about? (i know there's a course outline, but they're pretty vague)
What's Communications like in general? why are they separate from English courses? hows its different? =.= im not necessarily the best at creative writing.
ok sry for the ranting questions. hahah. my scheduling is tmw so hopefully, most courses are still available. that reminds me... last one...
Year 2/3/4 students start registering later right? so how exactly do they get their desired courses? (lower division courses)...
EDIT:: I'll be taking english 105, econ 103, math157 and chem 192. hopefully, chem 192 wouldn't kill me. Dudyk or Myers or ghosh for econ? looked at rating and still couldnt decide
can you choose any tutorials listed? or do they have to be the ones under the respective lectures?
example. i take econ lecture with myers, and then i choose the Tutorial from the one listed below Dudnyk's lecture?
-Year 2/3/4 (although that isn't the specific order of enrollment) can get into lower division courses due to the large enrollment capacities (generally).
-After you choose a class, you are shown a list of tutorials and you choose one (so it is with the lecture).
And you don't have to take strange courses. Try to find a minor that you find interesting, or is relevant to what your concentration in Business will be, and then for the rest of the 50 just take things you find interesting, like CRIM 101. I plan on doing marketing and human resources management concentrations, then double minoring in Legal Studies and Communications.
I don't know about SA 150 with Ken Fish. I took it with Ann Travers, and there was little writing. 60% was for two midterms, then 40% for a final poster project.
How I view it is communication is more about the processes of communication through different mediums, like speaking, print media, music, etc. It seems to be a good foundation if you want to go into something like advertising, public relations, stuff like that, or publishing. English is more about reading literature, so anywhere from Chaucer and Shakespeare to modern day novelists.
And they do go later (except those with scholarships, who get priority enrollment), but people drop classes frequently. If they need a 100-level class with 500 people or so in it, you can bet that between 50 and 100 at least will drop the class. It's all about getting on waitlists, or having to devote like a day close to the start of the next term (when people start dropping classes) where you can just keep checking every 20 minutes or so to see if anyone dropped the class and can sneak in.
Oh, what MATH 157 class are you going to take? I'm taking it in the evening with Stephen Choi, since he sounds like the best prof teaching it at Burnaby (then again, his competition is Petra Menz, who is terrible). As for ECON 105, I'm taking it with Dudnyk. Her negative feedback seemed to be in the past, and most people on RMP said that she has amazing notes and most of her recent comments seem positive. So I decided to take the D300 section (Monday and Thursday afternoons) since it fit my schedule best. As for the other question, no that isn't possible. You must choose a tutorial section listed under your lecture. Example: If you're like me and chose lecture section D300, your tutorial must be D3XX.
Alright guys im done scheduling and it's all thanks to you guys. I got the schedule I sort of wanted with mediocre times AFTER the considerations of the people that enrolled in the first two days. This thread should be called "Guidance for/Life of VCY21" instead.
Now...I got new questions. (sry..)
How/When do i pay the tuition fee? and books...
how do i make sure that i'm enrolled and not actually wasting time while people take my spot right now? what's this confirmation of enrollment letter button i see?
How do i know where each locations are located for each of my class? (i know it says the building name, but is there gonna be a map of some sort?) and i have some classes 10mins away from each other. it's possible to get to these places in 10mins right?
what about next semester? is my enrollment date going to be behind all the other people's (two days later) again?
Books normally get into the book store late August or so, then you just have to head up to the Burnaby campus (the bookstore is in the Maggie Benston Center right off of Convo Mall) and it's easy to figure out what books to get, since they are organized by subject and by class. So there'll be things on the shelves saying "MATH 157, D100, Petra Menz" then the list of books required (and if they're in, they'll be right above that card).
Click in the SIS on something like "My Class Schedule" on the main page, and beside each class it'll either say "Enrolled" "Dropped" or "Waiting".
As for location, if you list them out we could help. But it's fairly intuitive, if you're going to Orientation you'll find out then.
And next term, unless you have a scholarship, you'll be booted to the back of the line, so probably three weeks or so after the start of enrollment. Don't worry about classes filling up as fast in the Spring term though, since all first years that started in the fall will be booted back to the end of the line. Priority enrollment is only for your first term, if you're a scholarship student, or if you have a lot of credits and are close to graduating.
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>>Click order here