The Core Blog

Sophomores — it’s registration weekend! This is a milestone moment. You’ll be selecting classes for next semester, which for many of you is your fourth in the Core, and potentially your final one.

Now, it is well known that there are myriad benefits — intellectual, social, and logistical — for finishing Core in the second-year spring. But… which are the BEST benefits?

To find out, we’ve asked Core upperclassmen to share their thoughts on this question. Here are their top ten answers.

“By taking the last semester of Core…”

10. “… you’ll completely fulfill your Gen Ed requirements! Natural Science, Social Science, Humanities, Math & Comp Sci, and Writing, all checked off. Foolproof!”

9. “… you’ll be eligible to have the honorific annotation appear on your transcript: ‘Completed the Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum in Arts and Sciences.’Alumni tell us that because this is an unusual feature, it becomes a great talking point for job interviews and on applications for professional and graduate school.”

8. “… you’ll be finishing the chronological journey from the Ancient World to the age of Modernity. You’ll be among a small set of students at BU whose mastery of essential authors and artists gives them a view on how human culture and reasoning has developed throughout that entire stretch of history!”

7. “… you’ll have an additional chance to take a Core class that satisfies a pre-req or course requirement for your major. Core gives equivalencies to students in majors including Anthropology, Classics, English, History, IR, Modern Languages, Comp Lit, Philosophy, Poli Sci, Religion, and Sociology.”

6. “… you’ll be taking part in the Core community at the time when it is at its peak. We’ve all gone through two years together, and the last spring semester is when we have our banquet, print our journal, pick our tee-shirts, and look ahead to what comes with Life After Core.”

5. “… you’ll be a part of the ongoing conversation at the weekly meetings of Word and Way, Core’s social club. Whatever your program of study or background, this is a space for us to come together with our different viewpoints and enjoy stimulating discussion in a supportive atmosphere.”

4. “… you’ll enjoy an additional semester of free coffee, snacks, and shirts thanks to the generosity of the Core office. Peanut-butter pretzels save lives, people.”

3. “… you’ll be a able to say that you received a deep and broad liberal arts education from a top university, regardless of your major.”

2. “… you’ll have a final chance to cultivate a rapport with a Core faculty member who may become your mentor or advisor.”

1. “… you’ll give lasting strength to your Core friendships… because friends don’t let friends quit Core.”

(BONUS REASON: You’ll understand the symbols, imagery and arcane messages on the new Core teeshirt, because you’ll have actually read and discussed the texts that inspired the shirt design. Maybe you’ll even want to be on the shirt committee! With shirt power comes shirt responsibility.)

We could go on and on, but we trust that if you’ve come this far, you are already well aware of the reasons for continuing in Core. All right then: good luck with your registration numbers! We’ll see you in Core in the spring.

Signed:

Chloe, Yanni, Shanti, and the other upperclassmen who were hanging out in the Core office this week.