By Rebecca Sarkisian (Questrom’23)
While there are many factors that influence each BU student’s unique college experience, there’s no doubt that which BU college you’re in has a major impact. For me, being a student in the Questrom School of Business and Kilachand Honors College has been a cornerstone of my time at BU. Questrom and Kilachand courses are different from each other, but being a student in both colleges has helped me in a few ways.
1. Exploring My Business Courses from Different Perspectives (and my Kilachand Courses from a Business Perspective)
Questrom and Kilachand courses are definitely distinct from one another! But that just means that there’s more opportunities to expand your thinking about different subjects. I personally like the way that Kilachand, with its focus on the global community, complements my business education. Kilachand encourages students to bring their knowledge from their major to their Kilachand classes. For example, for my Kilachand class on climate change, I wrote my final paper on mandating corporate environmental reporting standards similar to financial reporting standards. I’ve also definitely applied my Kilachand experiences to my Questrom courses as well.
2. Having a Plan to Fulfill Hub Requirements
One of the first things I did when I decided to attend BU was start making a spreadsheet of the courses I wanted to take throughout my four years here. I started with my required Questrom courses, then my Kilachand courses, and finally the courses for my Accounting concentration within Questrom. Then, I figured out which Hub units each required course satisfies. The BU Hub is essentially BU’s general education requirement, and can be fulfilled by courses both in and out of your major. When I planned it all out, I found out that my required Questrom and Kilachand courses will fulfill nearly all of my requirements, and I was able to fulfill the rest through my first-year Kilachand seminar selections. Obviously this will not be the same for everyone, but working with your advisors can help to determine your path through the Hub and how your major works with Kilachand.
3. Flexibility of the Kilachand Curriculum and Working with Advisors
Both Questrom and Kilachand have their own dedicated advisors, which has greatly helped me around course registration time. Being able to quickly go to Questrom drop-in advising, and then to an appointment with my Kilachand advisor has made the registration process so much smoother. All of the advisors do their very best to guide students’ unique academic paths. For example, working with my Kilachand advisor helped me realize that I could rearrange my Kilachand course load so that I’m not taking a 4-credit Kilachand course on top of the intensive 16-credit Questrom Core courses and additional Questrom Honors Program class I’m taking this semester. It’s also just reassuring to have a group of people to go to with questions throughout the year.
That’s just a little bit about my personal experience as a student in both Questrom and Kilachand. But no matter what you’re majoring in, you’ll find the support in Kilachand to shape whatever path you decide to take.