School of General Studies

General Studies
Established	1947
President	{{{President}}}
Dean	Peter Awn
Degrees	BA, BS, Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences
Enrollment	1,260 Undergraduate, 433 Postbac students (2006)
Website	www.gs.columbia.edu

The School of General Studies, or GS is a degree-granting college of Columbia University. It confers Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Science degrees in over forty different majors. In addition to its undergraduate program, GS also offers a joint program with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary as well as a postbaccalaureate premedical program. The average age of GS students is 27.

Admissions

Although the School of General Studies is notoriously tight-lipped about its admission criteria and the statistics on admitted students, some information is available. Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit. For transfer students, a minimum college GPA of 3.00 is required. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website

The School tends to admit nearly 50% of applicants. The profile of the applicant pool or the admitted pool is unknown.

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [1]

Academics

GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University. GS students must complete the core requirements and a major. GS students may attend full-time or part-time, while CC students are expected to attend full-time (part-time study is accepted under special circumstances.)

Core Requirements

The GS Core requirements provide the foundation for a solid liberal arts education, assuring that students develop critical skills in writing and quantitative reasoning, while exposing them to a range of knowledge that will broaden and enhance their education. Flexibility within the Core requirements allows students to choose from several different departments to fulfill specified Core fields in science, literature, humanities, and social sciences, thereby encouraging students to explore new areas of inquiry and develop their individual intellectual interests.

Note: Students who matriculated to the School of General Studies before fall 2003 are required to complete the GS distribution requirements in place at the time of their matriculation. However, students readmitted to GS after an absence of more than three years are bound by the current Core requirements. For a complete list of the distribution requirements prior to fall 2003, please see Distribution Requirements.

The following table lists the core requirements for CC and GS:

	CC	GS
Writing	University Writing	University Writing
Literature	Literature Humanities	Literature Humanities OR 2 Literature Courses
Foreign Language	4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam	4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
Art	Art Humanities	Art Humanities OR Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution.
Music	Music Humanities	Music Humanities OR Asian Humanities (Music) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution.
Humanities/Social Science	Contemporary Civilization	Contemporary Civilization OR 2 courses each in Humanities and Social Science.
Quantitative Reasoning	Covered under Science requirement	Covered under Science requirement OR exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT.
Physical Education	Two semesters of physical education and Swim test.	None
Science	Frontiers of Science and 2 additional science courses	3 science courses, one of which can be Frontiers of Science
Cultural Diversity	2 courses from the Major Cultures Approved Courses List	1 course that focuses on a culture, society, literature, or language of a nation or region that, as a general principle, is located outside the United States, Canada, or Europe.

GENERAL RULES

• Only courses of 3 or more credits taken for a letter grade can fulfill GS Core requirements.
• No course taken Pass/Fail can satisfy a Core requirement.
• AP credit cannot be used to fulfill a Core requirement, except for foreign languages.
• GS advisors determine whether a transfer course satisfies a Core requirement.
• GS advisors must approve all courses used to fulfill a Core requirement.

With the exception of the cultural diversity requirement and Frontiers of Science (Science C1000), no single course may be used to satisfy more than one GS Core requirement.

Students may count two courses from their major department toward the fulfillment of GS Core requirements; the limit on overlap is two, even if a student is a double major.

WRITING

University Writing, required of all GS students in their first semesters, facilitates students' entry into the intellectual life of the university by helping them to become more capable and independent academic readers and writers. With its small section size and emphases on the writing process and revision, critical analysis, collaboration, and research, the course provides an occasion for students to develop academic habits and skills important to their success in future courses. In planning their first semesters of study at Columbia, GS students should start by choosing the section of English F1010—University Writing that best fits their schedules. Non-native English speakers must reach level 10 in the American Language Program prior to registering for English F1010. In exceptional cases, a student may be permitted to enroll in University Writing during their second semester of study at GS.

LITERATURE

Literature courses expose students to master writers recognized for their ability to convey ideas, feelings, and images through the power and play of words. The study of literature provides students with an opportunity to deepen their critical reading and writing skills. The GS literature requirement is fulfilled by two literature courses, one of which must be taken at Columbia. In addition to the rich variety of courses in the English and Comparative Literature Department, students may choose from among the many literature courses found in Columbia's foreign language and literature departments as well as from the list of special GS colloquia. Courses on literature in translation, as well as literature courses in foreign languages at the 3000 level or above, may satisfy the literature requirement. GS students may also elect to take the two-semester Literature-Humanities course, Masterpieces of European Literature and Philosophy, (Humanities F1001-1002) to fulfill the literature or humanities requirement.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The study of a foreign language often opens up a whole new way of seeing, understanding, and describing the world. Today's students should not be limited by a single language, but should be able to think and communicate in a language other than their native tongues. GS requires that all candidates for the bachelor's degree demonstrate competence in a second language at or beyond intermediate level. In order to achieve this level of fluency and encourage more advanced language study, students are expected to reach intermediate-level proficiency by the time they have reached junior standing. Intermediate-level proficiency in a foreign language is assessed in one of the following ways:

• An appropriate score on the SAT II subject test or Advanced Placement test, taken before matriculation to GS, as determined by relevant departments for specific languages;
• Demonstrating intermediate-level competence on the language placement test administered by relevant departments or programs. Language placement tests must be taken within the first two semesters of study at GS, or, in cases where a student undertakes language study as part of a Columbia-approved study abroad program, at the beginning of the next term of enrollment after returning from study abroad;
• Approved transfer credits in foreign language study showing intermediate-level proficiency (usually two years of study);
• The satisfactory completion of the intermediate level of a language sequence at Columbia, as determined by the relevant department (usually the fourth term of a language);
• Completing secondary education in another country in a language other than English.

Students should speak with their GS advisors soon after matriculating at GS to discuss how they will satisfy this requirement. Because fulfillment of the language requirement can take four semesters of study to fulfill, students who have not fulfilled the language requirement by placement test, AP scores, or transfer credit are required to begin their language study no later than their second year at GS, and to continue enrollment in language courses each semester until the requirement has been met.

Native speakers of languages other than English must take a language placement test within two semesters of matriculating at GS. If a placement test in a particular language is not available at Columbia, students should speak with their GS advisors about alternative testing arrangements. Students diagnosed with a language learning disability must register with the Office of Disability Services in order to be considered for an accommodation for the foreign language requirement.

ART AND MUSIC

The art and music humanities Core courses are designed to awaken and encourage in students an appreciation of art and music; to help them learn to respond intelligently to a variety of musical idioms and artistic genres by developing analytical skills and a conceptual framework for interpretation; and to engage students in debates about the character and purpose of music and art throughout human history. GS students must fulfill both an art and music humanities requirement.

Art Humanities

This Core requirement is fulfilled by one of the following:

• Art Humanities W1121−Masterpieces of Western Art;
• Asian Humanities V3340−Art in China, Japan and Korea;
• Asian Humanities V3342−Masterpieces of Indian Art and Architecture;
• Asian Humanities V3343−Masterpieces of Islamic Art and Architecture;
• Exemption based on a comparable course taken at another college or university; (Petition forms for this exemption are available in the Dean of Students Office and are reviewed by the Chair of Art Humanities.)

If the art humanities requirement is fulfilled with Masterpieces of Western Art (W1121) or an approved, equivalent transfer course, students should not take Barnard Art History 1001 or 1002 as this constitutes a duplication of coursework and thus would not count toward the GS degree.

Music Humanities

This Core requirement is fulfilled by one of the following:

• Music Humanities W1123−Masterpieces of Western Music;
• Asian Humanities V3320−Musics of East Asia and Southeast Asia;
• Asian Humanities V3321−Musics of India and West Asia;
• Passing the Music Humanities test administered during the first week of each term by the Music Department (621 Dodge Hall);
• Exemption based on a comparable course taken at another college or university. (Petition forms for this exemption are available in the Dean of Students Office and are reviewed by the Chair of the Music Humanities.)

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Students are required to take two courses selected from the humanities offerings and two courses in social sciences. Courses in the social sciences provide students with a basis for understanding social systems and the interactions of individuals and societies, while humanities courses offer ways to understand the development of cultures and how humans express themselves in art, music, literature, architecture, drama, and religion. By choosing to fulfill these Core requirements early on in their academic plans of study, students may discover a field of study they wish to pursue further and develop into a major.

The following interdisciplinary programs offer courses in both humanities and social sciences. GS advisors must determine the appropriate category for a course when taken to satisfy a GS Core requirement.

• African Studies
• African-American Studies
• American Studies
• Asian American Studies
• Comparative Ethnic Studies
• Comparative Literature and Society
• East Asian Languages & Cultures
• Human Rights
• Latino Studies
• Middle East and Asian Languages & Cultures
• Women's and Gender Studies

Humanities

Students must select two humanities courses from the following departments or above-mentioned interdisciplinary programs to count toward the GS Core requirement. In foreign language departments, only courses at the 3000 level or above will be considered toward the GS Core humanities requirement.

• Archaeology
• Architecture
• Art History and Archaeology
• Classics
• English and Comparative Literature
• Film Studies
• Germanic Languages
• History
• Italian
• Music
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Slavic Languages
• Spanish and Portuguese

GS students may also elect to take the two-semester Literature-Humanities course, Masterpieces of European Literature and Philosophy, (Humanities F1001-1002) to fulfill the humanities or literature requirement.

Social Sciences

Students must select two social sciences courses from the following departments or abovementioned interdisciplinary programs to fulfill the GS Core social sciences requirement:

• Anthropology
• Economics
• Political Science
• Psychology (all Barnard department offerings but only Columbia department courses at the 2600 or 3600 level)
• Sociology

GS students may also elect to take the two-semester Contemporary Western Civilization course (Contemporary Civilization F1101-1102) to fulfill the social science requirement.

QUANTITATIVE REASONING

Courses required to fulfill the quantitative reasoning (QR) requirement aim to develop skills in quantitative analysis and deductive reasoning, which are particularly relevant to the study of science and social sciences. Students who have earned minimum test scores of 600 on the Math SAT or 27 on the math subsection of the ACT within the past eight years are considered to have met the quantitative reasoning requirement. All other students are required to take the GS quantitative reasoning exam during or prior to Orientation. Passing the test satisfies the quantitative reasoning requirement. Based on the QR test results, GS advisors will help students choose a course from the GS-approved list of quantitative reasoning courses. When choosing a QR course, students must make sure they have reviewed and met the specified prerequisites for the course prior to enrollment.

Any course selected from the following departments fulfills the GS quantitative reasoning requirement when passed with a satisfactory letter grade:

• Computer Science (except W1001, S1021D, S1022Q)
• Economics (Columbia department only)
• Mathematics
• Statistics
• Science C1000: Frontiers of Science satisfies both the QR and science requirements when passed with a letter-grade of C or above.

In addition, the following courses have been approved as satisfying the Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a satisfactory letter grade.

• Economics BC2411—Statistics for Economics
• Philosophy F1401—Elementary Logic
• Philosophy V3411—Symbolic Logic
• Political Science BC3345—Statistical Analysis of Politics and Policy
• Political Science W4209—Game Theory and Political Theory
• Political Science W4360—Mathematical Methods for Political Science
• Political Science W4910—Principles of Quantitative Political Research
• Psychology BC1101—Statistics Sociology V1205—Evaluation of Evidence
• Sociology BC3211—Quantitative Methods
• Sociology V1205—Evaluation of Evidence
• Sociology V3212—Methods of Social Research
• Urban Studies BC3200—Program Evaluation: Methods and Case Studies

Barnard Courses

Note that Barnard students are given preference for enrollment in Barnard courses that may fulfill the GS QR requirement. Barnard courses that fulfill a GS core requirement will not necessarily count toward a major at Columbia if a student chooses to major or concentrate in one of these fields. (See individual departments concerning courses approved and required for the major.)

Updated List of Approved QR Courses

The list of approved courses for the QR requirement is updated yearly. If a particular quantitative reasoning course does not appear on the list, students should ask their GS advisor about its appropriateness for the requirement.

SCIENCE

The science requirement aims to develop critical awareness of the methods and limits of scientific inquiry, while fostering observational and analytical skills particularly in reference to the natural world. To fulfill the science requirement, students must successfully complete three courses selected from the following Columbia departments:

• Astronomy
• Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Earth and Environmental Sciences (Columbia department only)
• Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
• Physics
• Psychology (Columbia courses only, except V3167 and1600-, 2600-, 3600- and 4600-level courses)
• Science C1000: Frontiers of Science satisfies both the science and QR requirements when passed with a letter-grade of C or above.

Courses taught through the Columbia-sponsored Summer Ecosystem Experience for Undergraduates (SEE-U) program also count towards the science requirements. When choosing a science course, students should make sure they have reviewed and met the specified prerequisites for the course prior to enrollment. Students who are considering careers in science-related fields, including health-related professions, are urged to begin their study of science within the first semester or two after matriculation at GS. Students majoring in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Statistics are allowed to have two of their major courses count toward the science course requirements (within the permitted limits of major/Core course overlap).

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

The GS cultural diversity requirement is intended to ensure that students are exposed to cultures other than their own and expand upon the ways they view the world. To that end, students are required to take at least one course that focuses on a culture, society, literature, or language of a nation or region that, as a general principle, is located outside the United States, Canada, or Europe. Columbia offers an excellent diversity of courses that focus on Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and various regions of Asia. Students are encouraged to choose a course outside their own ethnic or cultural framework as well as to go beyond the one-course requirement to explore a diversity of cultures or one particular culture in depth. A course meeting a major requirement or another Core requirement may simultaneously fulfill the cultural diversity requirement.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are generally the same for both GS and CC.

Financial Aid

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based, and the amounts awarded range from $500 to $18,000.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006.)

History

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that Barnard College is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1967 the University first decided (over the objection of the Columbia College Faculty) to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the Division of Continuing Education. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the Faculty of Arts & Sciences.

Housing

General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS Room Selection process. However, many GS students receive housing through University Apartment Housing.

Myths

• GS is night school.

GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, which are available to all students.

• GS is an extension program.

GS is a degree-granting college. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. The separate School of Continuing Education offers individual courses on non-degree basis.

• GS is a back door to CC.

• GS and CC are separate administrative units. It is not possible to go from GS to CC; in some cases, students can go from CC to GS.

Relationship to Columbia College

The School of General Studies is loosely defined as a school for 'non-traditional students.' Non-traditional in GS terms seems to refer to anybody who has had a gap of one year or more in their undergraduate studies. By inference, Columbia College is for 'traditional students' who matriculate directly from high school and have not had a gap of more than one year in their undergraduate studies. On this basis, students interested are applying to study at Columbia University are tracked to an 'appropriate' school. These admissions criteria favor tracking older students into the School of General Studies and is de facto if not de jure age discrimination.

Part of the tension between Columbia College and General Studies stems from the University's 1967 decision (over the objection of the Columbia College Faculty) to allow GS to grant the A.B. degree in addition to the B.S., undermining one of the few priveleges Columbia College had within a University that was often hostile to its very existence. As a result, even though GS and CC students are academically indistinguishable- they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University- GS is treated as a lesser school, possibly at the instigiation of a still resentful College.

While the University's decision eliminated the College's exclusive prerogative to grant the A.B. degree, the University most likely viewed it as yet another revenue stream. It should be noted that for a large part of it's history, the University administration has paid scant attention to the College. Then-dean of the College David Truman reportedly broke into tears when he learned of the Trustees' decision.

At the time each of schools had a faculty independent of the other, with professors able to hold joint-appointments between multiple faculties. There was likely a certain sense of the College faculty's privilege to grant the A.B. being encroached on. The independent faculties of the schools have since been integrated into a single Faculty of Arts and Science.

With the integration of the faculties, it becomes harder to justify the segregation of GS within the University. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics- though this is related both to GS's much later decision dates, and the opacity of it's admissions process. GS releases few statistics about its incoming class, leading to speculation that GS lets in students with subpar statistics, which the University then 'hides.' This is also the grounds for accusations that GS is a "back door" to a Columbia undergraduate education.

Additionally GS students deal with a dearth of financial aid funding. Because GS is operated separately from the joint administration of CC and SEAS, it is not covered in the plan to eliminate student loans for CC and SEAS students with family incomes below $50,000, an initiative applicable only to the financial aid office under CC/SEAS's Division of Student Affairs.

The somewhat arbitrary delineations between the College and GS have grown as a result of attempts to reconcile the overlap between the schools while justifying the disparate standing of the schools within the University. The wide range of constituents forming the GS student body, from professionals or drop outs returning to school for a degree, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional' age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at JTS, to post-bac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College.

Further reading

• History of the School of General Studies
• IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS) - The Spectator 3/5/07
• The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)
• Wikipedia article

External links

• GS website
• GS Housing website
• OwlNet, GS Alumni website
• GSLOUNGE (Official Site of the GSSC)