School of General Studies

2007-03-27T19:09:43Z

Hacker:

{{Infobox school
|Name=General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=1947
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], [[BS]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences
|Enrollment=1,260 Undergraduate, 433 Postbac students (2006)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ 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 29.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/viewbook/students.htm GS Viewbook]</ref>

== 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.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> For transfer students, a minimum college GPA of 3.00 is required.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/FAQ_transferstudents.htm Source: GS admissions FAQ for transfer students]</ref> 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. <ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/FAQ_transferstudents.htm Source: ibid]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

The School tends to admit nearly 50% of applicants.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/admissions_2006.html Admissions Statistics 2004-2006]</ref> 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. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

== 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.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref> 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 following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature
|2 Literature Courses OR [[Literature Humanities]]
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!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]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]] or Asian Humanities (Music) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Humanities/Social Science
|2 courses each in Humanities and Social Science (students have the option to take [[Contemporary Civilization]], which satisfies the Social Science requirement.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], which satisfies both a Science and the Quantitative requirements
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|-
!Science
|3 science courses OR [[Frontiers of Science]]
|3 science courses: [[Frontiers of Science]] AND two additional science courses
|-
!Cultural Diversity
|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.
|2 courses from the Major Cultures [http://www.college.columbia.edu/DocRep/academics/core/major_cult.pdf Approved Courses List]
|}

=== 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 [[School of Continuing Education|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 defined as a school for 'non-traditional students,' which refers to anyone who has had a gap of one year or more in his or her education (secondary or post-secondary). Columbia College is for 'traditional students,' who matriculate directly from high school or have taken only one year out in their educations. Generally, students eligible to apply to Columbia College are ineligible to apply to GS, and vice versa.

=== A Single GS Identity ===

The wide range of individuals that comprise the GS student body, from working professionals or individuals returning to school full-time to earn a degree, to students who took time off before attending college, to traditional-aged students enrolled in the [[Joint Degree Program]] with [[List College]] at [[JTS]], to postbac premed students, makes the idea of a solitary "GS student" identity problematic; instead, the school should be seen as an exemplar of diversity.

== Notes ==
<references />

==Further Reading==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_School_of_General_Studies Wikipedia Entry]

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]

[[Category:Schools]]
* [http://gslounge.com/ GSLOUNGE] (Official Site of the [[GSSC]])

{{Schools}}

2007-03-27T15:33:57Z

Hacker: /* Undergraduate Academics */

{{Infobox school
|Name=General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=1947
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], [[BS]], Post-Bac Certificate in Pre-Med
|Enrollment=1,164 Undergraduate, 433 Post-Bac students (2005)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ 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 median age of GS students is 29.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/viewbook/students.htm GS Viewbook]</ref>

== 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. For example, GPA is a factor in admissions; for transfer students, a minimum college GPA of 3.00 is quoted.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/FAQ_transferstudents.htm Source: GS admissions FAQ for transfer students]</ref> 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. <ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/FAQ_transferstudents.htm Source: ibid]</ref>

The School tends to admit between forty and fifty per cent of applicants. The profile of the applicant pool or the admitted pool is unknown. A large number of the students are apparently transfer students as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref>

Although there is little evidence to support the claim, there is a persistent notion that GS is a 'back-door' to Columbia. The general impression is that GS students come to Columbia with lower SAT scores, lower GPA, and fewer 'accomplishments.' This is contradicted somewhat by the high percentage of students transferring credit, which indicates that most admitted students have a history of good performance and readiness for college level work.

== Undergraduate Academics ==
Undergraduates are require 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.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref> 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 following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but course the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature
|2 Literature Courses OR [[Literature Humanities]]
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!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]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]] or Asian Humanities (Music) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Humanities/Social Science
|2 courses each in Humanities and Social Science (optionally [[Contemporary Civilization]] satisfies the Social Science requirement.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam:600 on Math section of SAT OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], which satisfies both a Science and the Quantitative requirements
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|-
!Science
|3 science courses: [[Frontiers of Science]] AND two additional science courses
|3 science courses: [[Frontiers of Science]] AND two additional science courses
|-
!Cultural Diversity
|1 course in a non-western culture
|2 courses from the Major Cultures [http://www.college.columbia.edu/DocRep/academics/core/major_cult.pdf Approved Courses List]
|}

=== 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 given range from $2,000 to $15,000, although awards of over $10,000 tend to be only rarely ever given.
The scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are thoroughly inadequate when compared to those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need based aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants and personal funds to finance their Columbia educations, typically GS only contributes a small fraction of what is needed. 2006 saw financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students, GS increased their scholarship offerings by a small amount in an attempt to keep pace with the reforms and deflect criticism.

== History ==
The School of General Studies was spun off from the University Extension Program in 1947. 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, whereas 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]].

It initially served to educate GIs returning from World War II. 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 A.B. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, its faculty merged into the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Since then, the classes available to GS students are generally the same as those available to Columbia College students.

== 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 subscribe to the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night and they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program
:GS is degree-granting college. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. GS is very serious about keeping its undergraduates on track to earn a degree, and aimless class takers are put on academic probation. The separate [[School of Continuing Education]] offers individual courses on non-degree basis.
* GS is a back door to CC. Arguable:
:* While the criteria for admission is different between GS and CC, GS admission criteria is not divulged, so it is impossible to say for sure.
:* GS students and CC students have access to and take the same classes, GS is a back door to those classes.
:* The statement itself is logically unsound, since they are entirely different programs, how can one be a back door to the other?

== 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 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., creating a redundancy within the University. While this 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.

The financial aspect of the decision to create GS is underscored by the lack of financial aid funding for GS students. Because GS operates separately from the [[Division of Student Affairs|joint administration]] of CC and SEAS, it was not covered in the plan to eliminate student loans for CC and SEAS students with family incomes below certain levels.

The somewhat arbitrary delineations between the College and GS have grown as a result of attempts to reconcile the overlap and provide each school with a mission. However, 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 and what separates them from their fellow students in the College. This makes 'integrating' GS with the other schools difficult, as different parts of the GS student body have very different needs.

== Notes ==
<references />

==Further Reading==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_School_of_General_Studies Wikipedia Entry]

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]

[[Category:Schools]]
* [http://gslounge.com/ GSLOUNGE] (Official Site of the [[GSSC]])

{{Schools}}