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Five College Courses in the BDIC MajorMany BDIC students include courses from the other colleges in the Valley (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith) in their BDIC concentrations. Since each institution has its own numbering system, the following classifications apply to the requirement that BDIC students have upper-level courses in their concentrations. In developing these, we are guided by each College’s statements about what courses are considered appropriate for their own juniors and seniors in a major or discipline. Amherst CollegeGeneral Rule: Courses numbered 21 or higher can be considered upper-level.Language courses: All courses which provide language instruction are numbered 1-9; the course name should serve as a guide (e.g., Chinese 3 and 4 are the two semesters of “Second Year Chinese,” and would be lower-level, but Chinese 5 and 6 are “Third-Year Chinese,” and would be upper-level). Exceptions to these rules will be unlikely, because Amherst classifies all courses numbered 11-20 as “introductory.” Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith CollegesGeneral Rule: Courses numbered 300 or higher can be considered upper-level. At all three of these colleges, courses numbered 100-199 are “introductory.” : Hampshire’s courses numbered 200-299 are those considered “fundamental” for students interested in pursuing further study in the discipline (in other words, similar to courses such as POLSCI 203 or RES EC 211 at the University of Massachusetts). Mount Holyoke and Smith both classify courses numbered 200-299 as “intermediate” (comparable to the University of Massachusetts’ CHEM 250 or ENGL 266).However, because there is so much discrepancy in the interpretation of the numbering systems at Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith, each class that is below 300 level must be defended (a course description should be provided for each) on the same basis as are requests to include lower-level University of Massachusetts courses. Credit / Course EquivalenciesMany standard courses at the Five Colleges carry four credits, but some carry only two. The BDIC major is based on both the number of courses completed and the number of credits earned in each course. As with a University of Massachusetts course, a Five-College course must be at least three credits to be included in the BDIC concentration, and each four-credit course counts as one course only.Searching for courses in the Five College SystemWe have up-to-date Five College catalogs and scheduling information at the BDIC office. The Five College catalogs are also available online. Please refer to "WWW Resources" below:WWW Resouces |
BDIC Main Office608 Goodell
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