One of my biggest fears about coming here was facing the workload. BU is the 46th best school in the world, and it is with no surprise that with its excellent professorial team, you will have to submit a lot of papers. But there are actually a lot of presentations and assignments where students work as a team. It is a great way to understand how different people work and how culture can shape your viewpoints about the world.
Studies in the U.S. are based on readings that you do at home, followed by a discussion in class about the different understandings the students had. It is very interesting to see how the same reading can be interpreted in so many different ways. Therefore, there are no classes where the teacher is the only one speaking for 3 hours. You will be “intensively” solicited.
My common workload is reading approximately 100 to 150 pages per week across four courses. It is even more difficult when English is not your main language, and when you are reading at a lower pace. One class generally requires two individual papers, two team presentations, and one project. It can vary greatly depending on the teacher.
My common workload is reading approximately 100 to 150 pages per week across four courses. It is even more difficult when English is not your main language, and when you are reading at a lower pace. One class generally requires two individual papers, two team presentations, and one project. It can vary greatly depending on the teacher.
The grades are usually calculated by a curve method. This means that 25% of students will have A or A-, 55% will have B+ or B and 20% will have B- or less. This is a very fair method of grading since it doesn’t take into account the difficulty of the tests, but the overall performance of students instead. It usually is very revealing of participation, which is 15% to 20% of the entire grade! You cannot just come to class and listen to the teacher; you definitely have to be active in discussion whether your answers are correct or not.
In a typical class, you have a midterm and a final, which covers the presentations as well as concepts seen in class. There are no trick questions or traps!
My recommendation is to follow the readings each week and to not fall behind. If you miss readings for 1 or 2 weeks, it will be pretty hard to catch up. If you can do all the readings successfully, you will have no problem passing classes with a B+. An A- will most likely require full attendance and intense participation.
Here is an example of my spring courses in my Master Innovation & Technology Program:
As you can see, it is a mix of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. I am very glad to have such interesting yet challenging classes.
In a typical class, you have a midterm and a final, which covers the presentations as well as concepts seen in class. There are no trick questions or traps!
My recommendation is to follow the readings each week and to not fall behind. If you miss readings for 1 or 2 weeks, it will be pretty hard to catch up. If you can do all the readings successfully, you will have no problem passing classes with a B+. An A- will most likely require full attendance and intense participation.
Here is an example of my spring courses in my Master Innovation & Technology Program:
- Innovation Marketing Techniques
- Operations & New Ventures
- Innovation Process
- Business Law & Regulations
As you can see, it is a mix of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. I am very glad to have such interesting yet challenging classes.