Review of General Education Requirements
Students entering Brandeis in August 2003 or afterwards must fulfill the following graduation requirements:
- 1 University Seminar (USEM)
The writing sequence:
- Option 1: USEM+W and TWO writing intensive courses
- Option 2: Univeristy Writing Seminar (UWS) and ONE writing intensive course.
- 1 class in each of four schools: Creative Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences.
1 class in Non-Western culture.
1 class devoted to Quantitative Reasoning skills.
Foreign Language expertise equivalent to Level 30.
2 Physical Education (PE) classes (non credit-bearing)
All departmental requirements for 1 major (minors do not fulfill this requirement).
128 credit hours (= 32 classes)
A minimum of 7 complete academic semesters in residence.
Are you unsure of your progress towards meeting general education requirements?
You can check your records at Sage.Brandeis.edu. Fill in your Student ID and PIN code. SAGE will then allow you to check your course history, progress towards graduation including a specific audit of your general education requirements, or projected progress (which includes your courses currently underway and/or pre-enrollment choices). Sheila Reeder, Assistant Registrar, is also available to discuss your progress toward completion of your general education requirements. Your departmental advisor is the best person to meet with to review progress towards the concentration.
Majors, Minors, Programs
Even if you know a lot of people planning to double major, be assured that in order to graduate you only need to fulfill the requirements of one major. Do you remember filling out your Major Declaration Form at the end of sophomore year? This form lists the courses you need to take to complete the departmental requirements. Did you keep it? Well, even if you didn't, take heart, as major requirements are outlined in The Univeristy Bulletin. Plus, your department should have a copy of your Major Declaration Form on file, as does the Registrar's Office.
At the end of senior fall, the staff of the Registrar's Office begins to work with departments to figure out if there may be problems with seniors fulfilling major requirements. If you think you might have a problem completing one major before you graduate, you should be in touch with your department and with the Senior Coordinator in the Registrar's Office as soon as possible.
As soon as the Registrar's Office receives information from the departments about a potential lost major, they notify students via campus voice mail and/or email. (Even if you live off-campus, you should be in the habit of checking your Brandeis University campus phone, email and student mailbox on a regular basis).
If you'd like to be proactive about checking your major status, you can take the following steps:
- a) contact the departmental administrator in your major to review your Major Declaration form
- b) work with your major advisor and/or the Undergraduate Advising Head to address any questions regarding substitute courses or missing requirements
c) make sure you come to Usdan 130 with the appropriate forms to declare any heretofore undeclared majors (or minors) in Academic Services prior to graduation.
Feel free to consult with Wendy Russman-Halperin, the Advisor to the Junior and Senior Classes, or with Sheila Reeder, Assistant Registrar, at any time with questions.
