Classes at James Madison University
A college life experience usually lasts four to five years on average. There are different names assigned to each year you are in: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior year. One year is divided into two semesters, Fall and Spring semester. So far, I have completed almost two years at JMU. Next Fall I will be a Junior.
James Madison University has a system that requires every student, no matter what major you choose, to complete a general education program composed of five different clusters. Click here to find out more about those clusters, which are skills for the 21st century, arts and humanities, the natural world, social and cultural processes and last individuals in the human community.
Every student is required to take at least 60 credit-hours outside the College he/she is studying in. In my case, my major is International Business, which is a program that is part of the College of Business at JMU. So I have to take at least 60 credit-hours outside the College of Business, which are these classes required to complete the five different clusters in the general education program and a few other classes as well.
Each class you take has a number of credits assigned to it. Those credits may vary from 1 to 4 credits. Most of the classes are 3 credits classes. It usually takes a student 120 credit-hours in order to graduate from JMU. Those 120 credit-hours may vary from one major to another. In order to graduate from JMU in International Business and receive a B.B.A. (Bachelor of Business Administration), I need 120 credit-hours.
Here is a list of all the classes I have taken at JMU and classes that I will be taking next Fall semester 2004.
|
Fall 2002 |
Credits |
Spring 2003 |
Credits |
| GBUS 160B (BUS DECISION MKG MOD SOC) | 3 | GECON 200 (INTRO MACROECONOMICS) | 3 |
| GCOM 121B (BASIC HUMAN COMM) | 3 | GER 232 (INTERMEDIATE GERMAN) | 3 |
| GHIST 102 (WORLD CULTURE SINCE 1650) | 3 | GKIN 100 (LIFETIME FITNESS & WELL) | 3 |
| GWRIT 101 (READ AND COMP) | 3 | GWRIT 102B (READING AND COMPOSITION) | 3 |
| MATH 156 (COLLEGE ALGEBRA) | 3 | MATH 205 (INTRODUCTORY CALCULUS I) | 3 |
During the summer 2000, I attended a summer EFL program (English as a Foreign Language) at Georgetown University. I was also able to transfer two credits to James Madison University that counted as Education 490 (Special topics in education).
So far, I have passed all my classes except COB 291 (Introduction to Management Science), which I dropped in Spring 2003. I decided to drop it in the middle of Spring semester 2003 because it was a very difficult class and I was not going to passed it. I will be retaking that class next Fall semester.
At the end of this Spring semester I will have earned 62 credit-hours (60 credits from James Madison University and 2 credits from Georgetown University). I cannot believe that my second year is over and that I have completed a half of my curriculum. Normally, I should be able to graduate from JMU in Mai 2006.
All those semester fly by so quickly !!!
