External Transfer Information

Why the School of Management?

The School of Management is unique because it…

  • Is a small community of approximately 2,200 undergraduates located within a large university setting.
  • Offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the different disciplines of business.
  • Provides excellent educational facilities with access to the newest technologies.
  • Allows you to learn more and better by working in teams.
  • Teaches you to think globally, beginning with exposure to a diverse class make-up and a myriad of viewpoints.
  • Encourages you to further develop your leadership skills by joining one of the many student organizations.

Transfer Criteria

Students transferring to the School of Management from institutions outside of Boston University have an average GPA of 3.5. Visit BU Admissions’ website for more information regarding application requirements.

Boston University accepts the Common Application exclusively.  Complete your application and the required Boston University supplement.

To familiarize yourself with the School of Management requirements, please visit the Virtual Undergraduate Program Office.

The Boston University School of Management is accredited by, and follows the guidelines of, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Program Requirements

Transfer students are required to fulfill all degree and residency requirements of the School of Management.  The sequential nature of the School of Management curriculum results in transfer students enrolling in a minimum of five full-time semesters in order to earn the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree.  This is due to the prerequisite nature of the business core curriculum.  A semester-by-semester diagram follows:

SEMESTER
1		 SEMESTER
2		 SEMESTER
3		 SEMESTER
4		 SEMESTER
5		 SEMESTER
6
SM131 AC221 AC222 FE323 SMG Elective SI422
FE101 SM221 SM222 MK323 SMG Elective SMG Elective
CMS* OB221 IS223 OM323 SMG Elective Any additional free
electives needed to
reach credit requirements
Elective LA245 Elective SM321 Free Elective
Elective SM151 CMS* Business Plan CMS*
Elective

*CMS: Career Management Seminar

A transfer student is required to complete 34 specific course requirements for the BSBA degree. The maximum number of credits that may be transferred from another institution is 60.  Students must also accumulate a minimum of 129 credits plus Career Management Seminars to complete their degree requirements.

Which Classes Transfer?

  • To transfer, the grade earned in the class must be equal to a C or better, and the content and depth of the course must be similar to a course offered at Boston University.
  • Most liberal arts courses are awarded with transfer credit that can count towards a core, Level A liberal arts, or Level B liberal arts requirement.
  • Other transferable courses are awarded Level C elective credit.  Examples include classes in communications, engineering, and education.
  • Transfer credit is also awarded for strong scores in AP, IB, A-Level, and German Abitur exams.  Acceptable exams are limited to the liberal arts.
  • The School of Management offers transfer students an option to submit syllabi and take waiver exams, a way to transfer courses and pass out of the School’s course requirements (see further down for details on waiver exams).
  • We will not transfer courses that we consider to be upper-level management or business courses. Examples include courses in Finance, Management Information Systems, Marketing, and Operations Management.

Course Requirements

I. Foundational Management Courses (2 courses)

During their first semester at the School, transfer students enroll in Business, Society & Ethics and Introduction to Finance (SM131 and FE101).  These courses serve as prerequisites to the School’s other core courses, as listed below.

II. Management Core Requirements (9 courses)

  • AC221: Financial Accounting
  • AC222: Managerial Accounting
  • OB221: The Dynamics of Leading Organizations
  • IS223: Information Systems
  • SM221: Probabilistic and Statistical Decision Making for Management
  • SM222: Modeling Business Decisions and Market Outcomes
  • LA245: Introduction to Law
  • SM151: Creating Value for the New Economy
  • SI422: Strategy and Policy

The first eight courses above are completed over the course of two or three semesters and must be completed prior to enrollment in the Cross-Functional Core.  The last course, SI422, is a capstone course and is completed in the senior year.

III. The Cross-Functional Core (4 courses)

The Cross-Functional Core is a team-taught program comprised of the following four courses:

  • FE323: Financial Management
  • MK323: Marketing Management
  • OM323: Operations & Technology Management
  • SM321: Analytics III

IV. SMG Electives (4 courses)

Upon completion of SM323, students enroll in their School of Management electives.  These four elective courses are defined as any courses offered by the School of Management that are not one of the thirteen required courses.  They are upper-level specialty courses in a student’s chosen concentration: Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Management, International Management, Law, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Operations & Technology Management, or Organizational Behavior.

V. Liberal Arts Coursework (11 courses)

The School of Management aims for each student to acquire both a solid foundation in the liberal arts as well as knowledge in the field of management.  The liberal arts foundation consists of twelve courses:

  • CAS EC101: Introductory Microeconomic Analysis
  • CAS EC102: Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis
  • CAS WR100: English composition course
  • CAS MA121 (or higher): A calculus-based mathematics class
  • Three Level A liberal arts electives
  • Four Level B liberal arts electives

These courses are usually taken concurrently with the other requirements.  Detailed information about Level A and Level B liberal arts requirements can be found in the Undergraduate Programs Bulletin.

VI. Level C Elective (1 course)

The School of Management encourages students to broaden their educational experience by taking elective courses.  The Level C elective requirement is defined as one 4-credit academic elective taken in addition to the required four School of Management electives and seven liberal arts electives.  They may be from any program at Boston University other than the School of Management.  Please be aware that physical education (PDP), health, dance, music, choir, band, and ROTC courses cannot be counted as Level C electives.

The School of Management awards Level C elective credit for the following types of courses:

  • Additional statistics coursework (similar to SMG SM222)
  • Introductory business coursework
  • Any business or business-related coursework that is not offered by the School of Management

VII. Career Management Seminars

Students are required to take one Career Management Seminar each year they are at the School of Management. It is expected that students will take a minimum of two.

VIII. Credit Requirement

Students who transfer into the School of Management must complete a total of 129 credits plus Career Management Seminars, in addition to the course requirements listed above.  Any academic credit can count towards this total.

Waiver Exams

Transfer students who have completed coursework in financial accounting, managerial accounting, statistics, organizational behavior, business law, or introduction to finance initially receive Level C elective credit for this work.  Students who wish for this credit to be applied toward core requirements should submit course syllabi from these courses to the School of Management Undergraduate Program Office.  Following a review of course syllabi, students may be approved to sit for waiver exams.  Successful completion of a waiver exam permits a student to receive credit for a core requirement, rather than the elective credit.  A student who is not approved to sit for the waiver exam, or who does not pass a waiver exam, retains elective credit for the coursework.

For More Information

  • Transfer students with general program questions can contact Liz Katz, Assistant Director in the School of Management’s Undergraduate Program Office, at lkatz@bu.edu or 617-353-2650.
  • Admissions-specific questions should be addressed to the following offices:
    • For U.S. citizens, contact Ashley Hanson, Senior Program Coordinator, or Caitlin Mahoney, Senior Program Coordinator in Admissions, via email at ahanson7@bu.edu or catemaho@bu.edu, or at 617-353-2319.
    • For international students, contact Monique Bellefleur, International Student Advisor in Admissions, at moniqueb@bu.edu or 617-353-4492.

SM131 and FE101

Grade Requirements for SM131 and FE101:

Students who come to the School of Management as External Transfers (other than Boston University) must earn a grade of no less than B- in SM131/FE101. Students earning less than a B- who wish to remain in the School of Management must re-take one or both courses in the subsequent semester and earn at least a B-. Students earning less than a C+ after taking SM131/FE101 twice are required to transfer out of the School of Management.

Please note that, for the purposes of this policy, taking a “W” (withdrawal) grade in either SM131 or FE101 is considered a grade of less than B-.