Questrom School of Business (Class of 2029)

Below is an example of a four-year plan for CGS students continuing to Questrom School of Business with a focused on a particular concentration. Students will work with their CGS academic advisors and the Questrom School of Business to plan their own pathway to a business administration degree.

* Students who participate in the CGS London semester will complete the QST XP 301 Global Experience requirement (1 unit). Students who participate in the CGS New England summer semester will work with QST advising to ensure the requirement is met prior to graduation.
** QST SM 131 is open to non-Questrom students who have completed one full-time term at Boston University.
^† Or co-req QST SM131 + soph standing

Below is an example of a four-year plan of a College of General Studies student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) at Questrom School of Business and planning to study abroad. Students will work with their CGS academic advisors and the Questrom School of Business to plan their own pathway to a business administration degree.

Note: There may be an additional cost when taking more than 18 units.

* Students who participate in the CGS London semester will complete the QST XP 301 Global Experience requirement (1 unit). Students who participate in the CGS New England summer semester will work with QST advising to ensure the requirement is met prior to graduation.
** QST SM 131 is open to non-Questrom students who have completed one full-time term at Boston University.
^† Or co-req QST SM131 + soph standing

Students who need additional guidance should consult Sally E. Ward, Assistant Director, Suite 104, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, 617-353-2650 or seward@bu.edu. Also, please visit the Undergraduate Development Center (UDC) website.

Upon completion of the CGS program, students must have earned credit towards the following 10 courses:

• Humanities: 3 courses
  • Choose two from CGS HU 103, CGS HU 201, or CGS HU 202
  • CGS HU 104*
• Natural Sciences: 2 courses
  • CGS NS 201 and CGS NS 202
• Rhetoric: 2 courses
  • CGS RH 103 and CGS RH 104*
• Social Sciences: 3 courses
  • Choose two from CGS SS 103, CGS SS 201, or CGS SS 202
  • CGS SS 104*

The CGS required courses will cover Questrom liberal arts electives (5 courses), non-business electives (3 courses), and free electives (2 courses).

*Required course taken during the Summer term.

Course Descriptions for Questrom School of Business courses can be found in the Boston University Undergraduate Bulletin. All courses with the exception of Microeconomics (CAS EC 101), Macroeconomics (CAS EC 102) and Calculus (CAS MA 121) must be taken in residence at the Questrom School of Business. Prior approval must be granted for all external coursework. Please note that external courses may not be used to fulfill BU Hub requirements.

The Questrom School of Business offers flexibility in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program, allowing students to customize the degree by choosing from concentration options from within and across a number of disciplines.

Questrom students must all complete at least one concentration. Concentrations present a deep exploration of a specific functional area in the study and practice of business.

Concentrations consist of five courses. Details of these concentration requirements will be published on the UDC website as soon as they are available and in the 2026–2027 University Bulletin. Under that curriculum, students will use their five Questrom business electives to fulfill the concentration requirements. Students may also use their free electives to fulfill concentration requirements.

Accounting

Accounting is the science of business information. The accounting concentration focuses on providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary to derive and interpret this business information for sound decision making in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, and do so in ways that are informed, ethical, and dynamic.

Business Analytics

There is a vast array of opportunities to explore within Business Analytics. You may choose to work in a variety of careers including Data Analytics, Pricing and Revenue Analytics, Risk Management, Marketing Strategy and Analytics, etc.. Business Analytics is a nice complement to any concentration.

Finance

There is a vast array of opportunities awaiting you in the finance industry. You may choose to work in corporate finance, commercial banking, insurance, real estate, investment banking or money management. Finance is a nice complement to any concentration; some of our more popular choices include Accounting, Business Analytics, Information Systems, or Strategy.

Global Business

Global Business is a multidisciplinary concentration which means it must be paired with any functional concentration of your choosing. A multidisciplinary concentration provides a breadth of exposure regarding a particular industrial sector or an area of business, through a cross-section of related courses from within Questrom and across the University.

Independent

An Independent Concentration is designed for students with unique needs and/or interests that may not quite fit or be encompassed by existing concentration options. The Independent Concentration allows students to construct a program of study specifically tailored to helping them gain knowledge, skills, and experiences relevant to their future goals, vision, or direction.

Information Systems

As an IS professional, your employment opportunities are innumerable. You might work within a specialized industry such as health care, telecommunications, retail, financial services, or in one of the many technology-related products and service companies. For exposure to a variety of different industries, consider working as a consultant at one of the major consulting firms.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This concentration is designed to bring the best of innovative thinking and the entrepreneurial spirit to students who are interested in bringing their creative, constructive, and value-creation skills to the next level. Operating in conjunction with Innovate@BU, this concentration offers a powerful set of courses, mentoring, and hands-on experience to students pursuing this concentration.

Law

The Business Law Concentration is a rigorous course of study that focuses on issue spotting, decision-making, and logical thinking. It also increases your understanding of key business law issues, such as intellectual property, practical contracts and contract negotiation, employment law, Uniform Commercial Code, and real property, and has a strong focus in ethics.

Management and Organization

In Management & Organizations, students learn about how organizations and individuals behave. In order to affect the practice of management and leadership, students gain skills to analyze the individual, the group, the organization, and the environmental context, and recognize the crucial interactions across all four domains.

Marketing

A concentration in Marketing can lead to many career paths including brand management, product planning, cause marketing, and marketing communications, among others. In the marketing concentration, you will learn about methods and theories that provide insight into consumers’ purchase and consumption behavior as well as their pain points.

Operations and Technology Management

A concentration in Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) offers a wide range of career opportunities including management consulting, production management, service management, lean and six sigma, production and inventory planning, sourcing/procurement management, and distribution management.

Real Estate

A multidisciplinary concentration in Real Estate encompass a wide range of areas including: finance, marketing, management, construction, and sales. Having a multidisciplinary concentration allows you to pair your industry interest and knowledge with combined skills to compete in a specific area within the larger Real Estate sector.

Strategy

The Strategy concentration builds the skills needed to formulate and implement an organization’s key strategies. The concentration can help prepare students in a variety of careers such as: strategy consulting, management consulting, businessdevelopment jobs, leadership or rotational program positions, or business-analyst roles.

• Completion of CGS required courses and appropriate electives
• Cumulative GPA greater than or equal to 2.00
• Mandatory Information Session: All students who intend to continue from CGS to QST must attend a mandatory information session prior to their junior year.
• Completion of Questrom’s suite of gateway courses having earned a minimum grade of C in four of the following courses, and no less than C- in the fifth course – CGS RH 104 (WR 120), CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123, CAS EC 101, QST SM 131 and QST AC221
  • If you do not earn a C (or C- in one of the courses) you may retake the course(s) one time
• Students will not be accepted for continuation with any incomplete grades (‘I’ grades) in academic courses on their transcript

• BU Hub requirements
  • Students continuing from CGS to Questrom will ordinarily, through coursework in CGS, fulfill the following Hub areas: First-Year Writing Seminar; Writing, Research and Inquiry; Critical Thinking; Philosophical Inquiry; Aesthetic Exploration; Historical Consciousness; Scientific Inquiry I; Scientific/Social Inquiry II; The Individual in Community; Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy (1 requirement satisfied by CGS SS 104); Writing Intensive Course (1 requirement satisfied by CGS SS 202). All other Hub requirements will be satisfied through the required Questrom curriculum.

• Questrom major requirements
  • Mathematics requirements: The Questrom curriculum assumes a mathematics background, which includes three to four years of high school/secondary school mathematics (pre-calculus/calculus recommended). Completion of CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123 is required, unless one has AP or college credit for an equivalent calculus-based math course.

• Minimum grade requirement
  • Students need a grade of C- or better for all required courses towards the degree. This is in addition to the grade requirement for the suite of courses required to continue to Questrom.